Advantages & Disadvantages of Deforestation

Advantages and Disadvantages of Deforestation

Deforestation is the process of converting forested lands into non-forest sites that are ideal for crop raising, urbanization and industrialization.

Advantages:

1.       Deforestation provides the materials for various industries, such as logs for the logging industry and trees for the paper industry. The forest products industry is a large part of the economy in both developed and developing countries.

2.       It opens more job opportunities for people  in the lumbar industry besides Wood cutters , there are those who work in processing plants to make glue from wood sap, process pulp into paper, and others.  

3.       Cutting down trees provides charcoal, a source of energy.

4.       For every patch of forest cut down, arable land becomes available for farmers.

5.       The land can be used as an area to place urban living sites like apartments, houses, and buildings.

6.        The number of people employed by such a construction project are many and varied.

7.       If the city/government mandates replanting trees to replace the lost ones, then jobs are also provided for those people who do the seeding after a patch of forest is stripped.

8.       The arable land provides the much needed additional food source for man.  

9.       Some places with heavy forests are home to iron ore, mineral, and even oil deposits which can be used for man's needs. These natural resources can be accessed only by deforestation.

 Disadvantages:

1.       Deforestation destroys the habitats of millions of species of plants and animals that will need the areas of forest to survive. Thus, it may lead to the extinction of these species, causing havoc in the biological food chains and the delicate balance of the ecosystem of these areas.

2.       Deforestation leaves the soil bare to erosion and leaching (the depletion of nutrients in the soil). Thus, over time the soil will lose its fertility, and eventually desertification may occur in the area that was once covered by trees.

3.       The removal of trees adds to the high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as trees are needed to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

4.        Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and when there is too much of it global warming results.

5.       When there are more carbon monoxide atoms going to the atmosphere, the volume of oxygen would decline. Such is the case of ozone depletion.

6.       The water cycle is also affected by deforestation, Deforestation reduces the content of water in the soil and groundwater as well as atmospheric moisture.

7.       Deforestation results in declines in biodiversity.