2. Causes of Forest Loss
It is possible to develop approaches to deal with the difficult task of deforestation and forest degradation and to promote forest conservation and restoration by examining and understanding the real elementarily causes of forest loss. These include the demand for wood and the conversion to agricultural land. The weakness of supporting cultural values, indigenous rights of responsibility to land, and community-conserved areas also contribute to the cause of forest loss.
Deforestation is not the blame of a single country, but is an issue shared by many countries. At the beginning of the 21st Century, the top 10 countries with the highest rate of deforestation are shown in Figure 1. According to the figure, forest loss is happening quickly in Brazil, double the rate of forest loss in Indonesia, the second-place country with the highest rate of forestation.
Figure 1. Top 10 Countries with Forest Loss.
2.1. Demand for Wood
The high need for wood is the main cause of deforestation. This occurs by the consumers of forests; such as, industrialized countries, as well by the domestic community who use forests as an easily accessed resource of fuel.
It is believed that around one half of illegal timber logging is due to fuel wood demand. Wood is used for cooking and heating all over the world.
Also, wood is used for house building, paper manufacturing, and furniture construction. Burning wood to make charcoal, which can be used as fuel, is another reason for wood consumption in various countries. These countries, have almost a daily electricity outage, especially the poor countries, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Nepal, and Georgia, where people store wood and buy it as an emergency fuel supply. In other countries, like Cameroon, the need for cutting down forests is for processing outfits that require the regular request of raw materials in the form of wood.
2.2. Conversion to Agriculture
Because of the ongoing growth of the human population, there is clearly a need for nutrition. The need of nutrition stimulates the conversion of forests to farm and pasture land.
It can be seen that in many countries, such as Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, and the Philippines, the main drivers of deforestation are industrial tree plantations, industrial agriculture, cattle ranching, and planting of oil palm.
For instance, cattle ranching is the major driver of 73% of Amazon forest loss in Brazil.
In some countries, the planting of exotic species or the converting of forest to agricultural land in order to generate personal wealth or for export to industrialized countries can cause forest degradation, and this negatively affects the livelihood of forest dwellers.
Sadly, the moment that a forest is lost to agriculture, the land mass typically is accompanied by of the loss of the flora and animals that once lived there.
2.3. Conflict Over Land Tenure
A major factor that causes deforestation and conflict in Ghana, Cameroon, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, and the Philippines is a constant uncertainty over land rights. Indeterminate land tenancy and rights of the original forest inhabitants is the most important issue. The indigenous people have taken care of the forests for centuries. Despite this, the same people who protected the forests are not given any consideration by the governments, and they are sometimes displaced violently.
As the forests have increased in value, with investors having vested interests, this has led to the setting up of protected areas of the forests. The use of protected areas as a conservation measure of forests was highly condemned in Colombia. They claimed that this has never worked for the last two decades. On the other hand, in Philippines, it has been claimed that the issue of protected areas was just a pretense in the name of forest conservation, whereas it went against the rights and privileges of the indigenous people to occupy and move freely in the forest.
Consequently, these forest restrictions have led to a reduction in the traditional learning of how to protect forests.
Some countries have arising issues in the laws concerning ownership and the right to live in forests as what has been constitutionalized. For example, in Ethiopia, the terra nullius principle considers unoccupied lands not to be owned and can be given to anyone.
“Unoccupied,” in this case, is undefined and can, as well, mean community forests, and the case is the same in the Philippines where indigenous forests are regarded as government property or public land under Presidential Declaration 705.
In this case, indigenous people are deprived of their traditional duty to develop, protect, and foster forests and this can also lead to land grabbing by the government. This results in a loss of cultural practices among young people, as they move to urban areas where the character of their traditional agricultural life is eroded by urban life. In Columbia, issues of mining exploitation and hydrocarbon extraction have been discussed as other ways that have displaced indigenous people from their traditional boundaries.
This is regarded as an excessive violation of these people’s rights and privileges.
