The issues of deforestation, biodiversity lost and soil erosion have had an already enormous impact on the habitat of Madagascar. If continued, the actions currently taking place that degrade the environment, particularly agriculture, the lands of Madagascar with reach a state of disrepair and biodiversity will be permanently effected, if it hasn’t been already. Like many other African nations, Madagascar is suffering immensely from unsustainable farming and this much change immediately in order to protect the fragile and bountiful ecosystem.
How serious are the problems
Deforestation is the primary driver for the issues of soil erosion and biodiv3ersity loss. Deforestation has had an incredibly tremendous impact, removing between an estimated
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The world’s fourth largest island is particularly full of life and diversity. There are over 12,000 identified plant species and hundreds of other birds, mammals, reptiles and fish in Madagascar and it is estimated that nearly 8,000 endemic species are at risk due to deforestation (Clark).
What are their implications for the future of Madagascar?
Clearly the issues of deforestation, biodiversity loss and soil erosion are incredibly serious. Each of these problems has major local impacts. Madagascar, if it continues down this path, will be faced with even more severe droughts, flooding, species extinction, further land degradation, increased global warming, and an even poorer nation. Without intervention, Madagascar will eventually become a desolate wasteland and an example of just how much damage deforestation can do.
As the narrator of the video done by National Geographic says, “there’s not a lot left here, this stuff is not coming back in our lifetime. It’s not coming back in a hundred lifetimes” (Saving Madagascar's Forests). The future implications of the current practices taking place in Madagascar is total desolation. Without intervention and proper resource management, the people of Madagascar will destroy their once bountiful
The illegal hunting and trade of primate meat is a large contributing factor to the decline of primate species in the tropics. This, in addition to habitat loss and fragmentation, disease, and the pet trade, is putting many primate species at high risk of extinction. Poverty, population growth, construction of roads, emergence of regional and international markets, and new hunting technology are triggering the increased hunting pressure on forest mammals. Primate species are especially vulnerable to increased hunting pressure because of their slower reproductive cycles. The decline of primate species must be stopped to avoid their extinction and the potential consequences that this could have for tropical forests.
Human populations have grown long beyond the point at which these activities can be practiced without permanent destruction. As the forest is destroyed, so is the habitat for Madagascar 's unique plant and animal species. The loss of habitat due to deforestation is the biggest single threat to Madagascar 's wildlife. Although the exact extent of forest loss is not known with certainty, only 10 percent of Madagascar 's forests remain. Also, recent estimates suggest that 1-2 percent of Madagascar 's remaining forests are destroyed each year, and that a staggering 80-90 percent of Madagascar 's land area burns each year (Kremen).
The government has passed many conservation policies to protect animals, eco-systems, plants and trees itself and indigenous people’s way of life, but many of these policies get overlooked and require a lot of extra work. How it affects the rest of the world- This action is permanent, and all of the world is targeted as a potential setting for deforestation. It is predicted that the continuing action may result in very few rainforest across the entire globe. Cutting trees can also be harmful to our ozone layer, which protects earth from dangerous radiation.
The ecosystem that I found to be the most interesting is the Daintree Rainforest. This rainforest is estimated to be 180 million years old and has a very fascinating and distinctive land. The Daintree Rainforest is a tropical rainforest that is located on the north east coast of Queensland, Australia; taking up a total of 0.1 percent of Australia’s land mass. The Daintree Rainforest is the oldest existing tropical rainforest in the world and the biggest rainforest located in Australia, it is a total of over 1,200 square kilometers in size. This forest got its famous name from a man named Richard Daintree, a 19th century Australian geologist and photographer.
Causal Argument: Deforestation in Australia The recent urgency for climate action has resulted from a number of varying factors; Most of which are human induced activities. One of the most prevalent and damaging human activities that have led to the need for climate action is deforestation. Deforestation refers to “the decrease in forest areas across the world that are lost for other uses such as agricultural croplands, urbanization, or mining activities” (“What is Deforestation?”). This concern has most notably affected the country of Australia, with data showing that almost half of forest cover in Australia “has been cleared in the last two centuries, making it one of the worst developed countries for deforestation” (“Deforestation In Australia”).
