Deforestation

Hiya people! So Slumdog Millionaire has put the Indian shanty on the map of the world eh. May be the next lot of rubbernecks will want to go on a tour of our slums. Anyway, returning to more thought provoking happenings the wide world over. Many have heard the expression ‘crash and burn’. What about this one ‘slash and burn’? For those of us who’ve never heard this before read on.

We know that trees are being felled at alarmingly high rates and can lead to many undesirable side effects. Our tropical rain forests are the natural habitat of millions of organisms and creatures (not using this figuratively). Most species of primates cannot live anywhere else but in these rich rain forests. I know you must have heard this often times but the human race benefits enormously from what the trees have to give. From spices for food to life saving medicines, the rain forests are like the earth’s life support system. An estimate puts the total number of medicines that come from the forests at 25%. This excludes cures that have yet to be discovered or that have been lost forever.

Did you know that when Europe was under the Roman Empire, almost all of it was forest land? The ‘Eternal City’ might have not had its empire forever but has certainly kept the planet alive for longer. This is in sharp contrast to today’s climate in which 500,000 hectares disappear in a single week. And this is not a recent figure at all.

Burgeoning populations to the point of an explosion in developing and third world countries have also aggravated the problem. Displaced or dispossessed peasants are forced to look for land in virgin forests. They practice what is called the ‘slash and burn’ method, notably in countries like Brazil. According to this method trees are felled and the remains are burned. Ash from the burned remains is used as fertilizer. However, the soil is rendered infertile as its nutrients are consumed by surrounding organisms. Some researchers regard slash and burn to be the biggest cause of deforestation.

What about the logging industry? Many million acres are denuded annually for commercial and property industries. McDonald's would require hundreds of square miles of trees to meet the amount of paper required for a year’s supply of packaging. But now with consumers watching keenly, even behemoths have realized they cannot flex their corporate muscles and appear to be arrogantly indifferent. Firms are anxious to advertise eco-friendly material used in their day to day business.

You know, I can go on and on as can you, instances, figures, statistics, etc, to a point where it may sound like a shaggy dog story. A fact of life – we are going to have to make some very fundamental changes to our lifestyle.