The Effects Of Illegal Logging

Illegal logging and associated illegal trade directly threatens ecosystem and biodiversity in forests throughout Asia and the world. It is having a devastating impact on the world’s forests and negatively the economic and ecological system of optimal forest management. A staggering 80% have already been destroyed or degraded and much of what remains is under threat from illegal logging and destructive illegal logging. Its effects include deforestation, the loss of biodiversity and fueling climate change.

(http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2002/timber mafia/resources/resources consequences2.html).

According to the text of the 1998 G-9 meeting held in Birmingham on forest management, “ Illegal logging robs national and sub-national governments, forest owners and local communities of significant revenues and benefits, damages forest ecosystems, distorts timber markets and forest resource assessments and acts as a disincentive to sustainable management. International trade in legally harvested timber including transfer pricing, under invoicing and other illegal practices, exacerbates the problem of Illegal logging”. Natural resources offer a rich opportunity for corruption. (www.illegal-logging.info/item single.php)

Indeed, environmental crime – illegal logging, theft of public lands, diversion of oil revenues, or other illegal appropriations of public assets – is a modern growth industry that is frequently facilitated by corruption. Studies indicate that while corruption affects all societies, the incidence is particularly high in many of the poorest nations. Bribe-taking, graft, sweetheart deals, political payoffs, influencing peddling, cronyism, patronage and nepotism are a few of its many faces. (http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2002/timber mafia/resources/resources consequences2.html).

Many are confused why global warming or greenhouse effects the environment through illegal logging. Scientifically, only trees can prevent global warming because trees have the ability to deduct the harmful compound of global warming which is Carbon Dioxide. The main cause of global warming is the devastation of carbon dioxide in earth’s atmosphere. Carbon Dioxide can make global warming occur. The Carbon Dioxide devastation in the heat of the sun which hits to the earth. The Carbon Dioxide serves trees as its food so that trees prevent Carbon Dioxide to go up in atmosphere that totally it prevent global warming.

Trees and other vegetation can affect precipitation. Trees – particularly their leaf surfaces release water vapor to the atmosphere by the process as transpiration. In a heavily wooded are transpiration is the sources is much of the water vapor in the air – water that may later fall to the Earth in the form of rain.

The temperature of the ground plays an important part in the process of precipitation. A slight difference in the temperature of the soil over which a vapor-laden cloud is sailing may determine whether its moisture will be precipitated or whether the misty vapor will float away without releasing the drop.

For these and possibly other reason, regions shaded by forests receive more rain than barren or deforested areas. Evidence suggests that excessive logging and burning of large forests can actually lead to drought. It has been noted that some areas, logging is followed by decrease in rainfall. Replanting of the same area is then followed by an increase in rainfall.

Flood is another effect of typhoons or hurricanes. The main cause of flood is the large amount of rainfall. Flood forms in the non-elevated areas like the lakes. The water in the non-elevated areas is come from elevated areas like the mountains. The water in mountains goes downward due to gravitational force. What will happen if the non-elevated areas are full of water? They will collapse eventually. (http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/forests/threats/illegal-logging)

According to an educational television show in ABS-CBN “MATANGLAWIN” hosted by Mr. Kim Atienza the importance of trees during soil erosion, experiment of Kim. This is his experiment: first, he showed a two the same soil in vase but the first one has a plant and the second one has no plant. Second, he removed the vases so it remained a shaped soil or cubed soil. Last, he poured an equal volume of water to the two soils. Then the watchers saw that the soil that has no plant was cracked or melted like a landslide while the soil that has a plant was remained solid and did not cracked. Watchers observed that the plant hold the soil to make it strong during pouring it a water. Therefore, the trees are important to us and to our beautiful mother Earth”.

Biodiversity is an organism that has a life like human and animal. It will loss because many organisms are benefiting the trees. Illegal logging is now exiles by the government because trees is deserves as our food or shelter. What will happen if we have no trees? We have no foods come from the trees like mango, avocado, apple and etc. Humans will have famine if the food from trees will loss because most of our food that we eat in a day is came from trees. It is not only human will harm in illegal logging. It means having no trees and also the other organisms lived in trees like birds. They will die because trees are their habits. (“The New book of Popular Science”. Cunningham, William)

In addition to this, scientist and conservationist, Dr. Birutẻ Galdikas, who was interviewed for the program is the foremost expert on Orangutans. Galdikas, who first ventured into Kalimantan as a Ph.D. student to study the endangered orangutans, has set up an orangutans sanctuary in Tanjung Putting National Park for orphaned and displaced orangutans who have had their homes destroyed by illegal logging. Logging large amounts of forests (in 2001 in the province of East Kalimantan approximately 6.5 million hectares of forests were damaged due to illegal logging) also results in habitat destruction for the animal species that live in the forests. According to tropical forest ecologist, Mark Leighton illegal logging poses “the greatest threat to biodiversity in Indonesia precisely because it is the major source of habitat destruction or degradation”. The significant loss of natural habitats, especially lowland forests but also coastal, marine and freshwater ecosystems, means that the country is, according to the World Bank. “Almost certainly undergoing a species extinction spasm of planetary proportions”. Significantly, over the last decade, there has been a 50% decline in the numbers of orangutan and rhino in Indonesia. So therefore, trees are very important so we stop logging.

(http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/forests/threats/illegal-logging/)

Conclusion
Illegal logging will mainly cause land slide, flash flood and global warming. Cause trees hold the soil to make it stronger and prevents land slide. Flash flood can happen because trees sip the water and preventing it to harm people. Global warming is mainly caused by too much Carbon Dioxide that traps heat and making it hot to melt the ice in North Pole and South Pole, trees uses carbon dioxide to make their food so if there are many trees they will prevent carbon dioxide to go up in our atmosphere. (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What is the effects of illegal logging in your air?)

Natural resources offer a rich opportunity for corruption. Indeed, environment crime – illegal logging, theft of public lands, diversion of oil revenues, or other illegal appropriations of public assets – is a modern growth industry that is frequently facilitated by corruption. The causes of the problem is the weakness governance and corruption in timber producing countries and the failure of governments in consumer countries like the EU, US and Japan to ban the import of illegally and destructive logged timber, allows unscrupulous logging companies and timber traders worldwide to exploit ancient forests. (“The New book of Popular Science”. Cunningham, William)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

Cunningham, William (2004). The New book of Popular Science. Vol. II, 179 pp.
Copyright © Philippines 2004. GROLIER International Inc.

Online Source:

World Resources Institute. Corruption’s Corrosive Effect on the Environment
http://www.illegal-logging.info/item_single.php?it_id=376&it=news.
31/07/2004, 02/02/2013

Leighton, Mark. Consequences of Illegal Logging
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2002/timber mafia/resources/resou
ces consequences2.html.
17/10/2002, 02/02/2013

Greenpeace Organization: “Illegal Logging”
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/forests/threats/illegal-
logging/..
12/11/2003, 02/02/2013