This can cause significant forest degradation not detected by satellite images and largescale monitoring of forest cover peres et al. Pdf addressing the underlying causes of deforestation. The dominican center for agricultural and forest development lists the following causes of forest degradation. Regarding forest degradation, timber extraction and logging are related to about 52%, fuelwood collection and charcoal production 31%, uncontrolled fire 9% and livestock grazing 7% of forest degradation.
Deforestation and forest degradation deforestation and forest degradation are the biggest threats to forests worldwide. Indeed some 31 countries do not even make the list because they have already removed most of their forests and even if that remain are seriously fragmented and degraded. Thirty per cent of the earth s land area or abou t 3. Pdf conceptualizing forest degradation researchgate. Research pdf available september 2017 with 818 reads. The changes in area of forest by region and subregion are shown in table 1. Forest area changes in industrialized countries, generally positive, have been less the subject of study, contrary to what has been the case of forest degradation resulting from air pollution, fires, insects and diseases. Trees are able to convert more carbon dioxide than a regular plant, though. The idea consists in providing financial compensations for the reduction of greenhouse gas ghg emissions from deforestation and forest degradation 22.
It is a change in forest attributes that leads to a lower productive capacity caused by an increase in disturbances. Excessive extraction of forest products like timber, charcoal or resin. Now forest degradation has become widespread and is the important consideration in the global policy process that deals with biodiversity, climate changes and forest management. The agents of tropical forest loss vary in prominence among the three major tropical forest regions american, africa, and. Therefore, even sustainable and productive socioecological systems may experience pervasive and severe levels of smallscale chronic disturbance. By contrast, degradation is a gradual process through which a forests biomass declines, its species composition changes or its soil quality declines. Deforestation and forest degradation in the congo basin. Preparation of forest degradation is varied and depends upon the causes, the goods or services of interest, and the temporal scale considered. Drivers of defforestation and forest degradation in. Penny encyclopedia of life support systems eolss population growth and increasing per capita demands for forest products and therefore forest exploitation, and the conversion of forested land for the purpose. Deforestation and forest degradation have negative impact on environment and drives the climate change 8, 9. Threats to pacific island biodiversity and biodiversity. Increased extraction of wood for fuel charcoal making, branches, leaves and twigs for firewood are the main causes of forest degradation in the country. Accurate estimation of forest condition through field assessments and remote sensing, and understanding the socioeconomic variables associated with forest loss and degradation are needed for the sustainable management of indian protected areas.
Air pollution is unf ortunately the common causes of environmental degradation. Forest degradation and fragmentation forest degradation is different from deforestation. Causes of deforestation and forest resource degradation higlights tropical deforestation and forest resource degradation are caused by subsistence agriculturalists, livestock raisers, firewood collectors, and loggers. Forests fires may arise on the account of natural, accidental, and human causes. Causes and impacts of land degradation and desertification. A deepening forest crisis worldwide has been documented in alarming trends in global deforestation and forest degradation. These forests, at the landsea interface, provide food. Deforestation and forest degradation are the biggest threats to forests worldwide over half of the tropical forests worldwide have been destroyed since the 1960s, and every second, more than one hectare of tropical forests is destroyed or drastically degraded the degradation and loss of forests threatens the survival of many species, and reduces the ability of forests to provide. Addressing the underlying causes of deforestation and. It is a change in forest attributes that leads to a lower productive capacity caused by an increase in. Forests are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet. Deforestation and forest degradation eu redd facility.
Forest damage has long been recorded and is caused by naturalphenomena disease and pests, storms, fire, drought and other climatic stresses or humaninduced ones eg, air pollution, fire, economic overexploitation, overgrazing, or by the interaction of human impacts and natural causes. Natural causes as hurricanes, fires, parasites and floods human activities as agricultural expansion, cattle breeding, timber extraction, mining, oil extraction, dam construction and infrastructure development. Degradation can result in a decrease in tree cover, changes in their structure or a reduction in the number. Over half of all terrestrial species live in rainforests, which are subject to the greatest deforestation pressures. Reducing emissions from the tropical deforestation and forest degradation redd in developing countries has emerged as new potential to complement ongoing climate policies. Impact of mangrove forests degradation on biodiversity and. Deforestation and forest degradation as an environmental. But when a forest is cut down, the humidity levels decrease and causes the remaining plants to dry out. Assessing forest degradation food and agriculture organization of. Deforestation, defined as the longterm or permanent conversion of land from forest use to other nonforest uses gofcgold 2009, represents an abrupt and rapid change. According to global assessment of soil degradation glasod, deforestation is the main cause of soil erosion by wind in about 98% of the area. Over half of the tropical forests worldwide have been destroyed since the.
