Forests and Forest Conservation

 Forests can be referred to as groups of trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area. The two main categories of forests are natural forests, which grow under no human influence and artificial forest, which have been planted by humans. Both types of forests are very beneficial to humankind and to the environment in so many ways.

 IMPORTANCE OF THE FORESTS

Forests highly essential for humans and animals’ survival, from the air we breathe through the food we eat to the wood we use. Besides providing habitats for animals and livelihoods for humans, forests also offer watershed protection, prevent soil erosion and mitigate climate change.

Any activities performed by humans involve forests, either directly or indirectly. Some are easy to figure out - fruits, paper and wood from trees, and so on. Others are less obvious, such as by-products that go into everyday items like medicines, cosmetics and detergents.

The forests provide ecosystem services that are critical to human welfare. These include:

·         Absorbing harmful greenhouse gasses that produce climate change. In tropical forests alone, a quarter of a trillion tons of carbon is stored in above and below ground biomass

·         Providing clean water for drinking, bathing, and other household needs

·         Protecting watersheds and reducing or slowing the amount of erosion and chemicals that reach waterways

·         Providing food and medicine

·         Serving as a buffer in natural disasters like flood and rainfalls

·         Providing habitat to more than half of the world’s land-based species

1.       Bring Rainfall: Forests are responsible for rains on the land. Due to forests, the clouds get cooled and convert to rainwater. So one can notice heavy rainfall in the areas of forests and around. Forests slower the monsoon currents (winds) and let the clouds move slower over land. They also provide a suitable low temperature for the water vapour in the clouds to convert into water droplets and cause rain. Hence there are no rains in the deserts.

2.       Prevent Soil erosion: Soil erosion is an everyday natural activity happening due to winds and floods. Growing forests help minimise this soil erosion in the nearby farms. The importance of soil is too much that we cannot afford to lose the fertile top layers. This layer of soil is essential to grow crops and trees.

3.       Reduce the effect of natural calamities: In case of the natural disasters like the tsunami, floods, hurricanes, cyclonic winds. Presence of abundant forests helps us minimise the effects of these disasters. Hence when there was tsunami disaster, the areas with many trees at the seashore had less damage than regions without any trees.

4.       Home for animals (Ecosystem): Looking at it beyond our narrow, human – not to mention urban – perspective, forests provide habitats to diverse animal species. They are home to 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity, and they also form the source of livelihood for many different human settlements, including 60 million indigenous people.

Forests are some of the safest and comfortable homes for animals and birds. Many animals, birds can dwell peacefully in forests as it is a natural home for them.

They even find sufficient food for the day and together with their herds or groups. Forests are heaven for animals nowadays.

5.       Minimise the pollution

It reduces air, sound and even thermal pollution. Forest have many plants and trees. The wind on the earth moves from one place to another. Similarly, the gas and air pollution diffuses to all over the air and get less severe. Presence of forest nearby helps these pollutants to be absorbed from the air.

6.       Economic importance: Forest has a significant economic influence. Sometimes the economy of a region depends mostly on forests. Forests provide many natural resources which are of excellent value for money. For example, in the recent times, the red sandalwood from the jungles have been found to be of immense value, and the authorities are planning to capitalise the sale of the wood to run the government welfare schemes for the people. Similarly, in other countries, the presence of rainforests attracts a lot of tourists.

Some of the notable examples of reserves with economic importance are

a.       Medicine: Many plant drugs like cinchona, cinnamon, eucalyptus, etc. are grown in the forest. Though smaller medicinal plants are grown by farming, drugs from large trees are available from forests alone. The medicines procured by this method are mostly, alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, etc. Besides one can also get essential oils.

b.       Wood for Furniture: Forests are the sole reserve for best woods needed for furniture. There are many kinds of woods for different purposes like insect repellent ones (neem), red sandal, teak, etc. can be found in forests.

c.       Honey: This is a sugary liquid produced by honey bees after consuming nectar from flowers. It is widely used in medicine, ice-creams, sweets and other confectionery. It is mostly obtained by cultivation using honey bees in controlled boxes. But honey from the wild forest has its taste and strength than the farmer made one.

d.       Insect Wax: The insects which produce most wax are found in forests and the lac. When isolated this wax is used to make cosmetics and dye.

e.       Good for Picnic and leisure:

Forests are good for income generation and leisure

Nowadays many forests are exploited as picnic spots. Though this may be disturbing to the native animals and people, still the governments encourage it for tourism revenue. There are various picnic and holiday packages offered to spend time in the midst of forests.

CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION

Deforestation is the removal of large areas of forest to provide land for farming and roads, and to provide timber (wood) for building, furniture and fuel. Deforestation has a number of undesirable effects on the environment. Deforestation and forest degradation can happen quickly, such as when a forest is clear-cut to make way for a palm oil plantation or a new settlement. It can also happen gradually as a result of ongoing forest degradation as temperatures rise due to climate change caused by human activity.

There are many causes of deforestation. Almost a half of the trees illegally removed from forests are used as fuel. Some other common reasons are:

·         To make more land available for housing and urbanisation

·         To harvest timber to create commercial items such as paper, furniture and homes 

·         To create ingredients that are highly prized consumer items, such as the oil from palm trees

·         To create room for cattle ranching 

Common methods of deforestation are burning trees and clear cutting. These tactics leave the land completely barren and are controversial practices. 

In Zambia, deforestation is considered one of the priority environmental problems and woodland conversion to agriculture and wood harvesting for charcoal production seem to be the main causes of forest loss.  

It is important to underscore that during the first half of the 20th century, traditional crop production in Zambia was dominated by shifting cultivation, the "citemene" system, which symbolised the effective use of tropical soil by the African indigenous peoples. For many years, the farmers of Zambia logged trees, burned the branches, and used ash as a fertiliser for the soil. Due to the nature of the soil, this method worked well and land could be used for 5 years before being left to rest.

However, there are a number of underlying causes related to the government’s economic liberalisation policies that have not been adequately investigated, forces that influence forest conversion to agriculture and clearance for charcoal production. These include:

•         Higher price of electricity: The privatisation of electricity generation imposed on many countries by the IMF and the World Bank- increased electricity prices and affected the electrification policy, pushing local people to the use of charcoal as energy.

•         Charcoal burning: The introduction of charcoal as an urban cooking energy source in Lusaka city created a new incentive among rural communities in central Zambia to clear woodlands to supply charcoal to the urban market.

•         Removal of agricultural subsidies: Incomes from charcoal production were used to buy household requirements and in some cases these were invested in agricultural production after the removal of subsidies: a forest product had become a source of subsidy for agricultural production. Under traditional agricultural system trees were cut and burnt but with the commodification of charcoal, cut trees were converted to charcoal for sale and the land cultivated to produce both food and cash crops.

•         Timber sales: Besides agriculture and charcoal production which are destroying the forest, uncontrolled or poorly controlled commercial exploitation of timber is a major cause of deforestation in Zambia's Western, Eastern and Southern provinces. Few of the profits reaped from this activity, supported by the government, benefit the local communities, given that there are no timber industries worth talking about in those areas. All the money realised from timber sales goes abroad or ends in Lusaka.

In general deforestation is as result of the human economic activities and some natural causes which include the following:

•          Conversion of forests for other land uses, including pulp, palm, and soy plantations, pastures, settlements, roads and infrastructure.

•          Forest fires: Each year, fires burn millions of hectares of forest worldwide. Fires are a part of nature but degraded forests are particularly vulnerable. These include heavily logged rainforests, forests on peat soils, or where forest fires have been suppressed for years allowing unnatural accumulation of vegetation that makes the fire burn more intensely. The resulting loss has wide-reaching consequences on biodiversity, climate, and the economy.

•          Illegal and unsustainable logging: Illegal logging occurs in all types of forests across all continents destroying nature and wildlife, taking away community livelihoods and distorting trade. Illegally harvested wood finds its way into major consumption markets outside the developing countries, which further fuels the cycle.

•          Fuelwood harvesting: Over-harvesting for domestic use or for commercial trade in charcoal significantly damages forests.

•          Mining: The impact of mining on tropical forests is growing due to rising demand and high mineral prices. Mining projects are often accompanied by major infrastructure construction, such as roads, railway lines and power stations, putting further pressure on forests and freshwater ecosystems.

•          Climate change: Forest loss is both a cause and an effect of our changing climate. Climate change can damage forests, for instance by drying out tropical rainforests and increasing fire damage in boreal forests. Inside forests, climate change is already harming biodiversity, a threat that is likely to increase.

THE EFFECTS OF DEFORESTATION

Deforestation, as defined earlier, is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses.

The removal of forests results into a number of undesirable effects which include the following:

·         Reduction of habitats or food sources for animals, which can result in their extinction. Animal and plant diversity is reduced, and food chains are disrupted.

·         Loss of plant species and their genes which may be important for medical use or genetic engineering in the future.

·         Removal of trees means there are no roots to hold soil, which can result in soil erosion and leaching of minerals. Desertification can eventually occur.

·         Lack of roots and soil, flooding and mudslides. Lakes can become silted up.

