<div class="text-justify">Deforestation means the cutting of trees from forests or woodlands. The basic purpose of deforestation may be to convert the land for logging reasons or for commercial purposes. Normally, deforestation means the permanent removal of tree without reforestation to replant a tree. Man has been making changes in the environment by cutting down trees from time to time for his civilization needs.</div>
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<center>![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/munawar1235/W2d692r8-image.png)</center><sub><center>[image source: Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MadeiraDesmatamentoWilsonDiasAgenciaBrasil.jpg)</center></sub>



<div class="text-justify">According to World Wildlife Fund, more than 30% of Earth’s land surface is covered by forests. These forests provide jobs to 13.4 million people in forest sector and around 41 million people have jobs which are related to forests.</div>
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<div class="text-justify">It is very important to make people realize the benefits of forest and woodland and how its depletion will make our lives worst. Deforestation creates number of issues but two are important to discuss. The primary concern is global warming or greenhouse effect. Secondly, the question arises whether the trees are properly utilized and if reforestation is being done.</div>
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<center>![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/munawar1235/bWN7eWm6-image.png)</center><sub><center>[image source: Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spruce_forest_at_Holma.jpg)</center></sub>



<div class="text-justify">Forests are considered lungs of our environment. They help to reduce the amount of carbon released into our atmosphere by absorbing carbon dioxide. Deforestation kills the trees which help prevent greenhouse effect. Greenhouse effect is responsible for Earth’s temperature rise which leads to droughts, fewer crops, soil erosion, tidal waves, floods and other natural disasters. Typical deforestation leads to increase of 20% of greenhouse gas emissions.</div>
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<div class="text-justify">These forests are depleting day-by-day at an alarming rate. Globally, 1200 acres of forests are destroying in every 20 minutes. As a result of forest degradation, forest quality and biomass is reduced by opening of canopy. At the current rate at which the rain forests are being removed, there will be no more rain forests in 30 years.</div>
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<div class="text-justify">Second concern is that during deforestation, trees are simply wasted or burned. As a result, excessive amount of carbon dioxide is released due to burning of wood. These trees could be put to better use like providing shelters to homeless, building materials.</div>
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<div class="text-justify">If we see the environmental effects of deforestation, one of the most dangerous effect is loss of plant and animal species due to loss of their habitat. About 70% species of animals and plants live in forests and these are badly affected due to deforestation.</div>
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<center>![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/munawar1235/2aN9b7TZ-image.png)</center><sub><center>[image source: Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_Spider_Monkey_(Ateles_paniscus)_(Captive_specimen)_(39662816185).jpg)</center></sub>



<div class="text-justify">Once Jaguars were in abundance in The Amazon forests but now are nearly threatened. Due to deforestation, their habitats have been destroyed; making them vulnerable to hunters. Similarly, Black Spider Monkey rely completely on trees for their habitat in Amazon, which are being destroyed. These animals don’t adopt to new habitat and as a result their species are decreasing. Therefore it is now considered as endangered species.</div>
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<div class="text-justify">Another issue of deforestation is water cycle which is affected. Trees extract groundwater from soil through their roots and release it in the atmosphere. When part of forest is removed, trees don’t release this water which results in drier climate. Water contents are reduced in the soil and ultimately soil leads to lower water intake.</div>
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<div class="text-justify">So what can be done to reduce deforestation? As an individual, we can play our role to conserve the forest trees. Responsibility of safeguarding of our beloved Earth lies in the hands of its population.We can start it from our home by conserving household items like paper towels, tissue papers and napkins.Below are some measures which we can adopt to play our role in preserving trees:</div>
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 <center>![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/munawar1235/Bhs9o7U7-image.png)</center><sub><center>[image source: Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reforestation_icon.png)</center></sub>



- We should adopt to use recycled items like notebook, toilet paper and shopping bags. If we use these recycled items carefully, the demand for new material to replace these items can decrease.

- If cutting of tree is inevitable due to safety issue or power line interference, we should make sure that for every tree cut down, another tree is planted at its place.

- It is advised to replace the habit of using different portions of land each year with using same portion of land to plant different crops. This farming practice can help us to maintain soil fertility. 
- During winter season, we should use coal instead of firewood in our fireplace. It takes couple of hours to burn the wood logs but it takes one year for one tree to fully grow.
- In China, it was mandatory requirement that every citizen of age 11 to 60 will plant three to five trees every year. Since 1982, one billion trees were planted due to this program. We can adopt similar practice.

Thank you for reading! Stay Safe!👋😌

References:

1. https://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html#:~:text=Deforestation%20is%20the%20permanent%20removal,to%20the%20World%20Wildlife%20Fund.
2. https://www.pachamama.org/effects-of-deforestation#:~:text=The%20loss%20of%20trees%20and,of%20problems%20for%20indigenous%20people.
3. https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/black-spider-monkey
4. https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/jaguar