SA has seen a decrease in deforestation
DEFORESTATION is a global epidemic that continues to grow and destroy the planet. With this in mind, the team at Utility Bidder decided to look into the countries with the highest deforestation rates alongside those which don’t seem to be slowing down on these practices.
However, the data has also uncovered the countries that have seen a decrease in deforestation and are therefore moving in the right direction away from this destructive source.
Among the countries seeing a decrease in their rates is South Africa, which has been named the country with the fifth highest decrease in its deforestation rates between 1990 and 2020, reducing the area of forestry destroyed by 200 000 hectares per year.
However, despite this apparent proactive decrease in these rates, South Africa still remains the country with the 12th highest deforestation rates, and considering that over 90 countries have been included in the study, there is still a way to go to bring these down further.
Businesses worldwide are looking for energy sources and supplies to help them produce their products and services efficiently and effectively. To achieve this in the long term, sustainability is key.
Nevertheless, a lot of businesses are not willing to invest in these sustainable and environmentally beneficial options. This, in turn, is leading to environmental destruction which can be reflected in changes to the climate such as deforestation and pollution.
But why should we care? Deforestation is not just the case of fewer trees on the planet. It goes much deeper than this, harming ecosystems and biodiversity worldwide.
More than 80% of the Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, so with this destruction goes the homes of various species and life forms. The way ecosystems rely on their components is crucial in the circle of life, fuelling each one to nurture the next – as these are destroyed, the habitability of these climates worsens.
This will likely impact food production in the future, as land will receive less of the nutrients it needs to provide adequate yields of crops to fuel the ever-growing population. Over 80% of deforestation is for the land to be used agriculturally, which leads us to question how this land will look in the future and whether it was ever worth the destruction.
Around one sixth of the human population relies on forestry for their livelihoods, be that for shelter or food sources. Nevertheless, this is often in poorer countries which then become exploited by big businesses which acquire the land cheaply, and subsequently destroy the forestry to make way for agricultural or business use.
Not only does this harm the previous lifestyles of these populations, but can often result in them having to adjust to these industrial lifestyles brought over, working for minimum wage in terrible conditions just to survive.
Continuing the look towards the future and how deforestation will impact the planet, we must consider its effects on climate change. Trees are crucial in ensuring the carbon dioxide levels on the Earth are habitable and don’t reach dangerous rates, absorbing this carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen into the air for all living lifeforms to survive on.
As these trees are destroyed, these oxygen levels are destroyed with them. Not only this, but without the trees to absorb and store carbon dioxide, the greenhouse effect is accelerated and the planet will continue to heat up at an alarming rate. The effects of this can already be seen in the melting ice caps and seasonal changes. The eight hottest years on record have all been since 2015, highlighting how impactful deforestation is on the environment and habitability of the planet.
So, what can we do to solve this issue? Raising awareness is key, helping people understand the effects deforestation is having on the environment and how this will be reflected in the future is critical in there being the possibility of slowing down the impact it is having on climate change.
Unfortunately, it is big businesses and corporations that are causing these extreme rates of deforestation, destroying the forests for their own personal financial gain. We need to continue to talk about the issue and help individuals find a way to take a stance against the practice.
Countries need to begin protecting their forests and the land that is crucial to their population’s livelihoods, as long as these big businesses can obtain this land and destroy it for production, deforestation will not end.
Longley is the managing director at Utility Bidder, which he established in 2009. Longley saw a gap in the market for an effective hard-working and transparent service to find the best utility tariffs for business.