Effects of Deforestation

Introduction

Millions of different species of flora and wildlife across the world find refuge in forests. The advantages of forests, however, go well beyond the fauna that calls them home. By balancing greenhouse gas emissions, improving the quality of the air in our atmosphere, and preventing climate change, they play a critical part in the global carbon cycle. But when businesses clear more and more of our forests to create a place for industry and agriculture, the effects affect the whole globe. Every year, deforestation damages our ecosystem, has an influence on human life, and results in the deaths of millions of animals.

What is Deforestation?

Deforestation is the widespread destruction of trees in large numbers. The word is most frequently used to describe the removal of trees by people, but other natural events like fire or flooding can also do so. Deforestation typically takes place to make way for other uses, such farming, or to gather lumber from the fallen trees.

Whatever the cause of deforestation, it always has the same effect: the extinction of an ecosystem that formerly played a critical role in safeguarding our planet.

Impacts of Deforestation

Millions of wild animal and plant species find shelter in forests, but their capacity to absorb greenhouse gas emissions keeps the globe habitable for all of us. Injuring forests for quick financial gain reduces the long-term odds of our species' existence.

The most direct effects of deforestation are felt by those who live close to woods. Since forested land offers resources like fertile soil for farming and pure, fresh water for drinking, these marginalised and vulnerable groups are reliant on trees for their survival.

Health

Animals and insects seek refuge in the crowded settlements that surround woods when humans destroy their homes in the forests. There is an unparalleled amount of unnatural and hazardous contact between humans and animals as a result of animal migration into human land. This is because infections may be transmitted from animals to people. These microorganisms are responsible for the zoonotic diseases they cause (Zoonotic Diseases: Diseases that Spread from Animals to Humans). According to a Harvard School of Public Health report from 2021, we must alter our agriculture methods and save our forests if we want to stop the spread of zoonotic diseases.

Sadly, places that are losing their forests already have higher rates of zoonotic infections. Humans contract malaria through mosquitoes, and mosquito populations increase when biodiversity declines. Deforestation is linked to higher malaria prevalence, according to a study from 2020, which implies that forest protection may occasionally be appropriate as part of a portfolio of anti-malarial measures.

• A 2019 case study in Indonesian communities strengthened the link between malaria and deforestation − researchers discovered that a 10% rise in malaria incidence was caused by a 1% reduction in forest cover.

• Deforestation can lead to zoonotic diseases other than malaria. According to a 2017 research, "more frequent contact between infected wild animals and humans" is likely to be the cause of the recent loss of forests in Central and West Africa, which has led to ebola epidemics.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), "habitat loss owing to forest area change and the extension of human populations near forest regions" raises the danger of animals infecting people. We must save ecosystems from destruction if we are to prevent pandemics brought on by the spread of zoonotic diseases in the future.

Food Insecurity

Communities close to forests benefit from clean water, food, and employment opportunities. Native Americans either develop crops in the rich soil or directly pick food and medicine from many plant species that grow in the forest. These populations become food insecure as a result of the corporations' logging operations because they lack the means to grow the food they require to survive. Tropical forests provide food for hundreds of millions of people, yet the areas with the biggest concentrations of people who lack access to adequate nutrition are those where tropical forests are found. When it comes to food poverty, deforestation feeds yet another vicious cycle. To feed expanding urban populations, industrial agricultural businesses turn forests into land for soy, palm oil, and cattle grazing.

This process depletes the land's fertility and biodiversity, rendering it unusable in the long run for feeding populations. In a recent study, the FAO said that "the costs of degradation need to be evaluated against the value obtained," adding that "forest degradation may be a danger to food security but also a product of efforts to get it." The industrial agricultural sector is destroying forests in order to increase food production, which worsens global hunger.

Locals and Their Means of Subsistence

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), approximately 25% of the world's population, including many of the world's poorest communities, depends on forests for a living. With whole Indigenous communities being uprooted by deforestation, the world's Indigenous inhabitants experience some of the harshest effects of forest degradation.

Deforestation is driving thousands of Indigenous people off their own land in Brazil's Amazon areas. Protections for these communities were completely removed by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, enabling large companies to intrude even further on wooded areas. Additionally, Bolsonaro abolished organisations tasked with defending their rights, forcing Indigenous Brazilians to band together and confront the issue of deforestation on their own.

FAQs

Qns 1. What impact would deforestation have on people?

Ans. The spread of deadly illnesses like malaria and dengue fever is increasing as a result of deforestation, which is another alarming consequence. The loss of forests can serve as a breeding ground for infectious illnesses that affect humans and are spread by insects for a variety of ecological reasons.

Qns 2. How will the future be impacted by deforestation?

Ans. A variety of issues for indigenous people might result from the loss of trees and other vegetation, including climate change, desertification, soil erosion, less harvests, floods, and an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Qns 3. What impact would deforestation have on people?

Ans. The spread of deadly illnesses like malaria and dengue fever is increasing as a result of deforestation, which is another alarming consequence. The loss of forests can serve as a breeding ground for infectious illnesses that affect humans and are spread by insects for a variety of ecological reasons.

Qns 4. How will the future be impacted by deforestation?

Ans. A variety of issues for indigenous people might result from the loss of trees and other vegetation, including climate change, desertification, soil erosion, less harvests, floods, and an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Qns 5. How can poverty result from deforestation?

Ans. Over the past few decades, deforestation has increased on a global scale. 90% of the lives of those who live in severe poverty depend on forests. These resources must be replaced over a long period of time after being depleted by human activity, which further increases poverty.