Deforestation is the clearing of the trees. This is usually committed due to illegal logging and industrialization. Most of the land areas are converted into commercial and residential buildings. There are countries that are committing deforestation: Ecuador, Haiti, Nepal, North Korea, Indonesia, Ghana, Benin, Philippines, Nigeria and Honduras. Most of this countries are covered by forest but have drastically deforested over the years. Not only that there is deforestation, no trees are planted back to the land where there was.
To prevent the effects of deforestation, afforestation may be done. Afforestation is the planting of the trees in a land that has never been planted before. It is very rare for afforestation to take place. In the world today, most lands are used for industrialization – housing projects. Also, lands are classified into agricultural or commercial. Most of the lands were good for agriculture, until the nutrients of it are used; then it is converted into a commercial land. At present, because of the continuous booming of the population, there are less land areas that may be afforested. However, there are some countries who have done afforestation.
Ireland has only ten percent (10%) of forest. Their government subsidizes the forestry one hundred percent. This means the citizens are encouraged to build forests that is paid by the government but the forester must follow the standards of the government in order for it to be qualified under its subsidy. The grant is for 15 years and is income tax free.
India also has passed a law called Compensatory Afforestation Fund. This was drafted in 2015, and the bill plans to spend $6.2 billion to increase the forest cover from 21.34% to 33%.
For afforestation to take place, it needs study and process because the land may not be suitable for planting. Nonetheless, afforestation is done prevent soil erosion. Soil erosion happens when the topsoil wear away due to water or wind. The plants keep the soil intact; hence the soil is prevented from eroding.
There is a process to afforestation. Most importantly is the soil survey. The soil must be studied in order to know what kind of plants may planted in it. Next step is the biomass survey. Here the species that may live in the prospective forest is determined. This is to know what needs to be done to protect the ecology that will be created. The seedlings are first prepared before actually planting to the actual site. Afforestation takes a while before the society will benefit from such.
Our forests are important to protect the Earth from the effects of global warming. Deforestation is one of the main cause why the effects of it are increasing every year. No trees are absorbing the carbon dioxide emitted by the society. There are also no trees that will serve as a shade to the land. Flood will continue to damage the cities because there are no trees holding the water coming from the mountains affected by the deforestation. Worse than the flooding are the soil eroding whenever there are strong rains that may cause deaths of people.
The effects of the global warming is increasing and the planting of the trees takes time. There are several NGOs and government entities who are giving importance to the forest. This is by putting stringent policies with regard to the cutting of trees and planting back the forests. More than action, the government must educate the society of the importance of the forests to prevent the damaging effects of the deforestation.
India and Ireland has already set the best example for the rest of the country. The number one catalyst of the forestation is the government.
