COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DEFORESTATION, ENVIRONMENT, AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DEFORESTATION, ENVIRONMENT, AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
ABSTRACT
According to current estimates, forests encompass more than one-quarter of the world’s total area. Approximately 60% of these woods are located in tropical nations. However, these forests are disappearing at a rapid pace. Between 1980 and 1995, an area greater than Mexico was deforested.
This rapid deforestation endangers the planet’s environmental and economic well-being. Several studies have indicated that natural forests constitute the single most important reservoir of terrestrial biological variety, including ecosystems, species, and genetic resources.
. Forests also operate as huge carbon sinks, absorbing large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. According to these findings, deforestation is directly related to adverse climate change, soil erosion, desertification, and water cycling. Until recently, deforestation was thought to be a local/national issue.
However, greater awareness and scientific evidence have revealed that the problem transcends national borders. Deforestation has a global impact on both the environment and economic development.
This collection of essays examines the reasons driving deforestation, the government policies that contribute to its destruction, and the involvement of international assistance agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the environmental discussion.
The collection critically evaluates the concepts and criteria proposed by forest specialists for long-term economic growth with regard to forest stewardship in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. An excellent resource for scholars, students, researchers, and politicians working on environmental and public policy concerns.
Each chapter, written by a different author, examines the state of the woods around the world. Individual chapters cover India, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, Thailand, Latin America, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Israel. The book was prepared in 2001, using both historical data and modern findings.
Document worldwide forest health changes, their environmental impact, and the potential for sustainable development.
The book begins with a list of facts about forests’ status, location, and circumstances, as well as their ecological and economic importance. Many of these facts are familiar, but having them all in one location at the same time creates a new level of awareness and concern about the situation.
A few numbers that I found particularly distressing to read were the loss of half of the world’s tropical forests between 1950 and 1999, the yearly deforestation rate of 0.9%, and the loss of 50,000 invertebrate species every year (140/day) owing only to the chopping down of tropical forests.
These data do not point to a bright future. If forests continue to disappear at their current rate, the world’s tree cover will be depleted in less than a century.
While this would be concerning at any time, it is especially concerning at this time given the concern about climate change and global warming, as well as the critical function that the world’s forests play in acting as a CO2 sink and cooling the globe.
The second chapter focusses on the World Bank’s role in deforestation, particularly in developing countries. The World Bank, established in 1946, accepts money from member countries and sponsors initiatives in underdeveloped countries with the goal of fostering economic development and alleviating poverty.
Their preferred projects during the last half-century have mostly been in the energy, transportation, and agricultural sectors, all of which have a direct and indirect impact on increasing local deforestation where the projects are developed.
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