CONSERVATION OF FORESTS

In our last blog series we focused of deforestation and its dangerous impact outlining the urgency to conserve forests. Here is a list of what an average person can do to prevent deforestation and conserve grand forests. It all starts with you as an individual.

1. Avoid printing; The less you print the less paper you use.
2.Go digital with your bills.
3. Use FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified wood products.
4. Switch to bamboo paper.
5. Switch to digital books/magazines.
6. Use the library instead of printing or buying books.
7. Switch to e-cards.
8. Reuse bags.
9. Plant trees.
10. Use reusable containers.
11. Instead of paper cups, plates and cutlery shift to reusable ones.
12. Avoid the use of paper towels or napkins. Instead use reusable ones.
13. Use cloth diapers.
14. Most important of all is to educate others.

There are many other ways in which individuals can help conserve forests but each one of us needs to put an effort for the results to be achieved. Below we will focus on some regulation put in place to protect forests.

1. Regular and planned cutting.

• If there are large areas that have the same type of trees available on it, trees of the same age group can be cut down in a selected area. This area will then be marked for re-plantation in order to sustain the forest.
• When selective cutting is implemented it means that only fully mature trees will be allowed to be cut down.
• Shelter wood cutting method entails that the least useful trees are cut down first, while the highest quality trees are cut down last.

2. Reforestation projects.

3. Monitor agriculture.

• Many forested areas are cleared in order to make room for agricultural lands. This should be limited.

4.Protect forests from parasitic fungi, rusts, mistletoe, viruses and nematodes. These all destroy the trees. An effort should be made to administer a chemical spray or some other treatment in order to destroy the parasites.

5. Produce less waste.

6. Raise awareness.  

There also are many proposed things that the government can do, such as:

• Passing acts that require the conservation of forests,
• Surveying the forest resources to prevent overusing the resources,
• Categorizing forest areas and proper delimitation of reserved forest areas to prevent anyone from damaging the reserved area,
• Find out which areas require reforestation,
• Regulating and improving upon the commercial use of forest products,
• Protecting forests from fire, mining and other threats, and
• Developing national parks.

Forest management can also play a huge role in the conservation of forests by undertaking these steps:

• Survey of forest,
• Categorization of forest.
• Economic use of forest,
• Administrative setting for forest management,
• Training programs for persons engaged in forest conservation activities,
• Use of forest land as tourist centers,
• Social and agro-forestry,
• Development of new techniques for the conservation of forests,
• Research for efficient use and conservation of forest, and
• Policy decisions and their proper implementation.

According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States) deforestation and forest degradation continue to take place at alarming rates, which contributes significantly to the ongoing loss of biodiversity.

Since 1990, it is estimated that 420 million hectares of forest have been lost through conversion to other land uses, although the rate of deforestation has decreased over the past three decades.

Between 2015 and 2020, the rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million hectares per year, down from 16 million hectares per year in the 1990s. The area of primary forest worldwide has decreased by over 80 million hectares since 1990. All these facts indicate that there is an urgency to conserve forests to combat climate crisis.

Action has to be taken TODAY and has to start from YOU.

Sources : http://www.fao.org/state-of-forests/en/

Thank you to our Facebook family for their take on how to conserve forests:

Healthy Yards - 

 Create 'tree' rules in your town and engage your local government, gardening clubs , schools etc. in tree planting programs. 

Luke Makuluni -

1. Conducting awareness campaigns and analyzing the root causes of deforestation by engaging people who are destroying the trees directly

2. Providing alternative solutions e.g briquette production and bio-gas

3. Raising tree seedlings, planting and managing them

4. Empowering communities to engage in ecologically sustainable businesses e.g. bee keeping, conservation agriculture, tourism

5. Reviewing policies and laws at govt level

6. Law enforcement e.g by-laws, forestry laws

7. Taking part in forest patrols to reduce incidences of charcoal burning, forest fires, encroachment, mice hunting etc

Mutuku Mutielega - 

Training my neighbor community about forest conservation and plant more trees

Mafix Reigns -

 Provide alternative sources of fuel like HEP, solar so as to reduce on demand for wood fuel

Ana Findlay - 

 Become a Treekeeper an Open lands project Chicago!

Plant more trees in your landscape and educate people.

part 11 : CONCLUSION

Through our 9 chapters we have taken a close look at deforestation and how it does more damage to our lives and the environment ,than good. We would like to conclude by talking about the major link between deforestation and climate change, and why there is an urgency to fight deforestation.

Deforestation adds carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and removes the ability to absorb existing carbon dioxide.

