Forest Destruction 185
Forest Destruction
Most forests are destroyed by logging companies and other corporations that
profit from unsustainable resource use. When one forest is destroyed, the big
companies simply move to another forest. But the people who live in or near
the destroyed forest usually have nowhere else to go.
People who do not live off forests directly still use many forest products,
such as books and newspapers, building materials, foods such as beef, soy, and
palm oil from plantations cut out of the forest, and minerals dug from beneath
it. Rarely do people consider the need to replace forests used up in these ways.
How forests are degraded and destroyed
If forest resources are not used and managed in ways that allow the forest to
continue growing and producing, all of our forests will soon be gone. Causes of
large-scale damage to forests include:
• Clear cut logging (when most of the trees in an area are cut for lumber)
compacts and erodes soil, destroys wildlife, and fills waterways with silt.
• Large commercial farming, cattle ranching, and tree plantations often
involve clearing land of forests.
• Shrimp farms are built by cutting down and clearing mangrove swamps
and other coastal forests, often putting small fishing communities out of
work, contaminating water, and leading to increased sickness, poverty,
and malnutrition.
• Paper mills leave behind toxic waste that pollutes the land, water, and air.
• Mining, oil, and gas companies cut down forests and leave behind toxic
waste that poisons water, land, and air.
• Large dam projects flood large areas of forest. People forced to move from
the dam site then cut down more forest to make new homes and fields.
Corporations and governments seldom consider the effects on people’s health
and livelihoods when forests become products to be bought and sold.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012