Introduction
Tropical rainforests are characterized by tall trees, lots of rain, and warm climate. Some rain forests experience rains of up to one inch each day. They have a variety of tree and animal species, they contain between 50 and 90 percent of the earth’s species although they only cover up to 6% of the earth’s surface. From all over the world, more than hundred million people either live in or directly depend on rainforests and most of the domesticated animals and food crops have been developed from species in rainforests. Due to tropical deforestation it is estimated that at least 40 plants and animals species perish each day. This paper therefore focuses on the importance of rainforests today, the reasons for deforestation in rainforests compared to the effects of deforestation in rainforests and why their cutting should be limited.
Importance of rainforests
Forests are associated with many values and this should be understood by people so that we can be in a better position to protect our forests, some of these values include:
Climate and the green house effect
Rainforests are like a dark mass on the earth that absorbs heat from the sun which makes the air above it cooler hence more likely to rain. Below the dense canopy in the forest, humidity is high and steady compared to the rest of the world, they evaporate large amounts of water into the atmosphere which leads to formation of clouds that cause rain again not just in the forest but some are carried away with the wind and cause rain in other parts of the world. As rainforest clear however, they are replaced by deserts and grasslands above which the air is hotter, this discourages cloud formation and the areas remain dry, eventually, this alters the water circulation in the atmosphere altering the weather conditions of the region largely up to many miles away (Jacobs, Kruk and Oldeman 19).
Biodiversity
Biodiversity refers to biological variation and diversity; it is used to describe all plant and animal species living in a particular area and their complex interactions with each other and with the natural environment. With rainforests having more than 50% of the world species today, they have the most biodiverse nature on earth. People today do not understand just how much we depend on the rainforests, but it is estimated that in next 30 to 50 years rainforests will vanish if the current rate of losing at least 40 species a day continues (Gaston and John 1)
The green house effect of rainforests; with growing industrialization and urbanization, greenhouse gasses increase in the atmosphere and this is likely to increase the harsh environmental conditions man is exposed to. Tropical rainforests however play a major role in reducing this; they absorb carbon from the atmosphere in the process of photosynthesis; however, when the forests are destroyed then large amounts of carbon dioxide which is the main green house gas are released into the atmosphere which increases global warming (Horcan 1)
Water shed
Forests play a vital role in controlling rainfall run-off into water bodies, they absorb or hold rainwater up to 95% in forested areas and release small amounts at a time, and this maintains water bodies throughout the year even in the dry seasons, this clean water throughout protects myriad creatures that depend on water for their survival. When forests are cut however, there is no absorption of rainwater, this leads to increased runoff that leads to massive flooding, siltation, and soil erosion along water ways and this causes the water to be muddy suffocating myriad creatures (Hance 4)
Food security
It is estimated that 75,000 edible plants are found in natural forests, with modern Agriculture being so vulnerable to disease, pests and climate change, the importance of rainforests is becoming increasingly important like in south Africa in the 1920s when their sugarcane was affected by disease, a forest wild sugarcane species came in handy to save the industry from being ruined. In Latin America, wild coffee from Ethiopian forests saved Latin America’s plantation that would have been cleared. In Peru, Chile, and Ecuador many fruit varieties like tomatoes have been developed by cross-breeding with wild fruits. Forests play a major role in maintaining the food security and the world agriculture through climate change where forests boost agriculture in any given region as they increase the rainfall amounts that favor food production. Crops originating from forests include coffee, quinine, lemons, oranges, rice, pineapples, cashew nuts, cassava, rubber bananas, eggplants, pineapples among others (Lipper 3)
Medicines
Forest plants are important sources of medicine, up to today only one percent of forest plants have been tested for medicinal value yet almost 25% of today’s medicine were originally sourced from rainforests. World annual sales of plants to pharmaceutical today total up to about 20 billion dollars. Some of the drugs from forest plants include quinine, morphine, Atropine, digitoxin, physostigmine among others. The potential and importance of rainforests as source of medicine has been illustrated in such reports as the World Rainforest Report, no. 26. Having more than 50% of the word’s plant species in forests, we expect an array of chemicals for different functions to be discovered and derived from the rain forests (Prance 2).
