Deforestation, Biodiversity Loss, and Sustainable Development
Deforestation and Its Impact
Deforestation, the large-scale destruction of forest formations due to human intervention, leads to the degradation and loss of quality in forest ecosystems. Approximately 50% of the world’s forest areas have already been cleared. Tropical forests are particularly affected, losing about 1% of their total area annually.
The primary driver of this regression is the pursuit of short-term profits by southern countries through timber sales to wealthier nations. Forest degradation and deforestation contribute to erosion, desertification, and biodiversity loss.
Forests play a crucial role in the carbon cycle by removing significant amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere and converting it into biomass, thus helping to combat the greenhouse effect.
Causes of Deforestation
- Clear-cutting: Legal or illegal logging without subsequent reforestation.
- Land Conversion: Transforming forest areas into agricultural land, livestock pastures, or urban developments.
- Industrial Impact: Activities from oil, gas, mining, and agribusiness sectors.
- Inappropriate Forestry Techniques: Excessive stocking with non-native species and substitution with non-forest vegetation.
- Air Pollution: Acid rain and other forms of air pollution.
- Wildfires.
Biodiversity Loss
Biodiversity encompasses the variety of life on the planet, including all its manifestations and relationships.
Components of Biodiversity
- Intraspecific Genetic Diversity: The variability of genes within populations, enabling species to adapt to the environment and evolve through natural selection.
- Species Diversity: The variety of species within an ecosystem. Impoverished biocoenoses are more vulnerable to environmental changes, disrupting the flow of matter and energy.
- Ecosystem Diversity: The variety of ecosystems. A reduction in ecosystems impacts global species diversity.
Causes of Biodiversity Loss
The primary causes include:
- Destruction, degradation, and fragmentation of habitats.
- Introduction of alien species.
- Over-exploitation of species and resources.
- Pollution of the atmosphere, soil, and water.
- Agricultural and forestry industrialization, promoting intensive monocultures and accelerating deforestation.
Development Models
There are two primary models of development:
Uncontrolled Development
Based on developmental and liberal theory, this model remains dominant in developed countries. It is often characterized as:
- Predatory: Exploiting the environment without regard for consequences.
- Unsustainable: Depleting resources and generating significant environmental impacts.
- Unsupportive: Leading to an unequal distribution of wealth.
Sustainable Development
Sustainable development meets current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It is based on the rules of Daly:
- Renewable natural resources cannot be used faster than their rate of renewal.
- Non-renewable natural resources must be used at a rate equivalent to the rate of replacement by other renewables.
- The emission of waste and pollution cannot exceed the assimilative capacity and self-cleansing ability of the ecosystem.