Deforestation

What is Deforestation?

Deforestation refers to the cutting, clearing, and removal of rainforest or related ecosystems into less bio-diverse ecosystems such as pasture, cropland, or plantations (Kricher, 1997). 

What are the causes of deforestation?

I.   Logging

II.  Mining

III. Oil and gas extraction

IV. Cattle ranching

V.  Agriculture: Cash crops

VI. Local, National, and International factors: development, land titles, government subsidies to attract corporations into developing countries, trade agreements (NAFTA, CAFTA), civil wars, debt, lack of resources, and lack of law enforcement. 

Largest rainforests worldwide listed in descending order (from largest to smallest).

1. Amazon basin of South America
2. Congo river basin of Central Africa
3. S.E. Asia
4. New Guinea
5. Madagascar

Facts:

• Did you know that tropical rainforests, which cover 6-7% of the earth's surface, contain over half of all the plant and animal species in the world!
• Did you know that 57% of all rainforests remaining are located in the Neotropics, with 30% located in Brazil.

Overview of deforestation around the world:

Between 1960 and 1990, most of the deforestation occurred globally, with an increasing trend every decade.

• Brazil has the highest annual rate of deforestation today.
• Atlantic coast of Brazil has lost 90-95% of its rainforest.
• Central America has 50% of its rainforests.
• South America has 70% of its rainforests. 
• Philipines have lost 90% of its rainforests!
• Madagascar has lost 95% of its rainforests!
• El Salvador has lost 70-85% of its rainforest due to heavy bombing during the civil war 1984-1985.
• Sumatra has 15% of its rainforests left.
• Only 6% of Central Africa's forests are protected by law.

Statistics on Global Rates of Rainforest Destruction:

2.4 acres (1 hectare) per second: equivalent to two U.S. football fields

149 acres (60 hectares) per minute

214,000 acres (86,000 hectares) per day: an area larger than New York City

78 million acres (31 million hectares) per year: an area larger than Poland

On average, 137 species become extinct everyday; or 50,000 each year!

*If the current rate of deforestation continues, the world's rain forests will vanish within 100 years- causing unknown effects on global climate and eliminating the majority of plant and animal species on the planet*

What are the consequences of deforestation?

Environmental:

1. Extinctions (loss of biodiversity of microbes (bacteria), plants, insects, animals, indigenous peoples, etc. 
2. Habitat fragmentation.  This disturbes the animals' habitat and may force them to enter habitats which are already occupied.  This can pose many problems such as territorial conflicts, homelessness (loss of habitat), lack of food availability, migration disturbances, etc.
3. Soil erosion occurs when trees and plants are removed; the rain water washes the nutrients in the top soil away. 
4. Changes in watershed geomorphology.
5. Desertification (dry, hot, arid conditions).
6. Edge effects can change microclimates (small climates) which affect endemic species (native species which can only live in specific environmental and habitat conditions).
7. Climate change (more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, thus increasing the effects of global warming).
8. Pollution (ground, water and air pollution from oil extraction and mining chemicals).

Social impacts:

1. Loss of culture (indigenous peoples subsistence living in the rainforest).  People who live in the rainforest depend on the natural environment for food, shelter, materials for cooking, clothing, etc.  If the forest is cut down or if their environment becomes polluted from oil extraction and mining, they are forced to move or risk starvation and sickness.   
2. Displacement of people (loss of farmland, forest resources, etc).
3. Social conflicts and struggles over land and natural resources.
4. Conflicts over racial and ethnic rights.
5. Poisoning from oil and mining waste.
6. Economic uncertainty (price fluctuations and high interest rates on outstanding international loans with The World Bank and International Monetary Fund. 

What can we do to STOP or at least lessen the amount of deforestation and conserve our own use of natural resources such as wood, oil and gas, electricity, minerals and elements, and water?  Brainstorm...here's a start:

