Based on your reading below as well as research, describe the exact nature of the environmental problem/issue. Provide definitions, statistics, expert opinion, etc., in your discussion.

10.3:Deforestation

1. Objective:Identify the causes of deforestation and global efforts to stop it

One of the principal threats to biodiversity is the accelerating rate of global deforestation. The Amazon rainforest is estimated to be disappearing at the rate of 3 million acres a year. TheCongo Basincomprised of Cameroon, Gabon, the Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire), and Equatorial Guinea, which had the second largest tropical forests in the worldis losing about 8.9million acres a year to deforestation. Similarly, Russia, which has roughly 22 percent of the world's forests, is depleting its natural forests. Deforestation is also a major concern in many parts of Asia, especially in light of China's rapid economic growth and its demand for forest products.17Forests are essential in biodiversity and to preserve the quality of life, and life itself, for human beings. Forests, especially large rain forests such as the Amazon, have an impact on the global climate. Air quality, water supplies, climate stability, agricultural productivity, and countless human communities are affected by deforestation. Deforestation also reduces the energy produced by hydroelectric plants by diminishing rainfall. It is widely believed that protecting existing forests and planting more trees are essential to diminishing some environmental problems, such as global warming and climate change, because forests soak up between 10 and 20 percent of the heat-trapping carbon dioxide released by industrial smokestacks and automobiles.

10.3.1:Causes of Deforestation

The most pervasive cause of deforestation is the combination ofpopulation pressures and poverty. Throughout most of the world, poor people rely on forests for fuel, shelter, agricultural land, and grazing for their animals. The relationship between population pressure, poverty, and deforestation is demonstrated by developments inChiapas, the poorest state in Mexico. Destitute villagers inhundredsof communities in Chiapas cut down trees and burn the undergrowth to create fields for cultivation and grazing cattle. Soon after, the thin layer of topsoil is planted with corn, and the land is left to return to pasture, which is often overgrazed. The exposed soil becomes vulnerable to erosion during heavy tropical rains. Somalia, on the Horn of Africa, provides another example of how poverty accelerates deforestation. Somalia, which lacks an effective central governmental authority to protect the environment, exports tons of charcoal to Middle Eastern countries. The unmanaged logging of Somalian acacia groves and forests that produces the valuable charcoal has resulted in deforestation.

Deforestation is also caused by thedeliberate setting of firesby small farmers, commercial farmers, cattle ranchers, logging companies, and governments.Selective logginginvolves cutting down large and particular types of trees in an effort to manage exploitation of forest resources and to promote sustainability. Selective logging contributes to forest fires because as forests are thinned out, humidity decreases, and drier conditions in the forest facilitate the spread ofboth natural and human-made fires. The forces ofeconomic developmentplay a significant role in global deforestation. Development involves building an extensiveinfrastructure, which includes roads,highways, electrical plants, airports, harbors, railways, large reservoirs, and dams. Another causeof deforestation is thecommercial loggingpractices that disregard sustainable development of forest resources. The demand for tropical hardwoods, such as mahogany and teak, is contributing to deforestation in Southeast Asia, Central America, Africa, and elsewhere in the developing world.Government policieshave aggressively promoted deforestation in an effort to relocate people to less crowded areas in order to diminish population pressures and encourage economic development. Brazil has used this strategy. Opening up the Amazon was viewed in Brazil as important for national economic growth as well as a way to strengthen the country's strategic position in South America. Environmental protection was not a priority of the military governments that ruled Brazil. Consequently, between 1970 and 1974, the governmentimplemented itsPlan for National Integration. This plan included the construction of the Trans-Amazon Highway and offered incentives to agribusiness enterprises and landless peasants, especially from the northeast, to encourage them to settle in the Amazon.

Efforts to Prevent Deforestation

In Brazil, the transition from military rule to democracy has been accompanied by government programs aimed at halting deforestation. The Brazilian government's perception of the environment has shifted from frontier development toward environmental protection. This change is partly due to growing global awareness of the Amazon's importance to environmental health and increased global and domestic pressures for change. It is also a result of Brazil's emphasis on using scientific techniques to greatly improve agricultural production, thereby diminishing the need to cultivate more land. In 1989, the Brazilian government announced the development of itsNossa Natureza (Our Nature) Programto reduce the destruction of the Amazon rain forests. The program included (1) suspending fiscal incentives for developing forest resources, (2) limiting log exports, (3)creating national parks, and (4) increasing the emphasis on environmental protection and research. An important component of this effort was the formation ofIBAMA, the federal environmental protection agency, to monitor environment problems and to enforce environmental laws. Brazil continues to implement measures to prevent deforestation. Efforts such as REDD, discussed earlier, also are helping restore forests.18Deforestation in Brazil has declined significantly, making that country the world's leader in efforts to diminish climate change. Another example of government involvement in efforts to diminish deforestation is the agreement reached in 2000 by logging companies, the government of Gabon, and several environmental NGOs to preserve 1,900 square miles of forests that compriseGabon's Lope Reserve. This area contains very valuable trees and the highest density of large animals, including elephants and gorillas, ever recorded in a tropical rain forest.

