Deforestation

The delicate balance of the earth’s ecosystems has been greatly distressed by the ongoing out of control and reckless deforestation. Deforestation is the grimmest problem we are facing today, and it still persists by those who wish to disobey the law and put on stake the future of all the lives on this planet. The ill effects of deforestation are well known and documented by researches around the world, but still there is little or no steps taken by most of the countries to stop it. It is now high time for each one of us to learn and take measures to stop deforestation.

The first thing we should understand is why forests ecosystems are so valuable and what are the effects of deforestation in our world? Forest ecosystems have been widely regarded as one of the most efficient and delicate ecosystems on earth. These are important ecosystems since they hold many key nutrients and help to recycle nutrients too. Forests are also vital because they absorb and hold water thus making them very rich and porous humus topsoil.

Deforestation is evident when the trees in a forest are cut down on a very large scale. Such large scale cutting leads to extensive disruption of a forest ecosystem. But when the deforestation takes place in a tropical rain forest, the effects of such deforestation is even more devastating. As the topsoil in tropical rain forests is known to be very thin and lacking in nutrients, when deforestation transpire, the topsoil that is left behind is very vulnerable and will tend to wash away and erode easily. After deforestation in tropical rain forests, the only thing left is very poor nutrient, hard, clay-like subsoil that is not rich enough to sustain most forms of agriculture.