PREFACE

We take an opportunity to present this report on

deforestation and put before readers some useful information

regarding our project.

We have made sincere attempt and taken every care to

present this matter in precise and compact form, language

being as simple as possible.

We are sure that the information contained in this

volume would certainly prove useful for better insight in the

scope and dimension of this project in its true perspective.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is indeed a matter of great pleasure and pride in presenting this project on

“DEFORESTATION” .The completion of this project work is a milestone in student’s life

and its execution is inevitable in the hands of the guide.

I am highly indebted to the project guide for the invaluable guidance and appreciation

for giving form and substance to this report. It is due to enduring effort, patience and

enthusiasm which has given a sense of direction and purposefulness to this project and

ultimately made it a success.

I would like to render sincere thanks to staff member for their co-operation .We

would like to express our deep regards and gratitude to HOD and my teachers .I would also

wish to thank the non teaching staff and our friends who have helped us all the time in one

way or the other.

Really it is highly impossible to repay the debt of all the people who have directly

helped us for performing the project. Thank You.

-Tejas Kudtarkar

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Tejas. S.

Kudtarkar has satisfactorily carried out the

project work entitled, “DEFORESTATION” in

partial fulfilment of TE Mechanical Engineering

(A-Division) as lay down by University of

Mumbai during academics year 2010-2011.

CONTENTS

What is Deforestation?

Causes

Ways to stop Deforestation

Effects

Major areas affected by deforestation

Case Study : Honduras

DEFORESTATION

What is DEFORESTATION?

Deforestation is defined as:

The state of being clear of trees

The removal of trees

Deforestation is the clearance of naturally occurring forests by logging and burning.

CAUSES:

Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and

natural factors like wildfires and subsequent overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of

young trees.

There are many different causes for deforestation and they vary widely from location

to location. The top 5 include:

1. Logging (both legal and illegal).

2. Industrialization.

3. Agriculture.

4.Oil exploitation.

5. Human disasters.

Can deforestation be stopped?

The answer to this rests with us. It is this generation at the eleventh hour who have the

knowledge and ability to act. If we leave it to the next generation it will simply be to late and

the forests won’t be there to save. There are many differing groups that will have to work

together to achieve an end to deforestation environmental and conservation groups,

governments, consumers, corporations as well as those who actually work in the forests. We

need each and every one of us to take a stand and do our bit.

All can be tackled but it is unlikely we will ever get rid of deforestation altogether but

as long as we replace what is lost and manage the vast majority of forests sustainably we can

solve the problem and prevent forests shrinking further and perhaps even allow areas to be

planted in order to bring back what has already been lost. Well-managed woodlands can

actually grow whilst supplying timber on a commercially viable scale.

Forest fires can be started naturally or deliberately and are becoming more common

as temperatures rise. Large areas can go up in flames very quickly threatening not only

forests but also crops and homes nearby. Education may help in teaching people not to start

fires in vulnerable areas and forest fire fighting equipment and expertise will help to put out

these fires quickly and reduce the amount of damage. Many areas recover quickly from fire

as seeds and some plants and animals have natural defense mechanisms that protect them

during fires. This recovery can be aided by replanting and leaving the areas surrounding

untouched allowing the plants and animal to recover and recolonize.

Illegal logging is difficult to tackle yet governments need to have legislation and

effective means of enforcing that legislation in order to protect their forests and natural

resources. In countries that are struggling with these issues outside help and cooperation may

be needed if possible.

Legal logging need to be tightly monitored to ensure it is done in a sustainable and

environmentally friendly way as possible ensuring that workers and those who protect the

forests are paid a decent wage. Money can also be raised through tourism to these beautiful

and diverse places. Again the right legislation and enforcement is required, though this is

difficult to achieve in some places it should be worked towards if possible. Ideally a balance

will be struck between supplying what is needed and protecting the habitat for wildlife. This

is possible through sustainable management and replanting programs.

The need of land for agriculture, industrial and living purposes is an ever-increasing

pressure on wild areas and forests and a major contributor to deforestation. This is one issue

that is not easily resolved. Again a balance needs to be struck between the need to have and

preserve a certain amount of forested land and development. Ultimately we have to accept

that the planet can only support and physically have room for a certain number of people and

the expansion in our numbers cannot and will not go on forever.

