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Emily Howser
Mrs. N. Miller
English 4A College Prep 5th Hour
November 4, 2011
Deforestation
Deforestation is extremely devastating but has many unique side effects. It is
scientifically proven that deforestation is a global issue. In this paper the focus is on what
deforestation is, its contributions to the world and solutions to decrease deforestation rates. In
combination with the solutions my goal is to protect the forests that I love and cherish and to
reduce the effects on these forests and the plants and animals that life within them. Deforestation
is a major problem and throughout this paper, you will begin to understand what some of the
main issues are and where I stand on the issue.
According to the World Resources Institute, more than 80 percent of the Earth’s natural
forests already have been destroyed due to deforestation. ("National Geographic") The biggest
culprit of deforestation is agriculture. Forests are cut down for crops or grazing livestock.
Deforestation also occurs unintentionally as a result of wildfires. Deforestation causes animals
to lose their natural habitat and causes plant species to die out but with the expanding human
population forests are being cut down to provide lumber and space for human habitats.
According to National Geographic, “deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive
scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land.” Tropical rainforests hold a diverse
population of plants and animals, many of the plants found in tropical rainforests are used in a
wide variety of medicines, destroying these forests causes these plants to become extinct and
humans lose main ingredients for important medicines.
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With the loss of trees comes the loss of animal species dependant on the trees cover for
hunting and hiding from predators. Certain species of animals are extremely vital to the spread of
seeds from plants and also for the fertilizer of the overall forest. When we destroy these animals’
habitats this hurts diverse species drastically and without certain animal’s rainforest life can
easily start dying out. For example, in Central Africa, the loss of species like gorillas, chimps,
and elephants reduces the ability of seed dispersal and slows the recovery of damaged forest.
Loss of habitat in the tropics also affects the regeneration of temperate species. North American
migratory birds, important seed dispersers of temperate species, declined 1-3 percent annually
from 1978-1988. (Mongabay.com)
Trees hold the earth’s soil in place and although rainforests only cover about seven
percent of the world the loss of these forests can cause major erosion problems, causing
landmass to be blown or washed away. Since the human population is growing steadily, humans
are needing more room to establish homes, and cutting back some rainforests gives space to
build homes, not to mention that the lumber required for these houses are taken from rainforests.
The main reason for deforestation is due to agriculture, with farmers needing to supply more
food for the human population, more room is needed to farm so cutting back forests has become
a way for these farmers to grow crops.
Deforestation is a major problem that needs to be addressed now. With the decrease in
the plant and animal species, the rest of the world is affected. This effect is seen as either a
decrease of medicinal plants, which causes certain medicines to vanish due to the poor
availability of ingredients, or, by a loss of certain animal species. We need to preserve our
ecosystem and cut back on cutting down.
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Seventy percent of all animal and plant species live in tropical rainforests. Tropical
rainforests cover about seven percent of Earth’s surface. Rainforests are an important factor to
the atmosphere, they are the main source of carbon recycling on earth, and rainforests also
prevent soil erosion and land mass loss. Deforestation has become a problem now, people are
cutting down too many of the trees in these rainforests and are damaging many species of plants
and animals, but with the human population growing, space and lumber are needed from these
massive forests for agriculture and home building.
Many plant species in rainforests are used in medicinal practices all around the world.
Cutting down trees has endangered many important species of plants that are beneficial to
humans. Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic impact
is a loss of habitat for millions of species. ("National Geographic") Seventy percent of Earth’s
land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys
their homes. Rainforests also help prevent global warming; with deforestation green house
gasses build up and cause global warming. Trees absorb carbon dioxide that humans and animals
give off and this cuts green house gasses down.
Deforestation changes soil structure from loose and porous to compact which results in
massive runoff which in turn causes erosion of soil; this also pollutes rivers and streams by
causing excess silt and soil buildup. It is said that rapid deforestation does not let scientists
discover new homeopathic drugs from native plants in these forests. Animals suffer from the
impact of deforestation since it destroys their habitats and food source in some cases, for
example, if an herbivore lost its food source and were to completely die off, a predator of that
animal would lose its food source as well and its species too would die off. This trend would
continue forever as more animals became affected by the loss of the beginning species.
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Although these are some negative effects, deforestation is also needed for agriculture and
resources for the ever-growing human population. Farmers cut back these forests to clear
farming land to grow crops needed to feed the human population, room is also needed for home
building. The resources acquired from cutting down these trees are used worldwide. Lumber for
building, and paper for writing, in this sense deforestation is a necessary problem for humans.
Overall the best way to balance these pros and cons is to find a solution that benefits both sides,
maybe by cutting down less trees or planting new forests in their places.
This idea will need a lot of consideration in order to fully take effect. It may be difficult
to convince others that cutting fewer trees down is a good thing. This is because trees actually
provide many essential materials that many of us take for granted. This act of being unaware of
where our materials come from, or how we receive them, leads us to believe that there really is
no problem.
Many people don’t know where some of their everyday objects come from, such as
paper, wood pencils, even lumber for their houses. Of course they know all of these wood
products come from trees, but do they know that thousands of acres of rainforests are cut down
everyday day to provide these items? Rainforests are being destroyed every day and these
rainforests aren’t easily replaceable. A way to save these forests is to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
A more workable solution is to carefully manage forest resources by eliminating clear-cutting to
make sure that forest environments remain intact. The cutting that does occur should be balanced
by the planting of enough young trees to replace the older ones felled in any given forest. The
number of new tree plantations is growing each year, but their total still equals a tiny fraction of
the Earth’s forested land. (National geographic)
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Many animals and insects depend on trees for shelter and food, birds, squirrels, raccoons
and plenty of other animals spend most of their lives in a tree, even when a tree is dead a
multitude of insects and other organism still use that tree. Pause for a minute and think, what
would it be like to have someone come to your house and take all of the bricks and wood away
leaving nothing behind? Most people generally wouldn’t be happy about that, when a person cuts
down rainforests this is exactly what’s happening to organisms that use that tree as their home.