This exhibits his change in demeanor from cutting down one tree to an abundance of trees. It shows the connection between the human industry destroying one tree and gradually taking many to satisfy the demand. According to National Geographic, nearly 80 percent of the world’s natural forest is depleted and “up to 90 percent of West Africa’s coastal rain forests have disappeared since 1900” (National Geographic).
Indonesia is one of the largest palm oil producers in the world, specifically in the Sumatra area. In 2003, 54% of Sumatra area is covered by palm forest. Unfortunately, currently Sumatra have lost its forest cover by 25%, according to the data in 2014. Deforestation in Sumatra is caused by irresponsible palm oil producers by either burning the forest areas, cutting without re-planting, and more. Not only it damages the environment but also animal species such as the Sumatran Orangutan.
This process required cutting down large areas of forest causing habitat
What is a rainforest? It is a dense, wet forest where the rainfall is 98 to 177 inches per year. There are two types of rainforests; Tropical, which has no dry season it is a wet tropical rainforest which has an average rainfall less than 66 inches. The second type is the Temperate rainforest, this type primarily occurs in an oceanic moist climate. When you have a chance to go to a rainforest you will be amazed at its natural beauty filled with beautiful colors, of plants, and extoic animals found there isn’t any place like it on the planet and, trees as tall as large buildings.
An estimated 18 million acres of forest is destroyed every year, almost the size of Massachusetts and Vermont combined (Global Resources Assessment 2010). Deforestation is occurring in Liberia which affects global warming and the amount and variety of natural resources and animal-borne illnesses. Liberia, a tropical country in West Africa, is considered one of the last strongholds of forests (Brown). Despite the government efforts to protect the forests by identifying them as National Parks or National Forests, and Norway paying Liberia 150 million dollars to end deforestation, deforestation continues (Morawski). Larger than the area of Maryland, twenty-five percent of Liberian forests have been sold to logging companies (Hirsch; Lupick).
Biodiversity is all life on the planet. How much life is out there, however, is still quite unclear and by this time, possibly many new species may find out. Appraise of around a range from 2 million to 100 million species, with only about 1.4 million are named at this current time. The attainable diversity of uncharacterized species is very much frustrating, visualizes how many species are here and others are still missing or unrecognized. However, now days where globalization intercepts species have begun to dissolve at a very alarming and devastating rate.
An estimated eighteen million areas of forest, which is roughly the size of the country of Panama, are lost each year due to deforestation, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Deforestation has multiple detrimental effects on the Earth. Companies are illegally cutting down trees, forcing animals to have no choice but to change the way they live, or the result could be deadly. Also, destroying these precious trees, causes the climate in these areas to dramatically change, and affect the way we live, or survive.
Deforestation: Good or Bad? By Tristan McDermott (Final Copy) Deforestation is a controversial environmental issue, with some people believing that it is necessary to cut down trees to make room for things such as buildings and roads, while others believe that it is bad because it is destroying the environment. I believe that deforestation, while it does have a few positive effects, mainly has negative effects that massively outweigh the positive effects. According to an article written by National Geographic, (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation/) deforestation is a major contributor to global warming: “Trees also play a critical role in absorbing the greenhouse gases that fuel global warming.
Without the transpiration of trees, deforested areas become drier. Changes in weather and shelter cause deforested areas to undergo a tremendous loss of biodiversity. The scientist hasn’t even come close to testing 1% of the plants in the tropical rainforests for medicinal use, but they regularly discover species that are helpful to us the people. But, these forests and their potential benefits are looking like they may disappear by the end of this century if we don’t stop
Hence, deforestation increases. This is another effect of overpopulation that impacts the worsening of the environment [2]. For example decreased forest size increases the amount of carbon in the environment. More specifically, deforestation affects the wildlife and results in biodiversity loss and species extinction [1].