>>Why keep forests at all? >>.----for oxygen? >>---- biodiversity /genetic pool? >>---- esthetics? >>----tourism? >>----??? >>This last question may seem a simple question to answer. > >>It is not!
It is and it isnt.
The simple is, all of the above, and more
The complex is a long answer: because this region of the Earth breathes for
us all, because of their vast potential biological wealth:
Medicines,
New crops,
Timber, pulp, fibres,
Petroleum substitutes,
Because this is home to many people, plants, and animals,
Because records show that stressed ecosystems can descend
into extinction very rapidly, as a result of relatively minor disruptions.
Because an obscure moth from Latin America saved Australia’s pastureland
from an
infestation of the prickly pear cactus.
Rosy Periwinkle provided a cure for Hodgkin’s disease, and childhood
Lymphocytic Leukemia.
A chemical from the saliva of leeches dissolves blood clots during surgery.
Finally, because humans subconsciously seek connection with
nature. Wilderness gives peace, perhaps because it is one place we are not
in control of, we feel our place as being, not lords of the Earth, but
fruits of it.
Today, clearing rain forests currently puts 1 billion tons of Carbon per
year into the atmosphere.The end result of this emission level is a net
increase in atmospheric CO2, which is the major causative factor in forecast
Global Warming.The worlds temperate and tropical forests play a huge part in
the global Carbon cycle, as well as regulating temperature, and conserving
biodiversity; all of which are presently threatened by humanity.
The tropical forests throw 50% of the water they receive straight back into
the atmosphere, which, not only maintains the moist conditions they require,
but pumps hot air towards the temperate regions, warming them, while cooling
the tropics.
The felling of these forests means that the rainfall is not intercepted, but
runs off the land, causing massive erosion, reduction of rainfall, and the
resulting dry winds further erode the edges of the forest.
In the temperate forests and grasslands, organic matter lies fallow in the
deep litter and humus. Seeds are more resistant to stress, and are able to
lie dormant for long periods of time, which enables rapid recovery after
disturbance. A century after disturbance, a temperate forest can be almost
in its original state.
Two thirds of the forested land worldwide, consists of tropical red and
yellow earth’s, which are typically acidic, aged, and leached of many
nutrients. High concentrations of Iron and Aluminum form insoluble compounds
with Phosphorus, making it unavailable, while the high rainfall rapidly
leaches Calcium and Potassium.
The majority of nutrients in the system are retained in the biomass; when
the forest is felled and burned, there is only enough for a few years
(usually two or three). Farmers must then add fertilizer (which they often
cannot afford), or move on to the next patch of forest, perpetuating the
cycle of slash-and-burn.
Regeneration is limited by the fragility if tropical seed; most species
germinate in a few days or weeks. By the time the site has been farmed for
2-3 years, and grazed by cattle for 2-3 years, there is little hope of
regeneration on the barren, dry, and weed-infested land. One third of
Amazonia’s large ranches have been abandoned, much of it has been claimed
only to gain the rights to the land so that it can be mined (clearing the
forest is all that is needed to claim title to land).
The UN Food And Agriculture organization blame shifting cultivation by
landless peasants for causing 50% of tropical deforestation worldwide, and
names firewood collecting as the second major factor.
The impression given is that the forests are being cleared by those too poor
and hungry to care. Superficially, they have a point, however, firewood
shortages are a result of deforestation caused by commercial logging, and
developments such as Amazonia’s massive hydro projects, which have
dispossesed many ‘peasants’ (i.e. once land owning tribespeople) of their
land by Governmental edict.In Brazil 42% of the cultivated land is owned by
1% of the population. Rather than institute land reform, many governments
see their forests as a dumping ground for the landless, and credit to pay
the interest on foreign debt.
In 1989, the surviving rain forests occupied an area the size of the USA,
with Florida being deforested every year; in 50 years; gone!
The dichotomy between the needs of the landless, the debt of the third
world, and the preservation of a unique natural resource needs to be
resolved.
If we look to the natural processes of their forests, we can see what we
need to do to break this vicious cycle. I am firmly convinced that
sustainability is the key. If the need for timber, housing, and food, can be
satisfied without further degradation of the land, then humanity can
co-exist with the rest of Earth’s life. In fact, this is not only
achievable, but it is eminently possible to improve the surrounding
landscape. The natural process of life is to improve the habitat, and to
make it more suitable for other life to follow. The process of succession is
the vehicle for this, with a general improvement of soil fertility,
structure, climate, creation of microclimates, as the succession continues.
With this in mind, here are some suggestions for sustainably managing
tropical land
1. Maintain tree cover at all times.
2. Intermingle a wide variety of crops, which mature at different times.
This creates a multi layered landscape, which emulates the rainforest. A
mixture of trees (fodder, nuts, fruit, timber, firewood) with grain,
vegetable, and vine crops has been proven to work in the tropics.
3. Return all agricultural wastes to the land, by composting, sheet
mulching, or vermiculture,
4. Maintain corridors of natural forest between cultivated areas.
5. Pursue outlets for natural forest products; rubber, nuts, spices, fruits,
herbs, oils, fibres, and medicines.
6. Forests *must* be sustainably managed. Forestry companies must either
replant, or fell only what the forest can replace.
7. Find alternatives for pulp and paper production, such as; hemp, coppiced
tree lots, Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus), woodgrass harvesting.
8. Encourage small scale Agroforestry.
9. Use Indigenous species as much as possible.
10. RECYCLE, REUSE, AND REPLANT