protection, supplies, and food.
If Trees Are So Important, Why Do We Destroy Them?
Every year, more than 50 million acres of trees are destroyed. If we are cutting trees, why do we cut them down?“ One answer is that rainforests are being lost to commercial logging, agriculture, cattle ranching, and development projects such as dams, roads, and mines... These forces include overpopulation, poverty, hunger, unfair land distribution, and huge debts that most development countries that have rainforests owe to industrialized countries such as the United States( Tangley).” This is why we are cutting trees. To make way for roads, mines, and dams. However, there are other reasons why trees are destroyed. Some of those reasons will surprise you because some of them are good reasons to cutting trees.
Poor Conditions
Trees are crowded together which causes trees to be in a poor condition.“ Proponents of forest thinning say that today ' s federal woodlands are both overcrowded and in poor shape(“ Forest Management”)” This means that trees are in bad condition because trees are crowded. I somewhat agree to this. Think of it like a weed is taking over a flower ' s space. All flowers need space in order to breathe and live. But if a weed is in that flower’ s way, the flower might die because weeds suffocate flowers. So if trees are in other trees way, the trees might suffocate to. This is one of the reasons why we cut trees. In a way, we are saving trees, but not the one we cut.
Development Projects
As I mentioned before, some of the reasons of why trees are cut down are for making ways for roads, mines, dams, farms, and other developing projects.“ Some of the most massive rainforest losses occur when developing tropical nations launch huge development projects-such as hydroelectric dams that flood hundreds of square miles of forest or road networks that open previously inaccessible forest to industry and settlement( Tangley).” This means forests are cleared to make way for roads and dams. One time, when I was riding in the car on a highway, I saw a new highway construction area. A lot of trees were cleared to make the road. These projects need to be done elsewhere. They can’ t be done where forests are. Even projects to save trees didn’ t work! In Brazil, a lot of rainforests disappeared and a company decided to save the other rainforests. It didn’ t improve or work well.“ More than 20 million acres of tropical rainforest, an area about the size of South Carolina, are cleared each year to make way for farms( Tangley)”. That’ s a lot of land to make farms. Don’ t you think we have enough farms in America? Not really, so we need to clear the forests to make way for farms.
Supporting Your Family
Some farmers don’ t have enough money to buy food for their family and pay for the farm. So, farmers are forced to cut the trees if they want their crops to grow good and healthy. Trees are blocking the soil that corps need.“ Most farmers in tropical nations say they must clear the forests for land in order to support their families. As it is, these farmers point out, they barely grow enough food or make enough money to survive. If a ban were placed on deforestation, they fear, they would certainly starve( Tangley).” This means if farmers refuse to clear the forest, the family will starve to death. It important to support your family, but it’ s also important to save the trees. Which one is more important?
Forest Thinning
Forest thinning is when you cut trees that are dead and burn them. There is a law that states you should only cut trees that are dead or cut the dead branches. This is important to know because if you cut dead branches of a tree, you’ re giving life to the tree. Think of a dead limb on your body like your leg. Say your leg stop circulating. What happens next? The stopping of the circulation travels thru your whole body and if it reaches to the heart, you die. Same with the trees. If you cut a dead tree, you let other plants or trees grow. But throughout the years, forest thinning didn’ t help the forests. Because the population of the forests decreased.
Commercial Logging
“ Every year, more than 12 million acres of tropical forest-an area the size of New Hampshire and Vermont-are cut for timber, paper pulp, and other wood products( Tangley).” This means that forests were cut to make timber, paper pulp, and other wood supply. Wood supply is important to us, but so are trees. We need wood supply to make houses, furniture, etc. But, 12 million acres per year! That’ s a lot of waste of land. If we want wood supply we need to use the forests wisely so we can survive.