By: WilliamTandridinata – 10A Introduction Theworld right now is facing a crisis where more animal species are becomingendangered. These animals have a population at a very critical level and if nottreated may be extinct. The population of human being doesn’t stop increasingand is currently almost reaching7.6 billion (Current World Population, n.d.
). The increasing populationleads to an increase in demand for daily life requirements, which causes moreland needed for agricultural, industrial and construction purposes. Humansdestroy natural resources massively for these needs and it leaves other livingcreatures in miserable conditions. There are several issues to do with thisproblem, including habitat destruction for human’s daily needs throughdeforestation, and collecting animal parts through overhunting.
These issuescontribute a lot to the extinction and endangerment of many living creatures. Deforestation Deforestationshares a huge contribution towards habitat loss. Agricultural activities likefarming need land for planting crops and grazing livestock, therefore causingmore lands to be cleared out. People’s demand for wood and paper products arealso rising, which also clears out more trees. Another cause is the demand ofland for constructions of buildings. As population increases, more shelter isneeded.
70% of the land animals and plants living on earth lives in the forest,while deforestation damages their home. Trees also help block direct sun raysfrom the moist soil in the forest. Without it, the land quickly dries and mayresult in deserts. Trees also help to control the temperature in the forest, asthey block sun’s rays during the day and kept the heat at night. The lost oftrees can lead to severe temperature changes that may harm the animals andplants (Top Five Causes ofSpecies Extinction, n.d.). Deforestationoccurs all around the world and it has caused many living creatures to bethreatened.
An example would be the threat to the Giant Pandas in China. GiantPanda’s main habitat is located in China’s Yangtze Basin region. The region isalso the economic center of the country, which causes many roads and railroadsto be built, therefore increasing deforestation. The habitat is also lost dueto being logged for timber, fuel wood or cleared out for agriculture andinfrastructure. When the forests are destroyed, it causes the pandas to isolateand prevents them from mating. The destruction also causes less access tobamboos, which is their main source of food (Major Threats, n.d.).
Another example would bethe Bengal Tiger, which is mostly located in India and also small populationsin Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and other countries. They have a population ofonly around 2,500, and they are considered endangered (Bengal Tiger, n.d.). Their habitats arefragmented for agricultural and construction purposes. Due to this, tigers areforced into tiny and scattered habitat patches. The examples above prove thatdeforestation threatens many living creatures through habitat loss. In Indonesia, one of the species threatenedby deforestation is the Orangutans.
The Bornean Orangutans has a population ofabout 104,700, the Sumatran Orangutans about 14,613 and the Tapanuli Orangutansabout 800 (Orangutan,n.d.). Deforestation has caused their habitats to be disappearingquickly due to the needs for oil palm and other agricultural plantations.Illegal and unsustainable logging in protected areas also threatens theirexistence. Now, 50% more of orangutans are discovered outside protected areasin forests, which is controlled by palm oil, mining and timber companies (Orangutan, n.d.
). Basedon my research and personal views, I believe that deforestation should bestopped as it is one of the main factors that lead to the endangerment andextinction of many animal species. Not only does it affect certain countrieslike Indonesia, but many countries all over the world also experience it.Without a change, many species all around the world can be gone, which couldlead to no biodiversity. We should preserve these animal species for the futuregenerations to see. It may also be crucial if one species is gone, because itmay affect the entire food system in an ecosystem and lead to other speciesbeing threatened as well.
Theeasiest solution for this issue is to probably limit the number of trees beingcut down. This can be done by minimizing people’s access to the forest. Anothersolution is to establish laws to protect a specific habitat location. Thisplace should be guarded and left untouched so that it can flourish back as ahabitat. Besides this, replantation is also important as it can help withbringing the lost habitat back.
People should promote and work together toplant more tree seeds in the forest. Another thing is to solve the overpopulationproblem. With the growing needs from overpopulation, spreading awareness tobecome eco-friendlier is important.
We should reduce, reuse and recyclematerials, especially those products made of trees like paper and tissue. Thismay decrease the demand for products made from trees.