Deforestation Part 2: HISTORY

Now that we know what deforestation means. Let us focus on how it started. Learning the history of deforestation will help us get a clear view as to how it affects us and the environment, and we can also make better decisions or future plans.

According to History Today, deforestation has been gaining momentum in the tropical regions of the world since 1950. But its history is long and stretches back to when humans first occupied earth. Their needs started to grow as they learnt how to cook on fire or stay warm during cool nights. This dates back to half a million years ago.

All that changed since then is the rate of acceleration, and that, compared to previous ages, environment has become more sensitive and irreversibly damaged. Before 150 about nine-tenths of all deforestation had occurred.

We will focus more on 'how' deforestation occurred in our next chapter. However, we need to know how early man came to a conclusion of chopping down trees for use. The first evidence of deforestation appears in the Mesolithic period (1), closed forests were converted to open ecosystems favorable to game animals. In the Neolithic period there was extensive deforestation for farming lands and wooden tools(2). In this way, as time and evolution of man went on, deforestation kept on increasing at a faster pace.

Let us note that deforestation is part of climate change. It is to take a natural cause no matter the involvement of man in speeding up the process. The Carbinoferous Rainforest Collapse (3) was an event that occurred 300 million years ago. The climate change causing the extinction of many plants and animal species, was abrupt as the climate became cooler and drier which were not favorable to the growth of rain forests.

Here an important question arises. Did we really have the need to cut down trees to survive? Yes climate change would have eventually set in deforestation but would we have survived without cutting down those trees? Did the early man have the knowledge that their actions will one day have adverse affects on humans and animals? and if they would not have cut down a single tree would man have survived today?

History does make a think and helps us find better ways in solving current issues as well as putting in place effective measures for a better future.

"Recognize your history in the present, to know your future "

1. Brown, Tony (1997). "Clearances and Clearings: Deforestation in Mesolithic/Neolithic Britain". Oxford Journal of Archaeology. 16 (2): 133–146. doi:10.1111/1468-0092.00030.
2. ^ "hand tool: Neolithic tools". Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
3. Sahney, S.; Benton, M.J. & Falcon-Lang, H.J. (2010). "Rainforest collapse triggered Pennsylvanian tetrapod diversification in Euramerica". Geology. 38 (12): 1079–1082.