Causes and Solutions of Deforestation

1010 Words3 Pages

Halting the destruction of the rainforests has been identified by the World Wildlife Organisation as one of the most urgent and yet cost effective ways to keep the world out of danger from runaway climate change. They also report forest loss contributes to over 20 percent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. It is the trees that absorb greenhouse gases and carbon emissions, therefore at the very least the more we protect the rainforests the less contribution to global warming. xxxxx has stated "Despite conservation efforts, global deforestation continues at an alarming rate - 13 million hectares a year, or 36 football fields a minute" (xxxxxxxx) Protecting these forests from further destruction and finding solutions is critical . Not everyone agrees about the main causes, some evidence suggests it is the private landholders who hold significant sway while others believe it is purely market forces that are the main concern. This essay therefore aims to cover this issue by first evaluating causes and follows with a look at proposed solutions. Finally the conclusions are drawn from the evidence to offer a practical direction to maximise forest preservation.

It might be the private sector that are the main agents in the progression of deforestation and decline reflected in the discrepancy that exisits between their immediate objectives and protection of the global rainforests. According to (XXXX) private agents, ranging from the small individuals to large companies, are looking to turn a quick profit in the short term, thus ignoring societies’ long term view of the value ofpreserving rainforests. Clearly, these agents activities such as logging, crop cultivation and cattle farming have a market valu...

... middle of paper ...

...unbiased global reports. It has been shown that compensating the landowners, and protecting forests by legislation has solid results
"The sudies show that assumptions tying the results of resource management to one or few "causes" are simplistic, and that in reality there is a host of interacting factors influencing the decisions of people who have an impact on forests." (text 4.2 bottom page
Global education, especially in the developed nations, about the rainforests and carbon sequestration and their underlying importance to global climate change so that society can also be responsible about the choices they make as consumers. In this pro-active approach more people will be involved on all levels in the preservation of rainforests, supporting initiatives, by charities and governments to have developing people rise out of poverty in a fair and sustainable way.

Open Document