Human beings have always been and probably always will depend to some extent on forests. The trees were their habitat, their environment, their source of food, and their protection from enemies. Forests are very important to man and other organisms, and one of the biggest problems facing the world today is the threat of totally losing forests due to massive deforestation and suffering the harmful effects of deforestation.
Deforestation can be defined as the removal of forests on a large scale. Deforestation occurs when forests are converted to non-forest areas for urbanization, agriculture, and other reasons without sufficient reforestation. It is the permanent destruction of forests and groves.
Today, forests are considered among the most threatened on the planet. Every day, at least 80,000 acres of forest disappear from Earth. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) shows that deforestation rates have not decreased and in fact increased by 8.5% between 2000 and 2005 compared to the 1990s. FAO has estimated that around 10.4 million hectares of tropical forest have been permanently destroyed between 2000 and 2005, compared with 10.14 million hectares in the period 1990-2000.
The deforestation process is often a complex pattern of progressive forest fragmentation. Errors of this type can lead to the destruction of forests. Along with this destruction is the extinction of many species, strong soil erosion, the greenhouse effect, sedimentation of rivers and dams, floods, landslides, bare highlands, degraded watersheds, and even the destruction of corals along the coast. .
Extinction of thousands of species: the destruction of forests leads to a tragic loss of biodiversity. Millions of species of plants and animals are in danger of disappearing as a result of deforestation. Tropical forests are biologically much more diverse than other forests and a very serious effect of deforestation in tropical countries is the loss of biodiversity.
Severe soil erosion: One function of the forest is that its roots hold the soil in place. Without trees, soil erosion and landslides happen easily. When heavy rains and typhoons come, the soil is easily transported to the lower areas, especially to the communities at the foot of the mountains.
Greenhouse effect: deforestation increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The continued degradation of our forest increases the threat of global warming because the trees and other plants that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to use for photosynthesis have disappeared. The burning of wood or its decomposition contributes to the release of more carbon which combines with oxygen in the atmosphere thus further increasing the levels of carbon dioxide causing the greenhouse effect.
Sedimentation of rivers and dams: Deforestation causes sedimentation of river sediments, which shortens their useful life and obstructs the irrigation system. As a result of deforestation, the reservoir behind many dams fills with sediment faster than expected.
Floods: one of the main importance of forests is that they absorb water quickly in large quantities during heavy rains. But due to massive deforestation there are no trees to absorb the water, resulting in the loss of many lives.
Landslides – Tree roots are attached to the ground and underlying bedrock. This is how trees prevent the soil from being eroded by natural agents such as wind or water. When trees are uprooted, there will be nothing to hold the soil together, thus increasing the risk of landslides that can seriously threaten people’s safety and damage their property.
Bare Highlands: After several harvests from the forest, the cleared land is no longer suitable for planting trees. It has become a desert. The transformation of a forest to a semi-desert condition is called desertification.
Degraded watersheds: When forested mountains are bare, watersheds are degraded and this leads to the loss of sustained water supplies for lowland communities. This is because trees affect the hydrological cycle. They can change the amount of water in the soil, groundwater, and the atmosphere.
Destruction of corals along the coast: areas of coral are degraded and coral reefs are affected by sedimentation. As a result of deforestation, there is an increase in flooding during the rainy seasons and a decrease in the flow of streams in the dry seasons.
The forest provides us with many important products and services. It stops soil erosion, refreshes the air, and protects us from typhoons and other calamities. But if rampant deforestation is not controlled, several problems will ensue. One way or another, bare forests will backfire and people will certainly lose the damaging effects of deforestation.