• Always use both sides of paper when writing, drawing, photo-copying, faxing, etc.
• Recycle paper, cans, glass, and plastic.
• Read the newspaper on-line.
• Buy paper products made from recycled paper: notebook paper, paper towels, toilet paper, books, etc.
• Use pencils until they are stubs!  Think of pencils as gold (you'll never lose them if you do).
• Encourage your parents, relatives, and friends to buy furniture and wood that is Certified.  That means the wood was legally cut-down.
• If you buy a product and you notice they use wood chips to package it, write to the company and suggest they use another packaging material.
• Trees get cut down for cattle to graze.  Instead of eating meat, think of eating other sources of protein such as fish, soy, beans, whole-wheat, and nuts. 
• Buy organic fruits and vegetables.  That means there are no insecticides or pesticides (poisonous chemicals) sprayed on the food.  If these chemicals kill insects and pests that try and eat the vegetables, think about how harmful they can be to you and the environment.   
• Instead of buying gold or diamonds, which are mined and cause environmental damage, consider jewelry that is made from materials that are not mined...such as glass.
• Encourage your parents, relatives, and friends to drive fuel efficient cars that get good gas mileage.  Hybrid and bio-diesel cars get great mileage and use less or no gasoline. 
• Even better, whenever possible, walk, bike, carpool or use mass transit (bus or train).
• Save electricity by turning off lights, t.v., radio, computer, etc when you are not using them.
• Save water by NOT taking baths; instead take quick showers (turning off the water while you soap up) and then turning it back on to rinse quickly.
• While washing your hands and brushing your teeth, turn off the water.  You'll save gallons if you do. 
• When washing the dishes or your parent's car, turn off the water while washing it with soap.  Rinse quickly after washing. 
• Hmmm, can you think of other ways to conserve wood, oil and gas, electricity, minerals and elements, and water, etc...?  Brainstorm with your pen pal or a family member.

Okay, now show YOURSELF what you have LEARNED by answering the following questions:

1. What does deforestation mean?  (Hint: The prefix de- means to remove or reduce).

    2.   Why does deforestation happen?  For what purpose(s)?

    3.   The largest rainforest in the world is located in:

          a.) The Philipines

          b.) The Congo Basin in Central Africa

          c.)  Peru

          d.) The Amazon Basin of South America

4.  If 2 U.S. football fields are destroyed every second, how many football fields are destroyed in 5 seconds?

5.  If 50,000 species become extinct every year, how many will become extinct in half a year?

6.  T or F:  Rainforests contain over half of all plant and animal species in the world?

7.  Fill in the blank: One environmental consequence of deforestation is __________.  This occurs when heavy rains wash nutrients from the soil. 

8.  Name two things you can do as a global citizen to decrease deforestation.

9.  Biodiversity refers to:

     a.)  The loss of animals and plants

     b.)  A variety, or many different kinds of living things

     c.)  When animals lose their living space or habitat

     d.)  An increase in the earth's temperature

10. Fill in the blank:  Indigenous people _______ in the rainforest.  They depend on the forest for their food, clothing, medicine, cooking and building materials. 

Answers are located after the references (please don't look until you have completed all 10 questions). 

Pen Pal Letter:  Imagine you're in class and your teacher reads an article about a U.S. company which is deforesting a rainforest in Brazil.  Your teacher encourages you and your classmates to write letters to the company.  Using the information you have learned in this lesson, write your letter to convince the company to STOP the deforestation.  Use the facts you have learned to support and provide evidence for your position.  Write your letter in the Comments Section after this lesson.  You and your Pen Pal will read each other's letters and provide positive feedback to each other.  Please don't forget to type your name in the Comments Section. 

References:

Kricher, J. (1997).  A Neotropical Companion: An introduction to the animals, plants, & ecosystems of the New World Tropics.  New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 

Rainforest Action Network web-site:  http://ran.org/info_center/factsheets/04b.html

NASA web-site:  http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftp_docs/Deforestation.pdf

WRM Briefing:  This is an excellent site on deforestation!  http://www.wrm.org.uy/publications/briefings/underlying.html

Answers to questions:

1. Deforestation refers to the cutting, clearing, and removal of rainforest or related ecosystems into less bio-diverse ecosystems such as pasture, cropland, or plantations.

2. Logging, mining, oil and gas extraction, cattle ranching, agriculture, and International, National, and Local reasons. 

3. d.) The Amazon Basin in South America

4. 2 U.S. football field= 1 second, then

   ? U.S. football fields= 5 seconds

   You can set it up as a proportion: 2/1= n/5, n=10

5. 1/2 of 50,000 or 1/2 x 50,000 or 50,000/2= 25,000 species

6. True

7. erosion

8. Buy paper products made from recycled paper and become a vegetarian

9. b.) A variety, or many different kinds of living things

10. live

How did you do?  I bet you did great!

Note:  This integrated lesson is designed for 3rd grade students.  The following California standards are addressed in this lesson:

Reading: Vocabulary and Concept Development (1.6): Use sentence and word context to find the meaning of unknown words.

Reading Comprehension:  Comprehension and Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text (2.6): Extract appropriate and significant information from the text, including problems and solutions.

Writing applications:  Write personal and formal letters , thank-you notes, and invitations (2.3): Show awareness of the knowledge and interests of the audience and establish a purpose and context.