·         Leaching of nutrients into lakes and rivers leads to eutrophication.

·         Less CO₂ is absorbed from the atmosphere, more CO₂ build up and increase the greenhouse effect.

·         Less O₂ is produced and atmospheric O₂ level can drop.

·         Less transpiration and reduced rainfall.

1.       Climate Imbalance: Deforestation also affects the climate in more than one ways. Trees release water vapour in the air, which is compromised on with the lack of trees. Trees also provide the required shade that keeps the soil moist. This leads to the imbalance in the atmospheric temperature further making conditions for the ecology difficult. Flora and fauna across the world are accustomed to their habitat. This haphazard clearance of forests have forced several of these animals to shift from their native environment. Due to this several species are finding it difficult to survive or adapt to new habitats.

2.       Increase in Global Warming: Trees play a major role in controlling global warming. The trees utilise the greenhouse gases, restoring the balance in the atmosphere. With constant deforestation the ratio of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased, adding to our global warming woes.

3.       Soil Erosion: Tree roots anchor the soil. Without trees, the soil is free to wash or blow away, which can lead to vegetation growth problems. Also due to the shade of trees the soil remains moist. With the clearance of tree cover, the soil is directly exposed to the sun, making it dry. After a clear cutting, cash crops like coffee, soy and palm oil are planted. Planting these types of trees can cause further soil erosion because their roots cannot hold onto the soil.

4.       Floods: When it rains, trees absorb and store large amount of water with the help of their roots. When they are cut down, the flow of water is disrupted and leads to floods in some areas and droughts in other. 

5.       Wildlife Extinction: Seventy percent of the world’s plants and animals live in forests and are losing their habitats to deforestation. Due to massive felling down of trees, various species of animals are lost. They lose their habitat and forced to move to new location. Some of them are even pushed to extinction. It also has negative consequences for medicinal research and local populations who rely on the animals and plants in the forests for hunting and medicine. Our world has lost so many species of plants and animals in last couple of decades.

6.       Water cycle: Trees are important to the water cycle. They absorb rain fall and produce water vapour that is released into the atmosphere. Trees also lessen the pollution in water, by stopping polluted runoff.

7.       Life quality: Soil erosion can also lead to silt entering the lakes, streams and other water sources. This can decrease local water quality and contribute to poor health in populations in the area.

Forests are complex ecosystems that affect almost every species on the planet. When they are degraded, this can set off a devastating chain of events both locally and around the world. It is therefore more important that they are well safeguarded, and this made responsibility of each and everybody, everywhere.

MEASURES TO CONTROL DEFORESTATION

It has been a common belief that to counter deforestation, people simply need to plant more trees. Though a massive replanting effort would help to alleviate the problems deforestation caused, it would not solve them all. Reforestation would facilitate:

·         Restoring the ecosystem services provided by forests including carbon storage, water cycling and wildlife habitat

·         Reducing the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

·         Rebuilding wildlife habitats

In addition to reforestation, some other tactics are being taken to counteract or slow deforestation. Some of them include shifting the human population to a plant-based diet. This would lower the need for land to be cleared for raising livestock.

Global Forest Watch has also initiated a project to counteract deforestation through awareness. The organisation uses satellite technology, open data and crowdsourcing to detect and alert others of deforestation. Their online community is also encouraged to share their personal experiences and the negative effects of deforestation. 

·         The best solution to deforestation is to curb the felling of trees, by employing a series of rules and laws to govern it. Deforestation in the current scenario may have reduced however it would be too early to assume. The money-churner that forest resources can be, is tempting enough for deforestation to continue.

·         Clear cutting of forests must be banned. This will curb total depletion of the forest cover. It is a practical solution and is very feasible.

·         Land skinned of its tree cover for urban settlements should be urged to plant trees in the vicinity and replace the cut trees. Also the cutting must be replaced by planting young trees to replace the older ones that were cut. Trees are being planted under several initiatives every year, but they still don’t match the numbers of the ones we’ve already lost.

In Zambia, policies such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). To make this possible, some measures were taken, which include the following:

·         Government has trained communities in alternative livelihood income-generating activities like the bee-keeping programme and other initiatives such as crafts, basket making and fruit propagation, aimed at reducing dependence on charcoal producing will be implemented by the Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection.

·         Government has been conducting sensitisation activities on the importance of forestry and increase patrols as measures to protect reserves in different parts of the country.

·         Government has intensified patrols on all major entry points within the reserve areas to curb the illegal trade in forestry products such as harvesting of logs, such as those of Mukula trees.

·         In addition to that, the Government of Zambia, included in the 2015 budget the funds to renovate dilapidated forestry offices in various districts around the country.