The laxity seen from the indigenous people and also from local authorities to come up with strategies and bodies of protecting and conserving forests is somehow not surprising. This has been a common problem, even after the development of the reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) pilot project, which was thought to be of benefit to indigenous people.
The REDD in developing countries is a climate change (CC) alleviation technique that manages the present crisis of the environment via promoting the forests’ value. By all means, forests are the home of millions of indigenous peoples who overwhelmingly believe, themselves, in a non-commended status. International and national laws and rules have been put into place to ensure that the indigenous people’s rights are provided for to assure a good relationship between these people and the natural environment.
2.4. Illegal Logging and Corruption
Corruption is a vice that causes a lot of evil both in developing and developed economies.
Illegal logging and corruption is noted to be one of the factors that has caused deforestation. The lack of alternative livelihoods, economic and fuel poverty, together with corruption, has led to the clearance of forests for purposes of economic interests. Bribery of officials, as a form of corruption, is very prevalent in many parts of the world, and it is a major obstacle in the realization of forest conservation through various measures.
Laws have been formulated in Bulgaria, El Salvador, Ghana, Kenya, Panama, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea but, due to lack of financial resources and lack of political commitment, their implementation has been a challenge.
There are national legislations worldwide for controlling the timber production and trade process from the harvesting to the processing to the sales of wood. At any moment, these legislations can be violated. It is possible to harvest more wood than is permitted or to remove trees from protected areas.
Corruption has been widespread as licenses to cut down trees have been improperly issued in defiance of both national and international laws that aim to protect ecosystems and certain species. Local leaders are also bribed to accept this move.
2.5. Industrialization, Urbanization, and Infrastructure
There are other factors that have been noted to cause global deforestation. These include: industrialization, urbanization, and the development of modern infrastructure. Economic development is seen as a good move across the globe, but these developments do not seem to shift toward care for the environment—despite alerts raised by communities and the civil society.
In some countries, economic developments are seen as some of the reasons that obstruct community initiatives aimed at protecting forests. Take for example a country like India, whereby the initiatives by the local communities to protect forests is hampered by the government, which
allows the private and public sector to set up roads, mines, and other development projects in any location. The government has not put into consideration the benefits that the community derives from the forests; rather, it has worked to promote these organizations in setting up development projects. The Indian government has even relaxed its look out for the violations of environmental laws and guidelines by these companies.
Mining, oil, and gas exploration in Colombia, Cameroon, India, Bangladesh, and the Philippines were some of the notable industrial processes causing threats to forests. Oil exploration in the Sylhet region in Bangladesh was one of the examples cited. Forests are being cleared to pave the way for industrial projects like the building of roads, dams, houses, dams, and other large construction projects. The Karnaphuli hydro-electric project and Kaptai dam are some examples of these development projects in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh that cause hill deforestation. Bangladesh has also noted the issue of clearance of forests for purposes of military use, while urbanization was identified to cause deforestation in countries such as Kenya, Bulgaria, and El Salvador. There is a notable population increase in most parts of the world and, therefore, there is a higher demand for farm land, construction of houses, and the building of roads, and this has led to the clearance of forests. High demand for timber in Cameroon, Kenya, Nepal, Ethiopia, and Panama was also noted to cause deforestation in these countries.
In Colombia, Panama, and the Philippines, it was noted that ecotourism has also led to deforestation, but this was a contentious factor because the type of tourism within the ecotourism subsector should be indicated. This was because ecotourism was thought to promote reforestation.
The enforcement of laws that govern deforestation, logging, and charcoal trade should be achievable if there is a good road network within the forest. This was one of the main obstacles identified in Kenya. The road network that borders Maasai-Mau in Narok South is impassable during the rainy seasons and this gives an avenue to loggers, who donkeys, to ferry logs to locations where they can easily sell them to customers.
