CRASH COURSE-WORLD GEOGRAPHY Presented by - Bhanwar Singh Sirohi
BIOGEOGRAPHY - DEFORESTATION AND CONSERVATION OF FORESTS
ABOUT ME BA. (Hons) in Law from Awadh University I Defence Academy (115 Course) Cleared Civil Services Examination, 2012 Hobbies - Writing Poetry Course Fee Contribute Follow me on Unacademy at: https://unacademy.in/user/sirohib
DEFORESTATION It is clearing of a forest or a group of trees for a non-forest use such as farms, ranches or urban use About 30% of earth's land surface is covered with forests Though deforestation occurs around the world but most of the deforestation occurs in tropical rainforests According to FAO, about 18 million acres of forest is lost each year Major Deforestation Regions-Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, Democratic Republic of Congo, and parts of Africa and Eastern Europe Indonesia is the country with most deforestation
CAUSES a To utilize them as fuel Make land available for housing and urbanization due to population growth and overpopulation For timber to create commercial products such as paper, furniture and homes To create highly prized consumer items, for instance oil from palm trees For cattle ranching and farming (majorly subsistence & commercial) Used in war to deprive enemy of cover for its forces (use of Agent Orange in Malaya by British forces and by US during Vietnam War) Severe Draughts
IMPACT Habitat loss of several species Biodiversity loss and Extinction Desertification and Increase in aridity Increase in pollution Adve rse impact on bio-sequestration of Carbon Dioxide from atmosphere a Changes in Climatic conditions through global warming Increased chances of natural calamities Displacement of Populations Increased soil erosion which in turn may lead to increased risk of landslides and desertification
CONTROLLING DEFORESTATION Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is a collective program which use direct monetary and other incentives to encourage developing nations to limit or rollback deforestation FAO launched Open Foris-open source software tools to assist countries in gathering, producing and disseminating information on state of forest resources Transferring land rights from gove rnment to indigenous inhabitants (India's Forest Rights Act) Intensive farming with use of modern techniques and technologies Practicing 'slash and char' instead of 'slash and burn' Reforestation and Forest Plantations
REDD and REDD+ Incentivises developing countries financially for any emission reductions achieved due to decrease in deforestation Initially, it was limited to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation A focus shift occurred in COP-13 in 2007 held in Bali which laid down a comprehensive approach to mitigating climate change through forest CO conservation and sustainable management In 2010 at COP-16 in Cancun Agreement, it changed to REDD+ Reducing Emissions from deforestation and forest degradation Conservation and Enhancement of Forest Carbon Stocks Sustainable management of forests
CARBON SINK A mechanism to tackle c ming A carbon sink is anything that absorbs more of carbon than it releases as carbon dioxide The process by which carbon sinks remove carbon dioxide is known as Carbon Sequestration It can be done by limate change and global war Oceans by physicochemical and biological process Plants by photosynthesis Landfills Carbon Capture and Storage in form of mineral carbonates or in deep geological surface
SUSTAINABLE FOREST It is such a forest where the trees which are felled are replaced by seedlings which eventually grow into mature trees It will contain trees of all ages and often of different species There is balance between three main pillars: ecological, economic and socio-cultural Major issue in Sustainable Forest Management is of funds For financing needs, development of National Forest Fund could be undertaken National Forest Fund are dedicated financing mechanisms managed by public institutions for conservation and sustainable use of forest resources