Homeland for forest people
The world population today is composed of about three hundred million indigenous people, fifty million of them are said to live in forests. These people rely exclusively on forests for their survival and their daily needs and they have over time learnt to utilize forest resources sustainably. With the growing populations however many forests are in a threat of being destroyed for agriculture and food production to feed the growing population or for settlement of these populations. Some of these populations include the Incas, Mayas, and the Aztecs (Lipper 5).
Non material values
Besides the material values of forests they are associated with such values as aesthetic where they beautify the environment and serve as beautiful environments for strolling and relaxing of people around.
Decay and renewal
In the forest system, everything is utilized where materials like leaves and barks shed from trees and other plants mix with animal decay and carcass to form manure which is later broken down by fungus and bacteria in soil improving soil nutrients that are absorbed through the roots of trees and later serve as food for plants and animals.
Causes of deforestation
Besides the many values associated with forests, deforestation is still high, some of the driving forces to deforestation include; overpopulation where with the growing number of people, more land is required for their settlement and agriculture. Corruption is another cause of deforestation where besides the tight laws and regulations, some people still manage to gain access to forests and cut trees. Inequitable distribution of resources and poverty in particular attracts some communities to invade forests and cut trees as a means of getting resources for their livelihood. Urbanization and industrialization have also played a major role in deforestation where some industries like the paper factories use wood directly from forests to make paper. Towns and cities are also expanding today to accommodate more people and they sometimes end up expanding into forest land (Hance 2).
Management of Rainforests
Considering the value of rainforests, it is important to come up with ways of managing their destruction, there are four main ways of harvesting trees; they include strip cutting, shelter wood cutting, selective cutting, and clear cutting. Clear cutting is one of the cheapest and fastest ways where all the trees are cut down and the remaining vegetation is burnt down. Clear cutting is done to allow regeneration of trees but it is likely to increase desertification where land once occupied by vegetation is made clear and this is likely to interfere with the weather and climate of the region and surrounding areas as discussed above. It will also increase rainwater runoff which will increase the risk of flooding and drying of rivers and other water bodies as there is no water absorbed into the soil to be released later, this will also increase the risk of myriad creatures to lose their lives. Clear cutting of trees exposes soil which may increase erosion and siltation lowering land productivity. There is also a need to protect the biodiversity of both plants and animals considering that the rate at which they are seizing is as high as it is estimated (at least 40 species are lost each day worldwide).
It is therefore important to come up with ways of regulating and limiting clear cutting of forests so as to create a sustainable society (Chiras 247).
Governments and individuals need to come up with ways of controlling the amount of clear cutting on rainforests so as to protect our environment. This can be achieved through legislation where governments make laws and policies to govern their forests; this should be associated with a fine so that people do take them more seriously. It is also important for the government to take civic education campaigns so as to make people cautious on the impacts of their acts and consequently every one becomes responsible in watching the forests and the environment in general. As population grows everyday, our forests stand a greater risk of being destroyed for settlement, agriculture and resource exploitation. There is therefore a need for the governments to come up with measures of controlling population growth.
Conclusion
World rainforests cover about 12% of the total earth surface and they contain between 50 and 90% of the total earth species, the loss of these forests is therefore highly associated with loss of biodiversity, changes in weather and climate, loss of and drying off of water bodies, increased erosion, loss of raw material for industry and pharmaceuticals, increased siltation, loss of homeland for indigenous communities among others. The most important role of forests is however to regulate rainfall and serve as a water shed for the water bodies, this protects population from not just the threat of hunger but also harsh weather conditions like global warming increased by carbon in the atmosphere that can otherwise be absorbed by the rainforests. It is therefore important to come up with measures to control and limit the clear-cutting of the rain forests.
Works Cited
Chiras D. Daniel. Environmental Science; spotlight on sustainable development. New York: Jones & Bartlett publishers, 2009.
Gaston J. Kevin and John I. Spicer. Biodiversity: an introduction, 2nd edition. New York: Wiley- Blackwell, 2004.
Hance, Jeremy. “Protecting water sheds secures freshwater and saves millions of dollars.” Mongabay, 2009. Web.
Horkan, Conor. “Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest.” Goodreads Inc.2008. Web.
Lipper, Leslie. “Forest degradation and food security.” FAO Corporate Document Repository. 2010. Web.
Jacobs Marius, Kruk Remke, Oldeman A. A. Roelof. The Tropical rainforest: a first encounter. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1988.
Prance, Ghillean. “Medicine hunting in rainforests.” Reed Business Information Ltd. 1994. Web.