Life Science:  Students know when the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce; others die or move to new locations. 

Social Studies:  Students understand the role of rules and laws in our daily lives and the basic structure of the U.S. government (3.42): Discuss the importance of public virtue and the role of citizens, including how to participate in a classroom, in the community, and in civic life.

Algebra and Functions:  Students select appropriate symbols, operations, and properties to represent, describe, simplify, and solve simple number relationships: (1.1): Represent relationships of quantities in the form of mathematical expressions, equations, or inequalities.

Comments

[Katharine]

Costa Rica has about 25% of its total area in reserves and national parks; it has lost 76% of its tropical forests. In addition to tropical rainforests (which have constant warmth and humidity; over 100 inches of rain per year), we have tropical cloud forests (which are cool with continual mists and rain). We also have tropical dry forests. These forests are wet for half of the year and then dry for the remaining half; trees even lose their leaves. In Costa Rica a lot of the forest has been defoersted for agricultural production of bananas, coffee, pineapples, palm oil, and teak.

[Lisa M Algee]

Pen Pal Letter: Imagine you're in class and your teacher reads an article about a U.S. company which is deforesting a rainforest in Brazil. Your teacher encourages you and your classmates to write letters to the company. Using the information you have learned in this lesson, write your letter to convince the company to STOP the deforestation. Use the facts you have learned to support and provide evidence for your position. Write your letter in the Comments Section after this lesson. You and your Pen Pal will read each other's letters and provide positive feedback to each other.

[Martina]

Thank you, this website was very helpful to me, it was clear and straight, I understood everything (I am only 13) There should be more websites like this, that make you not only realise things but try to help you to solve them.
Keep up the good work!Raise awareness

[bOooM]

the cause of deforsteation has gone out of hand , and we should start finding ways to stop .... there has been a lot of climate change which is unusual due to the fact of global warming and the ozon layer! sO think smart and recycle paper

[Sarah]

Thanks!!!!
This site was a life saver for me with my speech i have to have memorized by tomorrow... wh00ps...
Anyways, don't listen to those other people who don't like it because it's perfect, to the point, and not one of those confusing things on college websites!!!! Thanks again!!!!

[Raquel]

Thnx so much!
like sarah i had to do a speech on the rainforest destruction. it was really really useful! its so simple and easier to understand. !T!H!A!N!K!!!!Y!O!U!

[pasha]

thank you it was really really really helpfull!!!!!!!!!!!!

=) =D =P...........THANK!!! YOU!!!

[ME]

This isn't very interesting. NEEDS MORE PICS!!! Oh and it needs to be in kid language cos like, im having trouble understanding some of the words

[Snow]

This site is very good

It helps alot. But I suggest more pictures, it needs to be colourful

[Jade]

This was very,very useful!!! I am doing a deforestation project, and this is just what I needed!!!!! This told me everything I needed to know!!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!

[bella]

ohemgee this is really good information!! finally...i was searching for some info but all of them werent as good as this!

[SAFFRON]

THANK YOU SOO MUCH!!! THIS WEBSITE HAS REALLY HELPED ME! I HAVE TO DO THIS BORIN GEOGERAPHY REPORT ON DEFORESTATION AND REALLY NEEDED HELP. UNTIL I FOUND THIS WEBSITE, THEY SHOULD DEFO MAKE SOME MORE WEBSITES LIKE THIS!!!

[Joshua]

Thank you for your Blog. I will use the statistics to introduce my ESL class (8th grade, low-intermediate to intermediate) to deforestation. Beyond that, there is a lot more I can use to advance the learning even further. Thanks again.

[jim]

MORE PICTURES

[tee]

this is cool not enough pics though

[gee]

cant belive its happening... an area larger than poland get cut down!a year and american football pitches a second!

[buy valtrex]

I will use the statistics to introduce my ESL class (8th grade, low-intermediate to intermediate) to deforestation.

[paige howard-hildige]

trees give us oxegen and animals are losing homes stop cutting down and burning down trees!

[Crowy]

A very informative and factual blog. Thankyou!

[kecleon45]

this is really helpful the teachers in my school actually suggested it!

[tiggerzz xxx]

this site was helpful but it does need more pics xx ta xx ;P

[buy propecia]

I am growing some mini lettuce and two grape plants, and i was wondering if you had ANY suggestions for fertilizer...thanks... all help is appreciated.

[Lucy]

thx so much this site ROCKS! i have to do an assinment on deforestation, and this was the best website for it thanku!

P.S it needs to be more colourful and it needs more pictures.

[cecilia mackie]

enlightning

[lozzie]

thanks i am 11 and it helped with homework!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!