DEFORESTATION
•In Amazon •In Sub-Saharan Africa •India •Malaysia and Indonesia
Deforestation is an complex problem. A recent study by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that during the decade from 1980 to 1990, the world's tropical forests were reduced by an average of 15.4 million hectares per year (0.8 percent annual rate of deforestation). The area of land cleared during the decade is equivalent to nearly three times the size of France.
“Deforestation In Amazon” • Between May 2000 and August 2006, Brazil lost nearly 150,000 square kilometers of forest—an area larger than Greece—and since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometers
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One-third of recent deforestation can be linked to "shifted" cultivators. A large portion of deforestation in Brazil can be attributed to land clearing for pastureland by commercial and speculative interests, misguided government policies, inappropriate World Bank projects, and commercial exploitation of forest resources A relatively small percentage of large landowners clear vast sections of the Amazon for cattle pastureland Government subsidized agriculture and colonization programs encourage the destruction of the Amazon .
• Brazilian deforestation is strongly correlated to the economic health of the country: the decline in deforestation from 1988-1991 nicely matched the economic slowdown during the same period, while the rocketing rate of deforestation from 1993-1998 paralleled Brazil's period of rapid economic growth.
Today deforestation in the Amazon is the result of several activities, the foremost of which include: • • • • •
Clearing for cattle pasture Colonization and subsequent subsistence agriculture Infrastructure improvements Commercial agriculture Logging
Deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa • At the end of 1990, Africa had an estimated 528 million hectares, or 30 percent of the world's tropical forests. In several SubSaharan African countries, the rate of deforestation exceeded the global annual average of 0.8 percent. • The leading causes in Africa are associated with human activity.
Causes • An estimated 90 percent of the entire continent's population uses fuelwood for cooking, and in SubSaharan Africa, firewood and brush supply approximately 52 percent of all energy sources. • 20 to 25 percent of annual deforestation is thought to be due to commercial logging. • The remaining 15 to 20 percent is attributed to other activities such as cattle ranching, cash crop plantations, and the construction of dams, roads, and mines.
Proposed Solutions • Regulating the Logging Industry • Forest Protection Schemes • Human Activity
Deforestation in India • In India, deforestation began in the 19 th century with the arrival of British colonialism. • These reserves however, were no surefire way of conquering deforestation. The livestock of villagers were herded into the reserves when village fodder was depleted.
“Deforestation -- The Dark Side of Europe's Thirst for Green Fuel� (Deforestation in Malaysia and Indonesia)
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Bio-diesel fuels are helping reduce carbon emissions, but some production of the "green" energy source is contributing to rain forest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia. This destruction in turn is leading to the erosion of natural habitats for many endangered and unique animal species, such as Borneo's orangutan, Sumatra's rhinoceros, tigers, tapirs, gibbons and proboscis monkeys. Oil palm plantations, 89 percent of which are based in Malaysia and Indonesia, generate every year 29 percent of worldwide production of vegetable oil. The British government, recognized that any large-scale expansion of bio-fuel feedstock production would pose huge environmental risks to Brazil and Southeast Asia
“China is black hole of Asia's deforestation� Related Material
• China is the main channel for illegal logging in Asia while the United States, Europe and Japan are the key markets for timber products and furniture coming from countries where the illicit practice is widespread and human rights are ignored.
• "Few consumers realise that the cheap prices they pay are directly linked to the exploitation of some of the poorest people on earth," . • In Indonesia, 80 per cent of the timber market is held to be illegal, with poor forest protection.
Actualmente existe un evento llamado EcoGestión, que trata sobre la Planificación y Legislación Forestal de la Patagonia y reune a lo largo de tres jornadas a destacados técnicos y especialistas de Argentina, España, Chile y Uruguay.
La “Ley de Bosques” tambien es otro medio para detener el avance de la deforestación en Argentina. Se puede contribuir votando a legisladores que apoyen esta Ley.