Various solutions to deforestation have been suggested and tried to see what effect they
had. Some were more successful than others. One solution is sustainable Commercial Logging
Options - this is an attempt to regulate logging to ensure it is done in a sustainable and
environmentally friendly way by permitting logging at a minimal rate. Environmentalists believe
this scheme had a negligible effect as more deforestation occurred. This would probably be more
effective if better incentives were given to those who were sustainable. The logging need to be
better regulated and enforcement carried out to ensure the rules were stuck to. Deforestation by
those trying to make a living from the forest is on a small scale and has little effect.
(“effectsofdeforestation.com”)
Everyone can help stop deforestation by playing a small but significant part, simply by
reusing, recycling and reducing the amount of tree based products they take in. Recycling is
simple and easy; instead of everyone throwing paper away they can recycle it and save many
trees that way. Reusing products is another easy way to help. People can reuse by purchasing
recycled paper instead of normal paper. Lastly, reducing our use is another way to help in
stopping deforestation. People can hold on to pieces of wood they may not need for a certain
project say like for a birdhouse, get creative and maybe you could use that insignificant piece in
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the future, also when writing on paper a person can write on the front and back and save a sheet.
These are simple and easy ways for a person to help with the deforestation problem.
The benefits of stopping deforestation are many. Animal and plant species will be saved
from extinction. The atmosphere will benefit greatly since the trees will be cutting out a large
amount of greenhouse gasses. Soil erosion will be stopped saving landmass. My side on this
argument is to stop deforestation and preserve animal wildlife and plant species.
By preserving the world’s rainforests we will save hundreds of species of animals since
70 percent of species live in rainforests ("National Geographic"). We need to stop thinking about
just ourselves and think about how our choices now will affect future generations. At the rate
we’re going now it won’t be long until all the natural rainforests are completely diminished, or
destroyed. When and if this happens, the future generations won’t be able to experience the
wonder of the forests and their inhabitants and it is possible that undiscovered medicinal plants
will continue to stay that way.
Now is the time for future generations to face this crisis before it cannot be corrected and
to learn as much about this problem so as to hopefully find a better and more feasible way to
approach a solution and attain a plan to help out the future of man. This problem did not occur
overnight and it will take time and effort to deal with this situation, we need competent and
caring people who care about this earth and encourage them to visit other countries so that they
may begin to help in establishing a protocol with that country’s government to help find ways to
improve on this problem and work safely within that country. Not only the government but large
companies such as Weyerhaeuser, which is essential in creative solution technology, should also
be included in the equation to help solve the problem further. There are many positives to
solving this problem that should not be overlooked, but as stated earlier, it is essential that we as
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one world begin working on fixing the problem at hand so that we may save the planet’s great
rainforests and its inhabitants.
Some solutions that I feel that are essential to ending this problem of deforestation
include, cutting back on cutting down, and enforcing laws with a more strict attitude on illegal
deforestation. The best solution that I was able to come up with was the cutting back on cutting
down idea, along with the replanting of trees. This solution remains the best because it reduces
deforestation while still providing humans with their lumber needs. If one area begins to reduce
the amount of trees that they cut down, being the cutting back portion of the idea, then they may
help to influence other surrounding areas to begin the same practice. Replacing lost trees with
new saplings will help in the long run to preserve the forests and diverse organisms that reside
among the canopies and forest grounds. A great example that I recently discovered of this
particular situation was a child’s storybook written by Dr. Seus entitled The Lorax. This book
talks about how deforestation can make species of all kinds disappear. The moral of this story
was that unless somebody does something about the problem addressed in the book and this
paper, then there is no hope in ending deforestation and earth will soon cease to be the habitat of
forests, plants, and animals and will become a desolate land.
In attempt to reach the public in the hopes of sharing my thoughts on solutions to
reducing deforestation, I will start simplistically, but with a larger goal in mind. Like the single
person in the book, I want to be the one who makes the change to save the forests so that there is
no longer an “unless” statement. I could begin this goal by starting in my high school with a
local club regarding the town’s lumber usage and collecting data on the number of trees cut
down and for what reasons each year. Eventually, I would hope that the people involved in my
club would then continue to pass on the message to those around them and encourage everyone
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they know to take awareness and begin the change of reducing deforestation in our area. I would
hope that as more people become aware, this new larger mass of people will be able to truly
make a difference by continuing to spread the word all across our country as well as others and
will slow down deforestation around the world.
Make a strong opening sentence to begin this section. What is the best solution to the social
issue? How will you take the solution tot he public? Here you will put the best solution into
action. Make sure you remember to address the audience of the paper. There should not be a lot
of rhetorical questions.
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Works Cited
"Deforestation." National Geographic. National Geographic, 06/22/2010. Web. 7 Nov 2011.
"United Nations Environment Programme." United Nations Environment Programme. UNEP,
n.d. Web. 3 Nov 2011.
. "Effects of deforestation." effectsofdeforestation.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov 2011.
. "Deforestation." NationalGeographic. National Geographic, 2010. Web. 30 Nov 2011. <
“Deforestation.” National Geographic. National Geographic, 06/22/2010. Web. 7 Nov 2011.
"Deforestation." National Geographic. National Geographic, 06/22/2010. Web. 8 Nov 2011.
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