Deforestation
LAND POLLUTION TYPE: DEFORESTATION
1. INTRODUCTION
Deforestation: is the removal of trees as well as other plants from forest areas much more quickly than they can be replanted or regenerated naturally. It 's a trouble due to the parts how the trees must play in stabilising the climate, atmospheric composition and soil structure. According to The Environ Facts 8 Feb. 1999, deforestation reduces the ability of the land to support life, affecting wild species, domestic animals, agricultural crops and people.
The reduction in plant cover leads to accelerated soil erosion by wind and water. South
Africa is losing approximately 300-400 million tonnes of topsoil every year.
(Adams and Tisdale (1993) Encarta Encyclopaedia 2004.)
Reasons for Deforestation
There is a big variety of factors for why individuals pick to clear forests: * Agricultural purposes – Grazing cattle or planting crops. Poor farmers in developing nations chop down a little area of trees and burn them, which supply nutrients to your soil (known as the ‘Slash-and-Burn’ technique). This offer is effortlessly exhausted so the farmers move on to a fresh area, and also the cycle starts again. This happens on a much bigger scale for intensive or modern day agriculture e.g. large cattle pastures always replace rain forest to grow beef. * Commercial logging – the cutting down of trees for sale as timber or pulp. In the designed world, you can find increasing wants for hardwoods including mahogany and ebony. The rate at which trees are felled is increasing to meet these demands. People in third world countries need the timber for firewood, as it’s almost the only source of fuel accessible to men and women living there. The heavy machinery used (e.g. bulldozers) is just as dangerous to a forest overall as the chainsaws are to person trees * Construction – of towns or dams, which flood large areas? People who live in shanty towns in areas like Brazil are becoming encouraged
1. INTRODUCTION
Deforestation: is the removal of trees as well as other plants from forest areas much more quickly than they can be replanted or regenerated naturally. It 's a trouble due to the parts how the trees must play in stabilising the climate, atmospheric composition and soil structure. According to The Environ Facts 8 Feb. 1999, deforestation reduces the ability of the land to support life, affecting wild species, domestic animals, agricultural crops and people.
The reduction in plant cover leads to accelerated soil erosion by wind and water. South
Africa is losing approximately 300-400 million tonnes of topsoil every year.
(Adams and Tisdale (1993) Encarta Encyclopaedia 2004.)
Reasons for Deforestation
There is a big variety of factors for why individuals pick to clear forests: * Agricultural purposes – Grazing cattle or planting crops. Poor farmers in developing nations chop down a little area of trees and burn them, which supply nutrients to your soil (known as the ‘Slash-and-Burn’ technique). This offer is effortlessly exhausted so the farmers move on to a fresh area, and also the cycle starts again. This happens on a much bigger scale for intensive or modern day agriculture e.g. large cattle pastures always replace rain forest to grow beef. * Commercial logging – the cutting down of trees for sale as timber or pulp. In the designed world, you can find increasing wants for hardwoods including mahogany and ebony. The rate at which trees are felled is increasing to meet these demands. People in third world countries need the timber for firewood, as it’s almost the only source of fuel accessible to men and women living there. The heavy machinery used (e.g. bulldozers) is just as dangerous to a forest overall as the chainsaws are to person trees * Construction – of towns or dams, which flood large areas? People who live in shanty towns in areas like Brazil are becoming encouraged
References: Adams and Tisdale (1993) Encarta Encyclopaedia 2004. Barrie Low A. and Rebelo A.T.G (1996) Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism, Pretoria. Houghton J.T (1983) The Global Climate. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. Hugo M.L; Viljoen A.T; and Meewis J.M (1997) The Ecology of Natural Resources Management. Kagiso Publishers. Pretoria, South Africa. Maps of South Africa (2000) Government Printers, Cape Town. Pears D.W and Warford J.J (1993) World Without End: economics, environment and sustainable development. Oxford University Press. New York. Population Census (2001) South Africa.