Deforestation

Deforestation means the action and the effect of deforesting (stripping a plot of land from its trees and plants). This process of forest disappearance is usually caused by human action through logging and burning.

Deforestation is generally driven by the timber industry, paper manufacturers, infrastructure construction and agricultural ventures. Latin America and West Africa are the regions most affected by deforestation, although the phenomenon exists all around the world.

The disappearance of forests and jungles constitutes a serious environmental problem. The decrease in the number of trees produces imbalances in climate, alters the habitat of animals and reduces the capacity of the planet to absorb carbon dioxide and transform it into oxygen.

In recent years, international society has become more aware of the problem of deforestation. The social pressure on the authorities has led to the halt in many regions, and the forests being considered as valuable ecological and tourist resources.

Responsible and sustainable tourism, in fact, is a way to generate income from forests and jungles. This is the main argument of those who oppose deforestation, without taking into account, of course, that the main reason for this opposition is ecological and not economic (a forest is necessary beyond its ability to generate income).

Problems derived from deforestation:

The problem of deforestation not only resides in the sacrilege of hundreds of plant species, but also results in the death of animal organisms for which the existence of this green space was fundamental for survival. To put a very simple example:  If squirrels live in a forest and all the trees are cut down, they will have to emigrate or they will die and their predators will suffer the same fate. It should be mentioned that, in addition, in each forest there are thousands of species, many of which have not even been discovered by humans. Due to deforestation many disappear every day of the planet.

According to the statistics, in Colombia for example, more than 8093.7m² are deforested and, if it continues in this way, in just 40 years Colombia will not have any forests. Likewise, the tropical forests, dispersed in diverse places of the planet, suffer the felling of daily and continuous form; Every day hundreds of years old trees are knocked down along with younger ones. But this is not the only problem.

One of the important aspects of forests is their ability to neutralize tons of carbon dioxide, that gas from waste generated by fossil fuel production. With uncontrolled deforestation, the ability to reoxygenate the environment diminishes and this results in an inconsiderate increase in environmental pollution that, as expected, entails a host of other ecological problems.

Among the problems caused by deforestation is desertification (a process by which extremely rich lands lose their fertility, becoming deserts). In general it happens that many hectares are cut with the aim of establishing a livestock business. In this way, the space that was previously covered with vegetation is now trampled daily by cattle and loses all its fertile value; making the growth of future life impossible.

There is another pile of problems derived from deforestation, such as the increase of global warming, destabilization of the climate, increasing  the ecological situation all around the world.