Forests are among the most valuable assets of our world. Their importance cannot be stressed enough. They are vital for the health of our planet in many ways. Nevertheless they have been destroyed throughout mankind's history again and again, in spite of frequent catastrophic results
Deforestation is suicide
Forests are beneficial because they:
- absorb CO2 from the atmosphere
- release oxygen into the atmosphere
- absorb other gases and pollutants
- absorb and store rainwater, reducing the danger of floods and replenishing groundwater supplies
- cool the soil, reducing evaporation
- provide habitats for half of the world's known animal species
- protect and enrich the soil, prevent erosion
- provide food for humans and animals
- provide wood
- promote cloud formation & precipitation
Deforestation is harmful because it causes:
- release of CO2 into the atmosphere, increasing global warming
- loss of habitat for many species
- degradation of soil
- increased risk of flooding
- increased risk of soil erosion
All this makes it obvious that deforestation is not something that should be undertaken lightly. When a forest is cut down, the first, immediate loss is the destruction of its ecosystem, created during hundreds or even thousands of years of evolution. To replace it would take a similar amount of time and lots of scientific, rarely available, knowledge.
Larger forests also affect the local climate. As a result of their water-retaining capacity trees gradually release moisture into the air to form clouds and precipitation. Little wonder therefore that in warmer regions the loss of forests often means less rainfall and higher temperatures, resulting in droughts and ultimately deserts. The ancient Greeks already noted this.
The soil also starts to deteriorate almost immediately. Without its protective cover of foliage and humus and without the binding force of tree roots, the risk of erosion become extremely high, especially on slopes, where landslides will remove the soil completely, leaving only bare rock where nothing will grow again until the elements and micro-organisms have created new soil, which can take thousands of years. But even if it is not completely eroded, the soil becomes compacted, absorbing less rainwater, and increasing the risk of floods.
In view of all the advantages of preserving forests and the disadvantages of cutting them down, the sane thing would have been to treat them with utmost care. Being renewable, they could have been exploited almost indefinitely if managed well. But instead they were destroyed ruthlessly, driven by greed, and with almost fanatical ignorance and stupidity.
"Only after the last tree has been cut down. Only after the last river has been poisoned. Only after the last fish has been caught. Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."
Cree Indian Prophecy
"We’re suffocating ourselves by cutting things down. And the awful thing is that the knowledge is there. Fifty years ago when we exterminated things, we did it without realising. Now there’s plenty of evidence of what it is we’re doing, and yet we keep on doing it. "
Sir David Attenborough
"A tree is beautiful, but what’s more, it has a right to life; like water, the sun and the stars, it is essential. Life on earth is inconceivable without trees. Forests create climate, climate influences peoples’ character, and so on and so forth. There can be neither civilization nor happiness if forests crash down under the axe, if the climate is harsh and severe, if people are also harsh and severe. ... What a terrible future!"
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
