Deforestation

forests Forests can be found in almost all regions. Trees are well adapted to grow nearly anywhere on earth. However, if there's a great risk of natural fires or when the local environment is too cold or dry, forests stand little chance. It can take a long time before a new forest forms, but once there, forests can exist for thousands of years. Unfortunately, forests are threatened by damaging human activity like uncontrolled logging and agriculture. Since many forests rely on a very delicate and well balanced eco-system, forest loss is often permanent. Once a forest is lost, it will have great difficulty ever to grow back in that same area.

Threats to our forests

tree cutting Thousands of years ago, forests covered almost half the earth's surface. We destroyed so many forest area, that only about a fifth of the original forests remain. Most destruction has happened in the last fifty years alone. Imagine loosing an area the size of a soccer pitch every two seconds? Because our forests disappear, we are also losing a unique part of the world's biodiversity.
The main threats to our forests comes from cattle ranching and commercial logging. This affects more than 70% of the endangered forests, leading to a huge waste of wood. But there are two sides to the story: forest maintenance is very important for a healthy biodiversity, but on the other hand there remains a high demand for timber the world over. Solutions can be forms of responsible logging, thus preserving the habitat of a wide range of endangered animals and plants.

Solutions

forests First of all, we need to consume less wood. This is possible by increased recycling and re-usage of wood and paper. As a consumer, buying wood that’s been cut in a responsible and sustainable manner is a good start. Many organisation work on promoting sustainable logging and issuing certificates. Amongst others, the Forest Stewardship Council has formulated rules for responsible tree-cutting. Wood that’s been cut responsible, can be marked with the ’FSC’ logo to indicate to consumers they are buying sustainable wood. This branded wood aims to save the forests and ecosystems, preventing damage to local animal and plant species. It all comes down to treating our forests in a responsible manner.

The major forest biomes

Why are forests important?

threatened forests Two-third of all plants and animals are living in our forests. Thousands of different plants, insects and other animals are depending on forests. We have to stop deforestation, or we risk losing many species like jaguars, bears, tigers and elephants. These mammals depend on sufficient natural territory to survive in the wild.

Not just animal and plant species need the forests, people are depending on forests too. They often provide basic needs like food, clean water, firewood and certain medicines. Furthermore, the earth's forests are vital in producing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide in the form of carbon in planttissue, thus playing an important role in slowing down global warming.
Forests also control rainfall by regulating the evaporation of water from soil.

Forest News

Colorado Seeks ‘Roadless Rule’ for National Forests - New York Times: A road into the piney woods can be fraught with consequences. That was the premise, more than a decade ago, behind a Clinton administration rule that restricted road building on millions of acres of national forests in the West. The so-called roadless rule, fought over in court from the start, was validated last year by a federal appeals panel, setting off a wave of euphoria among supporters and consternation among critics. But there is a big wrinkle here in Colorado, which was one of only two states...

Tanzania: Land-cover changes do not impact glacier loss - EurekAlert: The composition of land surface – such as vegetation type and land use – regulates the interaction of radiation, sensible heat and humidity between the land surface and the atmosphere and, thus, influences ground level climate directly. For the first time, the Innsbruck climate scientists quantitatively examined whether land-cover changes (LCC) may potentially affect glacier loss. "We used Kilimanjaro in East Africa as a test case, where a significant decrease of forests at elevations between 1,800...

Expert speaks out on impact of logging in PNG - Radio Australia: One of the world's leading tropical biologists says clear felling of forests on Papua New Guinea's controversial Special Agricultural and Business leases is likely to have profound impact on PNG's environment. As you heard earlier in the program, logging on SABLs has pushed PNG's log exports into record territory. In 2011, 650,000 cubic metres of logs were exported from SABLs. A prominent scientist in tropical biology says the environmental impact of this sort of logging is very significant....

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