2.6. Economic Poverty; No Alternative Livelihoods
Poverty is one of the major issues that has created problems at both national and international levels. People need money to support their families and bring up their children but without economic alternatives, they resort to the forests. This is the case in the Amazonian area of Ecuador. Timber is sold at low prices to get money to provide for families because there is no other source of employment. Globally, jobless youth prefer to look for money from forests through the selling of timber or through farming practices. Illiteracy has played another significant role in deforestation. This is because illiterate people have less opportunity to find alternative livelihoods so as to reduce their reliance on forest resources.
Deforestation has also been triggered by economic crisis, especially in the third-world countries. Take for example, Cameroon, where many workers were laid off by agro-industrial companies hence resulting in
unlawful exploitation of the forests to meet their economic and financial needs.
The population of Georgia has been on the rise, and this has led to increased dependence on the forests. Forest resources have been exploited due to the population increase with no notable change in the economic status of the country. Many poor people living near the forest have benefited from forest products, which are in high demand. This notwithstanding, facts have shown that these poor communities living near the forests have lost their control to other influential interests, such as companies involved in logging and migrant workers who benefit more from the forests.
2.7. Lack of Political Will, Poor Central Planning, and Inadequate Capacity
The major challenges facing forest conservation include: absence of upright governance and effective central organization. Problems related to inadequate capacity and the lack of governmental concerns are among the major factors contributing to the high rise in forest degradation and deforestation. These factors were a little dissimilar in various countries. In the case of Georgia, a small number of government leaders had basic knowledge in sustainable forest management. There was a weak administration dealing with forest management organization, and the state had taken control of all the forest assets and the organization. The sector was not given enough money to maintain the forest and to ensure sustainability. In addition, Georgia had an insufficient and weak lawful background.
The Panamanian workshop pointed fingers at the government for its failure to set clear policies regarding various issues that affect forest conservation. These issues include: tactical development in societies and areas, economic evolution of the Kuna regions, watching of events that take place in forests, and preservation of ancestral home-grown territories.
A workshop in India highlighted issues to deal with weak control mechanisms, lack of proper planning from the government, and limited financial allocations. These issues resulted in the lack of capacity to deal with forest destructions, forest mafia, and industrialization processes, showing some laxities from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and State Forest Departments.
There are no municipal regulations that govern forest activities in El Salvador. The state policy and the legislation for environmental care still allow for the construction of projects that result in deforestation. There is another concern in Panama on the policymaking organizations.
The private and the public sector have both failed in their duty to restore forests.
The political class also can be to blame for global deforestation. This could be due to several factors, which include inadequate equipment, poor management of forests, and use of out-of-date husbandry.
Some governments are not ready or do not have the capacity to enforce some of the regulations governing forests and other national laws that deal with environmental protection.
This is more so true when big national projects are in question or when there is a competition between the palm oil and forestry sectors, as in a case in Ecuador, the society wanted to take care of the forests while the Environment Ministry still allowed exploitation—even in areas that had been protected.
This negligence, together with corruption, may result in a lack of trust of authorities by the local communities, thus, making the management of forests and other related discussions very hard to undertake. Since the local communities are not consulted, they do not have relevant information about the management of forests and the policies that govern the same. Therefore, if the global forests have to be reinstated, some of these impediments have to be overcome.
The scope of stewardship is especially pertinent in connection with international environmental law. This happens due to the gradual emergence of a new ethical approach toward environmental regulations, and it can be recognized in some trends in international and national legislation. Actually, most of the analysts see the ethic of stewardship as a useful way to solve various challenges facing the environment.
This study examines the development of a societal attitude toward stewardship to potentially address and combat the problem of deforestation. This study examines the application of the Islamic ethic for stewardship in both Muslim and non-Muslim regions.
Deforestation occurs due to many factors, including conversion to agriculture, conflict over land tenure, illegal logging, and corruption. Industrialization, urbanization and infrastructure, economic poverty, no alternative livelihoods, and the lack of political will also contribute to the overharvesting of trees. Poor central planning and inadequate capacity make this an even greater issue, which needs an ethical response.
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Author: Misbah Alghamdi