Forests store large amounts of carbon. Trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow. This is converted into carbon and stored in the plant's branches, leaves, trunks, roots and in the soil. When forests are cleared or burnt, stored carbon is released into the atmosphere, mainly as carbon dioxide. The build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is driving global warming, as it traps heat in the lower atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide levels are now at their highest levels in human history. Droughts, tropical storms, heatwaves and wild fires are increasing in severity and frequency because of climate change. This will continue to result in increases in forest losses, contributing to more and more carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. Risks are significantly reduced but not avoided by keeping the rise in global temperatures well below 2 degrees Celsius.

Protecting natural ecosystems and sustainably managing and reestablishing forests are important ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow down temperature rise in the short term by drawing down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. At the same times, we must deeply and rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions levels from fossils fuels - coal, oil and gas. If we do only the former and not the latter, we risk transforming more and more of our carbon sink into carbon sources as climate change progresses.

Throughout the articles we have explained what deforestation is and the pros and cons. So does deforestation still needs to be addressed urgently? Make a decision today and help our coming generations received a better greener and healthier world.

"What you do makes a difference, but you have to decide what difference you want to make." - Jane Goodall.

Part 10:NORWAY BANS DEFORESTATION

Norway became the first country in the world to ban deforestation. By committing to zero deforestation, Norwegian lawmakers will not award any government contracts to companies that take part in clear-cutting of trees or forests. 

The pledge was made in the Recommendation of Norwegian parliament's Standing Committee in Energy and the Environment in 2014 regarding Norway's national biodiversity action plan, which has been put in motion. 

According to Climate Action, production of soy, beef, palm oil, and wood products in seven countries with high deforestation rates (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea) contributed to 40% of total tropical deforestation and 44% of associated carbon emissions between 2000-2011. To counteract this Norway has invested large sums of money to stop deforestation in Brazil, Liberia and Indonesia. 

In 2008 Norway gave Brazil $1 Billion to help fight deforestation against the Amazon Rainforest. By 2015 Brazil had more than 33,000 square miles of forest and kept 3.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. The Norwegian government also announced a $250 Million commitment to protect Guyana's forest, giving them the money over a four year period from 2011 to 2015. The country is also hard at work in Africa. Liberia, with the help of Norway, became the first nation in Africa to stop cutting down trees in return for aid. 

Norway's action plan also includes a request from parliament that the government exercise due care for the protection of biodiversity in its investments through Norway's Government Pension Fund Global. Because of this, any product that contributes to deforestation will not be used in the Scandinavian country. Their act of banning deforestation from the supply chain only continues the country's longstanding history of protecting the world's vital forests.

At the UN Climate Summit in New York in September 2014, the Norwegian government made a pledge with Germany and UK that they would promote national commitments that encourage deforestation-free supply chains, including through public procurement policies to sustainable source commodities such as palm oil, soy , beef and timber. 

By becoming the first country in the world to make such a large-scale move against deforestation, Norway is setting an example for other countries to consider similar policies. 

"This has been an astonishing success story. REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) has been so far the biggest success story of the climate negotiations...For Norway, I think the main lesson learnt is that we need to be more able to take risks, and more daring. Because there are numerous reasons why this may fail or how it can be criticized." - Erik Solheim, Norwegian Minister for Environment and International Development.

Part 9: CASE STUDY

Why Rainforests? 

Rainforests are the earths most essential ecosystems which are needed for our survival. The Amazon forests houses more than 50,000 insect species in just 1 single mile! 

Deforestation has brought about an increase in carbon in the air by contributing over 12% of all Carbon dioxide emissions. 

Climate change is no longer up for debate and deforestation plays a major role which needs to be addressed NOW. Here are some NGOs which are working towards reducing the impact of deforestation and you can work with them virtually in the fight with deforestation. 

The Seed of Life Foundation

The Seed of Life Foundation is an NGO whose vision is to give back to the environment and aids in planting trees to combat deforestation. They provide many services including educating people globally on the urgency of planting trees and taking care of our environment. 

Other services which you can actively be involved in include: 

• Taking part in fundraising and charitable drives for orphanages in Africa. 
• Plant a tree from wherever you are to any location you prefer
• Gift a tree to your loved one
• Plant a memorial tree for your lost loved ones
• Collaborate with schools in building school gardens

Website the-sol-foundation.org

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/theseedoflifeproject/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theseedoflifefoundation/

Twitter https://twitter.com/TheSeedof_Life

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/seed-of-life/

Blog https://the-sol-foundation.blogspot.com/

email admin@the-sol-foundation.com

Cool Earth

Cool Earth is a charity that works with local people (Peru to Papua new guinea)  to halt deforestation and climate change. They work with communities and people who want to protect the forest in which they live by equipping them with the tools and skills to be able to protect their rainforest.

