Darkness*

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Introduction

Deforestation is “the cutting down and removal of all or most of the trees in a forested area.”

Deforestation is becoming very common today. All over the world, people are cutting down trees for the increasing need of materials, or the need for the land. Deforestation can erode soils, contribute to desertification and the pollution of waterways, and decrease biodiversity through the destruction of habitat.

The case study of Indonesia, is a very clear example of what deforestation is, and thus, this report would be focusing on the situation of deforestation in Indonesia.

Case Study: Indonesia

Indonesia has had fantastic economic growth over the years, and the main price of this growth, is the millions of acres of deforested areas. Trees are cut down, and the wood pulp could be used to make furniture, paper, and other different items which are in demand all over the world.

This has definitely played an important in the development of the Indonesian economy, but at the same time, it has caused a lot of damage to Indonesia itself, and the entire world for that matter.

Indonesia has lost 35.4percent of its original forests, and only 28.5 percent of its old forest remain in its original state.

Forests replenish the oxygen supply and remove carbon dioxide from the air. As carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere prevents global temperatures from rising and helps regulate temperatures of the Earth. With the burning of the trees, many greenhouse gases are also produced in the process, and this gradually increases the temperature of the Earth over time. This gradual increase can easily cause the rising of sea levels with the melting of the ice, and also causing natural disasters, like droughts or floods. The roots of the trees also hold the soil particles together and prevent rain from removing the soil, it also prevents the nutrients from being washed away due to soil erosion.

Logged forests are more likely to catch fire than unlogged forest, because of the debris left on the ground after logging, and because logging opens up the canopy, allowing more sunlight to enter and dry the forest floor. According to IUCN: (IUCN The conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Asia and the Pacific) “The lowland rainforest of Sumatra and Kalimantan [the areas that are now worse affected by fire] have been particularly heavily logged ...very little is pristine.”

As the forests in Indonesia are being removed, many animals are also losing their natural habitat, and would have to go to a new place, this evidently shows that the ecosystem would be disturbed, and the animals might die, as a result of losing their natural habitat, or enter human territory and cause disruptions to daily life of humans. For example, international demand for palm oil has has rapidly expanded production and accelerated habitat loss, thus, the habitat of many orangutans had been destroyed and this is strongly affected the population of the orangutans, from 35,000 in 1996 to 20,000 in 2006, according to the Wildlife conservations Society-Indonesia.

Here in Singapore, we too are strongly affected with the burning of trees in Indonesia. There is the “annual haze” that we experience as the air quality drastically declines. As we complain about the horrible haze we experience here, far away from Indonesia, we can only imagine how it would be like for the people near the fires as the trees are being cleared during deforestation. Schools would have to be closed for the time being and most people would have to stay in doors as the air would be greatly polluted, as the dust particles created as the trees are burnt, are allowed to fly freely, and it would be unhealthy for us to breathe in these dirt and dust. The most serious health hazard is the multitude of chemicals, including irritants such as sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and ammonia that are present during the burning of vegetation

Indonesia forests’ remains after a fire

Reasons why clearing of forests in Indonesia cannot be totally stopped

Fire is considered by the Indonesian farmers an easy means of clearing their forests for agricultural purposes like starting plantations. By burning down their forests, they get to save money and time, as it is cheap and fast.

The Indonesian government also does not take action against people and companies which burn down forests. Many of these people are somewhat indirectly connected to the government and the government does not pursue them when they burn down forests.

Clearage of forests through fires

Suggestions

Measures such as not wasting paper are ways to save the trees. Without excessive usage of paper, less trees would need to be cut down and thus, this will decrease the rate of deforestation. There are many ways of preventing wastage of paper. Firstly, when printing on a piece of paper, use 2 sides of the paper to ensure minimal wastage of precious paper, Secondly, if possible, we should all try to use recycled paper instead using fresh sheets of paper as much as possible.

Another method would include companies using special wood products that come from certified renewable forests which cut trees in a way where minimal trees are being cut down. This would ensure that the number of trees cut down in a particular forest would not be too high and all forests can still be environments for the animals. Phenomenons like forests being totally cut down will not happen if this precaution is taken.

Thirdly, parks can be created around the forests to promote the use of trees. By building parks around forest areas, it can protect the forest trees from being cut down and in turn be useful to mankind too in another way.

Fourthly, stricter laws can be imposed on the Indonesian people so that they will not burn down forests. Fines and punishments can be enforced so that in the presence of all these, the Indonesian people will not burn down forests illegally and instead do it the legal way.

The First Awakening

The trees are falling,

It’s time we did something,

Before it’s too late,

Or else all trees will be dead,

Save the trees,

Let them live,

It would look more green,

With lots of trees,

By saving paper,

You make Earth better,

Let’s all gather,