DEFORESTATION- A MAJOR THREAT

Deforestation is the permanent devastation of native forests and woods. Deforestation happens in many ways: when trees are cut down to grow crops, for livestock, logging so wood can be used for building things like houses and furniture, for roads and neighborhoods, for firewood, and forest fires.

Deforestation is affecting our environment and the way our earth appears. At least eighty percent of our forests have been destroyed. Our rain forests are disappearing. It has been estimated that in the last two years around 728 km of forest – roughly half the size of Delhi- have been wiped out clear.

Although there may be a need to cut down trees to some extent, humans and other species need to protect the forests and woodlands. Trees are not just beautiful they also house many different kinds of plants and animals that could become extinct with deforestation. They also provide good things for humans and for the environment.

Deforestation disrupts the carbon cycle. The forest trees take carbon dioxide as well as pollutants from the atmosphere. When the trees are destroyed or burned or left to rot, carbon is released into the air as C02 and methane.

Methane and C02 contribute to the greenhouse effect. According to the World Rainforest Movement, twenty-five percent of our medicine comes from the forests. Deforestation affects our water, too. Trees take up water from their roots and then expel it into the air as moisture.

This moisture then gets converted into clouds that will bring rain. If we have fewer trees, the atmosphere will be drier. With fewer trees, our soil does not have as much support and much silt is released into the waters, resulting in loss of soil and more flooding. And, what happens to the animals that make a home in our trees? Where do they go?

To protect our forests and woodlands, the animals that live in them, the soil, the waters, the very air that we all breathe, and for all humanity?s health and well-being, we must use paper products responsibly and sparingly and without doubt we must make sure to recycle paper products.

Try to imagine the earth without our trees, not just because of the things above, but also for the beauty of nature. Almost all of us have walked down a road with the sun beating ruthlessly down on us and wished silently that there were some trees along that road. There are so many things associated with trees that affect our senses as well, like the soothing sounds of the wind blowing through the leaves, the sound of the branches swaying in the wind and the ever so sweet chirping of the sparrows at dawn and dusk.

Seriously can we imagine a world without our trees? No, definitely not. So we must all join hands to prevent deforestation, each in our little way. The world did exist before the making of paper. A lot of things like paper kitchen towels, facial tissues can be avoided if only we are not so obsessed with the word disposable. So go for that which is reusable and recyclable instead. Our trees are our legacy given to us by our ancestors, it?s the legacy we must leave our own.