What natural resources does deforestation affect?
Deforestation devastates biodiversity and natural habitats and degrades natural resources. In the developing world, 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their food, fuel, and livelihoods. The real economic value of forests is much greater than the short-term benefits of logging or clearing land for agriculture.
What is causing deforestation of Africa’s rainforests?
The conversion of forest land to agriculture, both subsistence and commercial, is by far the most common and most destructive cause of deforestation in Africa and other tropical regions.
How is Africa affected by deforestation?
As deforestation in Africa increases, less moisture is transpired into the atmosphere resulting in the formation of fewer rain clouds. Leading to less rain and subsequently this decline in rainfall could subject an area to drought.
What natural resources do rainforests provide?
Gold, copper, diamonds, and other precious metals and gemstones are important resources that are found in rainforests around the world.
Why is deforestation bad for the rainforest?
The loss of trees and other vegetation can cause climate change, desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for indigenous people.
How does deforestation affect food supply?
The Effects of Deforestation Deforestation can cause a vicious cycle – because the act of deforestation drive climate change, which in turn hurts the food production of existing farmland and motivates farmers to cut down more trees in order to meet quotas.
What are the causes and effects of deforestation in Africa?
While deforestation in other parts of the world is mainly caused by commercial logging or cattle ranching the leading causes in Africa are associated with human activity. Developing countries rely heavily on wood fuel, the major energy source for cooking and heating.
What is the main reason rainforests are being cut down?
The forests are cut down to make way for vast plantations where products such as bananas, palm oil, pineapple, sugar cane, tea and coffee are grown. As with cattle ranching, the soil will not sustain crops for long, and after a few years the farmers have to cut down more rainforest for new plantations.
Does Africa have deforestation?
Deforestation is a prime example—17 percent of the world’s forests are found in Africa, including the second largest tropical forest, the rainforest of the Congo Basin, which itself accounts for a whopping 60 percent of Africa’s biodiversity.
What are the effects of desertification in Africa?
It leads to reduction in crop yields and weakens the resilience of agricultural and pastoral systems – key livelihood pillars in Africa. Through its effect on vegetation and soils, desertification leads to changes in carbon pools and sinks and release of associated GHGs.
What valuable resources does the rainforest contain and how does it affect our climate?
By absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing the oxygen that we depend on for our survival. The absorption of this CO2 also helps to stabilize the Earth’s climate. Rainforests also help to maintain the world’s water cycle by adding water to the atmosphere through the process of transpiration which creates clouds.
What are renewable resources in the rainforest?
Renewable resources in a tropical rainforest are: Avocado. Guava. Trees.
How does deforestation affect agriculture and farming?
for agriculture… Deforestation causes increases in temperatures and changes in the amount and distribution of rainfall —generally creating a drier climate. These impacts can affect soil moisture, reducing yields in some areas and increasing flooding in others.
How does deforestation affect crops?
Water in the Atmosphere In deforested areas, there is less water in the air to be returned to the soil. This then causes dryer soil and the inability to grow crops.
Where does deforestation occur in Africa?
One of the countries mostly affected by severe droughts is Kenya in East Africa, where deforestation rates increased incrementally in recent years. Furthermore, a lack in soil cover would expose the terrain to soil erosion and degradation.
What is the biggest cause of deforestation in a tropical rainforest?
Beef production is the top driver of deforestation in the world’s tropical forests. The forest conversion it generates more than doubles that generated by the production of soy, palm oil, and wood products (the second, third, and fourth biggest drivers) combined.
Where does the most deforestation occur in Africa?
Between 2000, Burundi has the highest annual deforestation rate in Africa and second largest in the world (Chakravarty et al., 2011) while Sudan has the highest net loss with Nigeria the least among the five countries (although Nigeria has the highest deforestation rate of primary forest in the world). …
Where is the most deforestation happening in Africa?
According to the FAO, Nigeria has the world’s highest deforestation rate of primary forests. It has lost more than half of its primary forest in the last five years. The causes cited are logging, subsistence agriculture, and the collection of fuelwood. Almost 90% of West Africa’s rainforest has been destroyed.
Why are tropical forests important in Africa?
Tropical forests are essential for sustainable growth in Africa. They also have economic, environmental, and social implications that extend far beyond the continent. Although they cover less than 7% of the earth’s land surface, tropical forests are home to approximately 50% of all living things on earth.
What is the rate of deforestation in Africa?
Deforestation, the permanent removal of trees from an area of forest, is a major concern in Africa. 1 The region has the second-fastest rate of deforestation in the world, after Southeast Asia. 2 41,000 square kilometres, or 4.1 million hectares, of natural forest in Africa is lost every year. 3 This is an area equal to the size of Switzerland. 4.
Is wood from Africa’s forests being used as fuel?
Although environmentalists and advocacy groups have brought international attention to unsustainable, and often illegal, logging in Central and West Africa, about half of all the wood extracted from Africa’s forests is used domestically as fuel. Despite the enormous losses to deforestation, the region is a net importer of processed wood products.
What is the biggest threat to Africa’s tropical forests?
Almost 90% of West Africa’s coastal rainforest has already been destroyed and deforestation in the Congo Basin has doubled since 1990. Logging and agriculture continue to be two of the biggest threats to Africa’s tropical forests. The unsustainable production of palm oil is one of the biggest drivers.