Simple Essay on Deforestation for Kids and Students

Simple Essay on Deforestation Introduction:

Human is cutting down trees at an alarming rate. Once covered with thousands of trees, large forest areas are now barren land due to deforestation. In many countries, the problem of deforestation is reaching very worrying proportions posing a threat to human and animal life.

Here is an essay on deforestation for kids and school students looking to learn more about the harmful causes and effects of deforestation. This simple essay will be helpful to students in their exams and in making notes for their classwork and homework. It is easy to understand and will also tell you how to stop deforestation in everyday life.

What is Deforestation?

Cutting down a large number of trees over an extensive area is known as deforestation. Trees are cut down on a large scale for several reasons:

• It could be to use the land for various purposes such as making buildings, industries, companies, houses, etc.
• Also, to obtain wood for commercial purposes like making furniture etc.
• Similarly, forests are also cleared to gain more land for agricultural activities.

Deforestation is a severe issue, and extensive deforestation turns fertile land into deserts, causing severe damage to flora and fauna.

Why Deforestation?

Deforestation can have several causes, but the primary motivation behind deforestation is to clear land for commercial activities. The land acquired through the clearing of the forest is utilized in several ways;

• For human settlements, like building homes and public buildings, etc.
• For commercial activities, like setting up industries for production or manufacturing.
• For agricultural activities, like growing agro products, such as food grains, vegetables, fruits, etc.
• Moreover, trees also act as a raw material in many industries, such as the wood industry.

Environmental Impacts of Deforestation

(“Students can also write the below points in the essay- Effects of deforestation?”)

Deforestation badly affects the environment and wildlife. Animals lose their homes and food sources, and soil loses the grip that holds it together. Here are some negative impacts of deforestation;

• It badly hits the ecosystem and disturbs its equilibrium.
• Deforestation disturbs the wildlife because they need forests to live.
• Trees also help filter the air by taking in carbon-di-oxide and giving out oxygen. Without trees, the quality of air decreases.
• The animal and bird species that depend on plant products are in danger because of deforestation.
• Trees also regulate the water cycle that brings rain. The water cycle is badly affected in the absence of trees, leading to droughts in many areas.
• The environmental carbon dioxide level will increase by deforestation.
• Deforestation also leads to floods and droughts.
• Trees hold the fertile upper layer of soil. In the absence of trees, water washes away the upper layer, making the ground barren.

Impacts of Deforestation on Rural and Urban Communities

Deforestation effects can also be seen in towns and urban communities.

Towns (Rural regions)

Rural areas are heavily dependent on agricultural activities for living. Deforestation disturbs the ecosystem, causing drought, floods, and a decrease soil fertility. All these factors lead to crop failure and low production. It severely affects the rural population. Besides, some communities and forest-dwelling people directly depend on forests to live. Deforestation deprives them of their homes and food sources.

Urban communities (City regions)

Deforestation is a major contributor to global warming. Increasing temperature results in heavy rainfall, storms, and hurricanes in several parts of the world. These natural disasters bring heavy destruction to the city infrastructure. Moreover, deforestation is also linked to increased pollution. Pollution poses health risks and depleted living conditions—consequently, deforestation influences life in urban communities.

What Causes Deforestation?

Agricultural activities have been a primary cause of deforestation. Here we will look at how unproductive agriculture practices have destroyed extensive forest areas worldwide.

Slash And Burn Agriculture

• Shifting cultivation is a primary reason for cutting a large number of trees.
• It is farming in which a part of the land is cleared by cutting down and burning the trees.
• People grow crops for a few years, and when the land becomes infertile, they move to different places. This technique causes deforestation, and the burning of plants leads to air pollution.
• Since the 1960s, the Amazon tropical jungles have been deforested using this technique.
• A new report on “Slash and-Burn Agriculture” techniques credits 30% of South America’s deforestation to this kind of practice.

Rainforest Destruction for Commercial Plantations

• Increased demand for soy, wood crush, and palm nut oil has led to the illegal destruction of forests in tropical areas.
• As per the reports, 40% of deforestation is caused by the illegal cutting of trees for commercial uses.
• Sumatra and Borneo have lost over a considerable part of the rainforest due to commercial plantations.
• A similar pattern of illegal destruction is seen in the forests worldwide.
• Similarly, in Brazil, a large part of the rainforest is cleared for soybean plantation.

Trees As Raw Materials

• Due to the increased demands of commercial industries, trees are seen as an opportunity for extra income.
• Some species of plants are famous for better furniture, so they have been cut down for extra money, causing deforestation.
• Most nations with harvestable hardwoods have strict laws, but even after the regulations, there is an illegal cutting of trees, causing wide-scale deforestation.

Natural Disasters

• Natural disasters like floods, hurricanes, or pandemic diseases can also cause deforestation.
• Some parasites can also eat the trees and eradicate them.
• Heavy rainfall can also destroy flora and fauna to a great extent.

Environmental causes

• Because of the change in soil properties and lack of Underground water, deforestation can happen.
• Variation in climate over a significant period can also affect the trees and lead them to shrink and die.

The Data of Deforestation Worldwide

• According to a report, throughout the ten years starting around 2010, the overall deficit in woods internationally was 4.7 million hectares each year.
• Compared to the past century, the rate of deforestation is much higher.
• In 1950, there was nearly as much farming area as forests – 43% of tenable land. By 2018, agricultural land has increased considerably while forest areas have shrunk significantly.
• The UN FAO calculated that 10 million hectares of timberland are cut down every year.

How To Stop Deforestation?

(“Students can also write the below points in the essay- How to prevent deforestation?”)

Reforestation

The tree cover lost to deforestation can only be restored by planting more trees. Therefore, reforestation is an effective way to tackle deforestation.

Regulation

Besides reforestation, there is a need to enact laws that make deforestation illegal. Moreover, these laws and regulations should be strictly implemented for maximum effect. With proper regulations, there may be an opportunity to stop deforestation and balance the ecosystem again.

Forest Reserves and Life Sanctuaries

Sanctuaries are vital, not exclusively to save natural life but to save trees also. Reserving forest areas will minimize human intervention and, therefore, protect trees and wildlife.

Proper Planning of Urban Settlements

New urban settlements should be controlled and arranged to ensure that trees in that area are not unnecessarily cut down. Moreover, proper laws should be implemented to prevent trees from being cut down for urbanization.

Recycling of Paper

The Paper industry is heavily dependent on forests and therefore a major contributor to deforestation. Recycling paper can majorly contribute to stopping deforestation. The recycling paper will minimize dependency on forests thus can contribute to a greater extent to stop deforestation.

Making People Aware of the Harmful Effects

Awareness develops a constructive attitude and promotes actions that prevent deforestation. People aware of the harmful effects of deforestation will be more likely to contribute in preventing it. Therefore, we should make others aware of the impacts of deforestation on us and even on our next generation. Incidentally, education is the best way to eradicate an issue like deforestation.

Conclusion of Deforestation Essay

Deforestation badly impacts the environment; therefore, it is a significant issue. If cutting trees is not prevented, soon there won’t be any trees left. Earth will lose all of its green cover and wildlife. It’s also quite possible that humans will go extinct too; therefore, preventing deforestation is not about saving trees but also saving human life.

We sincerely hope that this argumentative essay will be helpful to students who want to learn about deforestation, its causes and environmental impacts, and how to stop deforestation.