Technical Writing

Forests—the Earth's Lungs

Forests have many functions of value both to humanity and to nature itself. Take away the trees, and the intricately linked ecosystem unravels. Forests absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, anchor soils, regulate the water cycle, protect against erosion, and provide a habitat for millions of species.

Destruction of the world's forest has impacts to the globe. The vast areas of trees have been called the "lungs of the earth". The forests "breathe" by removing large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air and giving off oxygen. The loss of green forests will increase CO2 levels in the atmosphere and result in global warming. On a more local level, the clearing of forest land diminishes the amount of evaporation. As a result, the rainfall decreases and the ground dries out, reducing its ability to support vegetation.Loss of forests also reduces the absorption of solar energy. Sunlight reflects off the barren ground instead of being absorbed by trees. This would tend to cause earth cooling, an opposite result from the carbon dioxide increase. If the cooling effect dominates, rainfall and air circulation might decrease worldwide.

Forest destruction, particularly in tropical forests, has increased rapidly in recent decades. Causes and dynamics differ in different regions. In the Amazon, cutting and burning forest for large-scale cattle ranching is the leading cause of deforestation. In Indonesia,and many other developing countries, logging is an important source of revenue. Colonization programs that bring poor and landless farmers from other areas also have an impact. But extraction of high-value tropical hardwoods such as mahogany often creates the first access to isolated areas.

It is often assumed that increasing population forces the poor to clear forest in order to make a living. This is undoubtedly so in some areas, but much destruction is driven by uncontrolled resource pillage by powerful, often corrupt, elites, with little social benefit, and often with support from international financial institutions. (The Suharto government's distribution of logging concessions to family members and cronies is an example.) No accurate means exist to quantify the contributions of different activities to deforestation in most regions.

As population grows and per capita consumption of forest products increases, countries must do more to manage forest resources on a sustainable basis. Technological improvements, including use of recycled paper and paperboard, have substantially reduced the amount of pulp needed to produce paper. In 1970 paper and paperboard consisted of 80% wood pulp. By 1997 more efficient production processes had reduced that figure to 56%. As a direct result, the production of pulp for paper is expected to grow by just over 1% a year over the next decade, about half the growth rate in the 1980s. Another attempt is forest products certification. Adopting a system that identifies forest products that come from sustainably managed forests could support efforts toward sustainability. As of 1998, about 10 million hectares of forest lands have been certified. Over 90% of the certified area is in northern, temperate forests, mostly in Europe and North America. Close to 60% of the entire certified area is in just two countries--Sweden and Poland--reflecting education and awareness campaigns in those countries.

While such initiatives are promising, they cannot be expected to halt forest destruction completely. Millions of people rely on forest products for their livelihoods. Sustainable forest management will require not just enforcement of laws that protect forests but also alternative sources of livelihood for many rural people.

Dear Chandra,
Good writing. Please click here to get more ideas about deforestation in Indonesia.

posted by Chandra Gondowasito @ 11:03 AM