Impacts of Human Activity on Wildlife and Ecosystems
Timber Harvesting
Deforestation is the large-scale destruction of forests by human action. It is advancing at a rate of about 17 million hectares per year. While the forest area is generally stabilized in Europe and North America, the rate of transition from old-growth forests to other forms in North America remains high. Deforestation affects the livelihoods of 200 to 500 million people who depend on forests for food, shelter, and fuel. Furthermore, deforestation and forest degradation can contribute to regional climate imbalances and global warming.
Forests play a key role in carbon storage. If eliminated, the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can lead to a warming of the Earth, with many troublesome side effects. The processes of deforestation are usually more destructive in the tropics, as trees tend to be more fertile, grow faster, and their production can be moved more quickly.
Exploitation of Marine Species
We have always believed that the sea is inexhaustible, but this is not true. Many species are endangered, and fisheries are becoming increasingly scarce due to:
- The gradual reduction of fishing net mesh size
- The increase in fishing vessels
- General lawlessness
All this hurts the large number of marine species that live in our seas, which are becoming fewer. Failure to meet the standards set out can have severe consequences.
One of the best-known examples is the commercial exploitation of the whaling industry, in which whales are killed to obtain their oil and meat. This practice has brought many species of whales to the brink of extinction.
Another example is fishing boats and their massive collection of fish of all sizes, without respect to growth and reproduction. It is not true to say that small fish in the sea belong to everyone.
Hunting and Trade in Protected Species
Extinction is a normal process in the course of evolution. Throughout geological time, the number of species that have become extinct is higher than those that exist today. Their slow disappearance was the result of climate change and the inability to adapt to situations such as competition and predation. In fact, before humans intervened in all ecosystems, the natural extinction rate of mammals was the loss of one species every two centuries. Human beings have increased the extinction rate a thousandfold.
Every year in October, thousands of hunters go out to kill animals. They usually hunt about 16 million rabbits and hares, 5 million partridges, and 7 million pigeons, doves, finches, quail, thrushes, etc. They also hunt more than 60,000 big game animals. There have been some private and governmental efforts designed to save species in danger of extinction.
However, in some countries, the effectiveness of these laws depends on their implementation and the support they receive from the public and the courts. Because their application is not completely strict, and due to the abandonment of some parts of society that consent to trade with endangered species, since the activities of poachers and unscrupulous traffickers facilitate this trade, the future of many species, despite legal protection, is not totally secure and remains in their hands.