One of the most successful grassroots reforestation efforts is by the Green Belt Movement of Kenya. Its objectives include (1)raising awarenessof the connection between the environment and poverty; (2)promoting the planting of multiuse treesto meet fuel needs, provide employment, protect the environment, and provide food for the community; and (3)disseminating informationon environmental protection through research, seminars, and workshops.

Another approach to addressing the problem of deforestation isforest certification. The basic idea is to inform consumers about the origin of wood products and how their production affects the environment. This approach, which aims to promote eco-friendly lumber, has been championed by theForest Stewardship Council, a coalition of environmentalists and lumber executives. The guidelines for gaining certification include complying with national laws aimed at (1) protecting forests, (2) protecting the rights of indigenous peoples, and (3) promoting economic development. Similar efforts have been made by Greenpeace in Indonesia to preserve the forests from companies such as Unilever and Kraft that produce palm oil, used in many consumer products. Palm oil production endangers wildlife and releases carbon dioxide as forests and peatlands are destroyed. Greenpeace pressures companies and their suppliers to implement environmentally sustainable practices.

Ocean ResourcesFishing

Concerned about proper nutrition, more people around the worldespecially in Europe, Canada, and the United Statesare eating more seafood. The modernization of fishing fleets has made more fish available to global markets. This modernization involves using technology such as electronic fish locators, satellite navigation, temperature depth gauges, purse seine nets, and long-line fishing gear. More than any other food commodity, seafood crosses national boundaries daily. Most fish are exported from Africa and Southeast Asia to Europe and the United States.

Fish remained abundant throughout much of the world until relatively recently. John Cabot, the fifteenth-century explorer, claimed that cod were so abundant off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, that he caught them simply by putting a bucket over the side of his ship. The cod fishing grounds in that area supported the fishing fleets of the United States and Canada for hundreds of years after John Cabot was there. By 1992, however, the cod had essentially disappeared. A ban on cod fishing, imposed to rejuvenate the stock, appeared to be futile. There are numerous examples of overfishing and the eventual collapse of fisheries. California's sardine industry, popularized by John Steinbeck, declined rapidly in the early 1940s and died out three decades later. Faced with declining catches of fish, communities have historically attempted to regulate fishing. Countries that share North Sea fisheries have been very aware of the dangers of overfishing and have tried to adopt measures to limit the problem. Coastal states with rich fishing grounds often clash with countries that support long-distance fishing fleets. To protect their resources, coastal states successfully pushed for the establishment ofexclusive economic zones, which extend to two hundred miles and over which coastal states exercise jurisdiction. These sovereign rights of coastal areas are recognized by theLaw of the Sea Treaty. However, many poor countries, especially in Africa, are unable to protect their fisheriesfrom exploitation by foreign commercial fishing fleets. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization Committee on Fisheries attempted to mobilize global support for reducing overcapacity in the fishing industry by adopting theInternational Plan for the Management of Fishing Capacity (IPMFC). But this is a nonbinding agreement. Most states have few incentives to comply with it. Another approach to protecting global fisheries is boycotting restaurants that serve fish that are being severely depleted. For example, there is growing controversy over the depletion of sharks. Many restaurants are pressured to refrain from serving shark in order to conserve those fish.

Approximately 80 percent of Mediterranean fish stocks and 47 percent of Atlantic stocks have been overfished. Faced with the reality that commercial fishing would soon be unsustainable if left unchanged, the European Union agreed to end overfishing by setting quotas at levels consistent with scientific advice and bringing fishing fleet capacity in line with available fish stocks. It also decided to stop the wasteful practice of fishing fleets discarding unwanted fish at sea.19

Many countries have responded to public pressure for ocean conservation by creatingmarine protection areas (MPAs), mostly in coastal waters. In 2014, both Britain and the United States created huge MPAs. Britain established an MPA of approximately 320,000 square miles around Pitcairn, its 18-square-mile island dependency in the Pacific that is home to roughly sixty-five descendants of the mutineers of the shipBounty. This prevents fishing fleets from entering the area. The United States expanded its Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to encompass 490,000 square miles of ocean.