Forest fires such as the ones that commonly happen in dry tropical forests are a major cause of forest degradation. The latter was attended by 125 participants from 40 countries, and took place in costa rica, from 18 to 22 january 1999. Distribution of the forest cover of the countries of the congo basin. The lack of a landuse policy and related landuse law was a key driver of deforestation and forest degradation in the past. When agriculture, mining, urban development or other land uses replace forest, the land is said to have experienced deforestation. Workshop to address the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation. Deforestation causes fast degradation when the soil is steep sloppy or easily erodible. The causes of dryland forest degradation dfd hav e economic, social, ecolog i cal, policy and institutional dimensi ons, and could be categorized under natural, anthropogen ic as well as social. Pdf forest degradation is a global environmental issue, but its. Forest degradation is defined as the reduction in capacity of the forest which produces ecosystem services which includes carbon storage and wood products which results in anthropogenic and environmental changes. Ministry of forestry and wildlife kenya forest service. Insufficient political actions and governance failure as inadequate land.
To limit this process and preserve biodiversity, it is essential to reduce the rate of deforestation and forest degradation, increase the amount of carbon stored in forests and improve forest sustainable management worldwide. In addition, land administration is fraught with overlaps in jurisdictional authority and bureaucratic inefficiency. The most significant effect of forest degradation is loss of habitat leading to species loss. Whenever forest fires are experienced, thousands of acres of trees and vegetation cover are wiped out. The organisms that decay wood have four basic requirements.
Tropical rainforests are extremely humid due to the water vapor released along with the oxygen. Deforestation causes can either be direct or indirect. Data from official sources seem inadequate to measure forest degradation in protected forests. Pdf the history, causes and trends of forest degradation in. The primary causes of forest degradation are unsustainable exploitation in the form of excessive harvesting of forest products, overgrazing, wildfires, and the spread of invasive species or pests 11,12,14,15,16. Unesco eolss sample chapters land use, land cover and soil sciences vol. Analysis on the causes of deforestation and forest. Environmental degradation is the disintegration of the earth or. The bigger cause of degradation is unsustainable logging, agriculture. Encyclopedia of energy, natural resource, and environmental.
Forest degradation occurs when the ecosystem functions of the forest are degraded but where the area remains forested rather cleared anon. Causes and consequences article pdf available in european researcher 8182. Mangrove ecosystems are of great ecological and economic importance 1. Forest degradation food and agriculture organization of the. Causes and control wood degradation is not the same as wood decay. Destruction of natural vegetation cover is a major factor responsible for erosion of soils by water and wind. An assessment of deforestation and forest degradation.
Degradation is used to mean the destruction or reduction in the quality of specific aspects of forests. Assessing the extent and causes of forest degradation in. Forest health indicators of degradation area of forest affected by biotic agents e. Introduction understanding drivers of deforestation and degradation is fundamental for the development of policies and measures content from this work may be used under the terms. Polluti on introduces contaminants into the environment that can maim or even kill plant and animal species. Distribution of the forest cover by forest type for the countries of the congo basin. Chapter 4 causes of deforestation and forest resource.
The causes of dryland forest degradation dfd hav e economic, social, ecolog i cal, policy and institutional dimensi ons, and could be categorized under natural. Unpacking realities shaping community actions lalisa a. Deforestation and forest degradation can happen quickly, such as when a fire sweeps through the landscape or the forest is clearcut to make way for a palm oil. Direct causes of forest degradation the dependence on biomass energy is high across all regions and this has a huge pressure on the native forests. Deforestation and forest degradation directly threaten as many as 400 million people including 50 million forest indigenous people who depend on forests for.
The effects of forest degradation on ecosystems sciencing. Distribution of the causes of deforestation and forest degradation in different regions of the planet. The three primary sources of wood degradation are fungi decay or rot, insects and weathering. Considering just the gross loss of standing forest, that is, including deforestation and loss from natural causes while excluding any gains in forest area from regeneration and plantations, the fao estimates that the global rate of gross loss of standing forest was 16. The most prominent degradation driver for the latin american and asian continents is timber extraction and logging 70%.
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