You can log into their website coolearth.org and help by:

• Donating to local communities 
• Educating others about the need to reduce deforestation and the dangers of climate change
• Shop and sponsor trees through their online virtual shop 

Part 8 : NGOs & DEFORESTATION

Leading environmental and humanitarian organizations are calling for efforts to combat climate change through fighting deforestation and its negative impacts. CARE and WWF are asking governments to ensure that benefits to the climate, biodiversity and people's wellbeing are fundamental efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. 

A number of NGOs set up fighting climate change and deforestation are proposing as set of principles for the government to adopt in their environmental activities and plans. However for such plans to be successful, the government needs a coordinated approach and practice transparency with NGOs. 

In our next chapter we will focus on short case studies looking at how some NGOs are helping combat deforestation. 

"Considering the common goals of companies, governments, and multi-stakeholder initiatives, it is imperative to identify opportunities for collaboration to harness synergies between initiatives and catalyze action" 

Part 7: GOVERNMENT POLICIES

In our last chapter we looked at policies an individual could take to combat deforestation. In this chapter we will look at 5 major ways a country's government can help in reforestation.

1. Educate

• Education and raising awareness is the key and the most important method a government can use to reduce deforestation. If people don't know the drastic effects deforestation is causing to our environment then they will never make an effort to reduce it. 
• School-based reforestation initiatives are an important way for students, teachers, and communities to make tangible contributions to climate change mitigation efforts. This education should start pretty early. It should be taught in elementary schools that we need our forests to survive. 

"Education is a critical step to safeguard natural resources for future generations. It is essential for children to learn about forests at an early age." Jose Graziano da Silva, Director-General, FAO. 

2. Restore

• Reforestation can be defined as the restoration of existing forests and woodlands that have been depleted, afforestation refers to the planting of trees in ares where there has been no tree cover before. Thus, either through reforestation or afforestation another measure to meet the deforestation problem is to plant new trees.

3. Encourage

• Encouraging people to live in a way that doesn't hurt the environment by reducing less paper,  avoiding single-use packaging, eating sustainable food and choosing recycled or responsibly-produced wood products. 

4. Establish

• Creating protected areas like national parks is a great way to save rainforests and other ecosystems. Protected areas are locations preserved because of their environmental or  cultural value.
• Such protected areas are established and managed by governments and use park rangers and guards to enforce the rules of the park and protect against illegal activities like hunting, mining and cutting down of trees. 

5. Support

• Government can support companies such as L'Oreal and Unilever that operate in ways that minimize damage to the environment. 
• Also supporting NGOs such as Amazon Watch and Rainforest Trust fighting deforestation. 

In conclusion, governments work with  organizations to reduce deforestation, educating people and buying tracts of land to preserve and/or replant and also working with the people to create new jobs. 

They can also make a huge difference by focusing on policies which eliminate corruption in the country. 

"If corruption is a disease, transparency is essential part of its treatment." - Kofi Annan

Part 5: NEGATIVE IMPACTS

In our last chapter we looked at the positive impacts of deforestation and its importance in increasing economy and jobs. In this chapter we will focus on the negative impacts and find out if we can risk those jobs and increment to economy for the better good.

Lets take a look at the destruction deforestation does to our ecology: 

1. Increased Greenhouse Gas Emissions 

• It is estimated that deforestation is responsible for around 20% of greenhouse gas emissions and 1.5 billion tons of carbon is released every year. (vocal.media) 
• Plants and trees play a vital role in keeping the planet habitable. They filter carbon dioxide out of the air to release oxygen, which animals and humans need to survive. The cutting down of huge numbers of plants can have negative impact on the environment by allowing green house gases to build up hence contributing to global warming. 

      2. Extinction of species

• The World Wildlife Federation released  report in 2018 that concluded that since 1970, humans have eliminated 60% of the animal species because of growing consumption of resources and food. 
• When forests are cut down, it is not only the trees that are being lost but also countless amounts of wildlife, such as mammals, birds, insects, amphibians and many other that make them their home. 
• Orangutans, giant pandas, rhinos and elephants are just a few of hundreds of endangered species due to deforestation 

     3.  Loss of diversity

• When we lose diversity in our DNA, then there is a noticeable increase in risk of genetic mutations occurring. By limiting diversity, we are creating problems that may last for generations.

     4. Flooding and erosion 

• Without trees to secure fertile soil, erosion often occurs and sweeps sacred land into nearby rivers. When the protective forest canopy and roots have been destroyed, the soil will lose its proportions to retain water and is washed away into rivers and streams. 
• Due to erosion, the risk of flooding during the rainy seasons increases dramatically. Poor water absorption levels make it easier for higher accumulation levels since the trees are no longer present to take up extra moisture. 

