Forests on Earth

Forests are essential to life on Earth. 300 million people worldwide live in forests and 1.6 billion depend on them for their livelihoods. Forests also provide habitats to millions of different types of animals, insects, and plants, many of which are undiscovered. Forests inspire adventure and provide places for recreation. They are the reason we are able to breathe, and the provider of the plants, animals, and trees that we use for products like medicine, clothing, food, and more.

Forests are also home to 80 percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. They contain the ecosystems of which many creatures and plants flourish and survive in. The most complex and biologically diverse forests on earth are rainforests, such as the Amazon Rainforest. They have plentiful amounts of rain throughout the year and are always warm.  Forests such as the amazon also have a crucial role in climate change; soaking up carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that would be free in the atmosphere, contributing to climate change, if not for forests.

Millions of people every year travel to places such as The Amazon for the rich species and types of life, and for experiencing the spectacular scenery and the vastness of the landscape it contains. What many visitors don’t know is that the rainforest is slowly narrowing down.

The deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest substantially increased in between the years of 1991and 2004. By 2004, the Amazon’s annual forest loss rate was almost 17000 miles.

Deforestation of the Amazon is caused by various types of factors like road works, medicines, and housing and farming areas. Farming in the amazon is quite difficult because of its soil. Before the 1970’s, accessing the forest’s densely forested area was almost impossible, until constructions of many highways such as the Trans Amazon Highway accelerated deforestation.  Deforestation is happening because of agricultural produce, livestock pasture, and animals for the food industry such as cattle, and their leather as well.  All these types of deforestation impact people’s livelihoods and threaten a wide variety of animals and plants.

Brazil has effectively stopped some deforestation, while many countries and organizations are also trying to help, as well as celebrities who are able to spread the cause. If huge corporations have the money and ability to cause deforestation, they almost certainly have the ability to save them as well. Major brands and corporations should make recyclable products, and to respect the land of the indigenous people of the Amazon, as they take good care of it. Strong government law and policies are also a good approach such as REDD+, which offers rewards to developing countries that lower their deforestation rates. The U.S. has also used the Lacey Act to stop the market for illegally sold wood. When big organizations like WorldWildLife and other conservation and wildlife organizations join to save our environment, it makes approaching deforestation management simpler with such big organizations working together. Also as an individual, we can all try to not buy any products with palm oil or leather as the animals and plants all these products derive from create a major deforestation issue every single day.