"Deforestation and Illegal Logging in the Phillipines: How it affects the world" by Angel D.
Deforestation is the clearing of trees through deliberate, accidental, or natural means and is done throughout the world, almost everywhere. The clearing of trees is done for a number of reasons including farming and another being logging. Logging is the destruction and clearing of trees for materials and development. In the Philippines there has been massive amounts of deforestation that has been done since the beginning of the 20th century. At the beginning of the 20th century the forest cover in the Philippines was 70%, nowadays, it is only at 25% and all but 10% of it is owned by the government.
A huge amount of illegal logging has been one of the main causes for the deforestation of the Philippines. The forests of the country used to be a stretch of 16 million hectares (39.5 million acres) but today the country’s forests only take up 700,000 hectares (1.7 million acres). This has caused massive flooding, rapid soil erosion, water shortages, and mudslides in the country. This has caused detrimental effects in the country and to its people. To avoid these disasters the government needs to put in place better forestry laws and overhaul some of the ones that are not needed and don’t work. The Philippine government has borrowed 325 million from the Asian Development Bank for a national reforestation plan but it has failed. They have attempted to fix the growing crisis with no avail.
The Philippines is not the only country with huge deforestation problems. Countries like Brazil, Peru, Indonesia, and Mexico all have rapid deforestation rates and this is a growing concern for our world’s environment. Deforestation is one of the most unsettling and dangerous things that are currently happening today in our world. 70% of plants and animals cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their habitat. The rapid deforestation going on today is also affecting indigneous peoples homes and leaving many of them homeless.
There are many ways we can help reduce deforestation in the world. Governments can place better forestry protection laws, people can work with NGOs to establish parks to protect wildlife and plants, and many countries can start to recycle more. All of these things help decrease the demand for deforestation and help protect forests and environments from logging companies etc. It is up to us to save our environment but we can only do that if we work together.
Works cited:
https://www.pachamama.org/effects-of-deforestation
https://greentumble.com/the-problem-of-illegal-logging-in-philippines/
https://www.eurasiareview.com/04062019-illegal-logging-killing-philippine-forests-oped/
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/phenomenal-ways-to-stop-deforestation-and-protect-our-planet.php
I agree that deforestation is a huge problem that affects our world today. I wish people would pay more attention to things like this. I didn't know how much the Philippine forests were being affected. We definitely hear more about the forests in Brazil than anywhere else. It is sad that other areas of the world have the same problems.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Michael, deforestation is a huge problem. I think it is something should be addressed. They should have to replant each tree that they have deforested. It is the only fair that they are able to since they are doing it illegally. If people didn't search it up on the internet they wouldn't know much about these things since it isn't put on the mass media. It is something that should be addressed more often.
ReplyDeleteSocieties have been cutting forests down for thousands of years. However, the scale in which deforestation occurred increased dramatically during the Industrial Era. The introduction of machinery into logging caused a surge in the amount of trees cut down across the world. It wasn't nearly till the 1960s that the issue of deforestation became mainstream. Now, it seems as if there is no possible way to undo what has already been done. Though we will not be able to entirely solve this issue, every little thing we can do helps. I think that governments should enforce stricter laws against clear cutting and other destructive logging techniques. In addition, I feel that one tree should be planted for every single one cut down. While it would take a while to replenish the tree population, it would help alleviate some strain on the ecosystem.
ReplyDeleteI wish media would cover these topics more! I didn't know that this was happening in the Philippines. Deforestation is progressively becoming more serious. I agree with Daniel that the trees that have been cut down should be replaced. It is sad to hear that many attempts to reforest have failed. I feel like with more media coverage it could bring awareness and ultimately a solution to this problem.
ReplyDeleteDeforestation is definitely a topic that needs more attention. Even though deforestation is more noticeable in areas like the Philippines, it is occurring everywhere around us. Lumber companies do not take into consideration the devastation and destruction that they are causing, and the idea that if they take all the lumber now, there will not be any for them in the future. I believe that with a lot of planning it is possible for deforestation to occur without destroying all the habitats of local plants and animals. However, this type of deforestation as mentioned in the Philippines needs to be addressed and stopped before there are no more plants and animals to provide for those people living there.
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