     5. Others

• Selective logging increases the flammability of the forest because it converts a closed, wetter forests into a more open and drier one. 
• Life quality decreases
• Causing longer drought seasons
• Hinder production of medicine 
• Loss of indigenous culture 
• Boosts to economy are temporary
• Negatively impact local water supply

Above all we are losing our beautiful environment and what gives the wold its beautiful green color. 

Looking at all the above we conclude that deforestation has more negative impacts than the positive ones and hence should be working towards reforestation. 

In our next chapter we will be looking at how we can combat deforestation and encourage reforestation.

Deforestation Part 4: POSITIVE IMPACTS

In our last chapter we noted that most of the causes of deforestation are man made. Now we will look at the impacts of deforestation, dividing it into positive and negative impacts.

Deforestation has rapidly increased due to man's activities, but has this really been necessary? Did man first think about how deforestation is going to help him? or has deforestation actually been a positive event leading to positive outcome and growth. L

Here are some of the positive impacts of deforestation:

1.  Building Communities 

• One of the main reasons that these forests are being cut down is to make room for expansion. With the never-ending growth explosion in sight, space has become more of a premium necessity on Earth. When there are forests on lands that could be utilized for habitation, then removing them can create more livable space. 
• Commercial establishments and homes will also be built using the products that have been removed from the biome.

2.  Productive Land for Agriculture 

• Grazing of animals and production of food are other benefits which result from deforestation. To meet the population increase and food supplies increase more forests are put down to create space. 

3.  Improve Economy 

Economically, deforestation has contributed much in giving many communities the opportunity to make positive changes in their lives.
Deforestation allows for civilization and industrialization 
Also creating more jobs hence allowing to generate more revenue stimulating economy in developing countries 

Through deforestation we also get many useful raw materials which can be processed into useful products we use everyday such as paper and wood to give us notebooks and furniture. 

The question here is, is deforestation really worth all the positive outcomes? Can we do without such products? Will reforestation decrease land for occupation and decrease economy? 

Deforestation Part 3: REASONS / CAUSES

In our last chapter we learnt about the history and how deforestation started. We found out that deforestation is part of climate change hence a natural occurrence over time. However we found out that it has rapidly increased due to human involvement. In this chapter we will focus mostly on such involvements.

1. Natural Causes

• Climate Change is any significant long-term change in the expected patterns of average weather of a region or the whole earth over significant period of time. It is an inevitable occurrence which take place with time. 
• Deforestation is both a cause and an effect of climate change which damages forests, for instance by drying out tropical rainforests. 
• Forest fires is another natural cause as recently experienced in Australia. According to WWF, each year fires burn millions of hectares of forests worldwide. Forests fires are a natural cause however, degraded forests including heavily logged rainforests, are more vulnerable.

      2. Farming

• Agriculture expansion and livestock farming are one of the biggest reasons for cutting down forests to accommodate such practice. 
• According to an article in One Green Planet, since 1990, Brazil, a top exporter of beef has lost an area of forest that is three-fourth the size of Texas. Farmers often clear the land for cattle by using slash and burn techniques. Other countries which are top beef suppliers and experience deforestation include Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina. 
• Slash and burn technique is also used to clear land for farming. Such technique is commonly used to clear forests in Southeast Asia, tropical Africa and the Americas for permanent oil palm plantations.

   3. Lumbering

• Illegal and unsustainable logging is another cause of deforestation happening in many countries such as Brazil and Indonesia. Trees are also cut down for use of firewood, paper and furniture. 

      4. Expansion of Infrastructure

• Road construction can lead to deforestation by providing an entryway to previously remote land. The cleared land then attracts an influx of settlers, and construction of other infrastructure such as residential and commercial buildings.  

      5. Overpopulation 

• All the mentioned causes above increase as population and demand increase. Currently there are about 8 Billion people on the earth and as population increases, the forests and natural resources get depleted at a faster rate. 

There are many other causes for deforestation but we have listed the main ones which have increased the rate of deforestation. In our next chapter we will be looking at the effects of deforestation. However, we will divide them into pros and cons, to focus on how deforestation has helped the economy and its negative effects.

    

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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. 

Deforestation PART 1: Definition

Deforestation the permanent removal, by either cutting down or uprooting, trees to make room for something besides forest.

You can see the word forest in deforestation. The prefix de- means "remove" and the suffix -ation signals the act or state of. So deforestation is the act of removing a forest.

On the other hand Reforestation is the regrowing of forest that have previously been cut down. Here you can see the prefix re- meaning "again" signaling the act of repeating what was or is there.

In the coming articles we shall be focusing on when deforestation started, the reasons for it, the pros and cons of deforestation and the ways we can use to reduce the negative effects or how we can accomplish reforestation.

"Humans are the only creatures in this world who cut down the trees, made paper from them and then wrote on these papers 'save trees' "