Deforestation

Mother Earth is undergoing an environmental upheaval as never seenbefore. The unprecedented number of people bearing down on earth hasgreatly affected the environment of our planet. Whether we are rich orpoor, developed or underdeveloped nations, we are all together for betteror for worse for the well-being of this planet.Of all the problems besieging the planet, rampant deforestation isprobably the single most important problem we face today. Theecological problems directly and indirectly connected with deforestationare numerous and require immediate remedies. Global warming and lossof biodiversity are two problems of universal ramification for mankindthat need to be resolved if mankind is to continue to exist for the nextthousand years.After air, water, and food, trees are the most important natural resourcesthat mankind need. Otherwise, God would not have created trees in thethird day of the creation story in preparation for man’s beginnings andexistence. It is also one of the most important renewable resources thatwill serve mankind for eons if we only learn to respect the role they playin our lives. Since men first walked on the planet, he was surrounded bytrees with all their fruits and wildlife for his benefit. For centuries, it hasprovided mankind with all the resources necessary for him to survive theharsh climate. With so much of our forests lost to human needs andgreed, it is necessary for us to change the way we appreciate theimmense value of trees.All the wealth of the nations around the world is found in their naturalresources. They could be the under the sea, under the sand, under theforests and over the top of the land surfaces. Without these resources,civilizations would not have advanced to this point in time. Except forthe food from the sea and the forests on the land, all the other naturalresources are considered non-renewable. Yet, at the rate we are exploitingsome of these resources they too would become non-renewable and evenextinct.The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported in 2001 that “Inmany countries, illegal operations proliferate and governments areunable to control their own bureaucracies or to enforce adherence to the‘rules of the game’ by commercial corporations and civil society entities.In extreme circumstances, private corporations or powerful groups areable to sway government policies and ‘purchase’ decrees, legislation andregulations for their own benefit.”Poverty has driven many to seek their fortunes in the forests. Somepractice slash-and-burn while others try to eke out their livelihood bysmall-scale mining in the hope of striking it rich. But more often thannot, they end up with nothing to show but sufferings and ill-health for alltheir efforts. The same is true for all the workers in the forestry sector.They toil long hours under difficult hardship only to enrich theconcessionaires who stay in their air-conditioned offices in the cities.The poor indigenous people have lost most of their livelihood and areforced to turn to swidden cultivation to survive. As their ancestral landsare taken over by greedy government bureaucrats and given away todomestic and multinational companies, their only recourse was to fight alosing battle.There have been some effective actions undertaken mostly by the NGOs.It is doubtful if it will put a dent against the destructive forces now inplace and deeply entrenched. The only way to stop the greedy scums is tolegislate stiffer laws against illegal poaching and even wantondestruction of forestlands by licensed loggers and impose on them theultimate death penalty and carry it out without delay. It is often the fearof death that can force a greedy person to act rationally.In this book I have tried to set down the many causes of deforestation,the consequences of what will happen if we fail to act to protect the treesand enact measures to minimize the problems.