EFFECTS:

Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage

to the quality of the land. The world’s rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years

at the current rate of deforestation.

Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of them are related to money or to

people’s need to provide for their families. The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture.

Farmers cut forests to provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock.

Often many small farmers will each clear a few acres to feed their families by cutting

down trees and burning them in a process known as “slash and burn” agriculture.

Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also cut

countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also build roads to access

more and more remote forests—which leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a

result of growing urban sprawl.

Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic

impact is a loss of habitat for millions of species. Seventy percent of Earth’s land animals and

plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes.

Deforestation also drives climate change. Forest soils are moist, but without

protection from sun-blocking tree cover they quickly dry out. Trees also help perpetuate the

water cycle by returning water vapour back into the atmosphere. Without trees to fill these

roles, many former forest lands can quickly become barren deserts.

Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the sun’s

rays during the day and holds in heat at night. This disruption leads to more extreme

temperatures swings that can be harmful to plants and animals.

Trees also play a critical role in absorbing the greenhouse gases that fuel global

warming. Fewer forests means larger amounts of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere

increased speed and severity of global warming.

The quickest solution to deforestation would be to simply stop cutting down trees.

Though deforestation rates have slowed a bit in recent years, financial realities make this

unlikely to occur.

A more workable solution is to carefully manage forest resources by eliminating

clear-cutting to make sure that forest environments remain intact. The cutting that does occur

should be balanced by the planting of enough young trees to replace the older ones felled in

any given forest. The number of new tree plantations is growing each year, but their total still

equals a tiny fraction of the Earth’s forested land.

MAJOR AREAS OF DEFORESTATION:

1) Honduras: -37%

Historically Honduras was pretty much entirely covered by trees, with half a percent

of the land not forested. Today, about half of that remains (52%), with just about 16%

existing in a frontier forest state. Between 1990-2005, Honduras saw a decline of 37% in its

forest cover.

2) Nigeria: -36%

About half the land in Nigeria used to be covered in trees. Today all but about 10% of

those have been chopped down, and less than one percent exist as frontier forest. Nigeria has

removed 36% of its trees in the past two decades.

3) The Philippines: -32%

The islands that make up the Philippines used to be all forested. Today only 35% of

those forests remain; the only (slightly) good news in that is about 28% remain as frontier

forest. But with a deforestation rate over the past twenty or so years of 26%, the future isn't

so bright.

4) Benin: -31%

Benin didn't start out with great amounts of forest cover -- only about 16% of the land

used to be forested -- and a high deforestation rate of 31% doesn't help preserve what

remains. Less than 4% of those original forests remain, and none in a frontier forest state.

5) Ghana: -28%

At one point about two-thirds of Ghana was covered with forest; now, less than 10%

of that forest cover remains and none as frontier forest. At a rate of decline since 1990 of

28%, that remaining forest doesn't stand a chance without better forestry practices.

6) Indonesia: -26%

Indonesia is a strange case. Like much of Southeast Asia it was historically entirely

covered in forest, and over the whole nation some 65% of that forest cover remains, with

about 29% in a frontier forest condition. But it's seen a serious decline in that forest cover

over the past two decades which doesn't show signs of letting up. It's also an amazingly large

country, and there are local conditions that get minimized in the stats. For example, on

Borneo (the world's third largest island) between 1985-2000 more logs were felled than in all

of South America and Africa combined. Half of the lowland forest is currently gone and that

could increase to two-thirds in just ten years.

7) Nepal & North Korea: -25%

Nepal has about 22% of its original forest cover remaining, non of which is

considered frontier forest -- the past two decades saw a 25% decline in forest cover. At one

point nearly all of North Korea was forested, but today about 61% of that has been cleared --

the change in forest cover since 1990 has been a decline of about 25%.

9) Ecuador & Haiti: -22%

Rounding out the bottom of the top, as it were, are Ecuador, Liberia, and Haiti, all of

which have witnessed 22% declines in forest cover since 1990.

Ecuador was originally largely forested, but today has about two-thirds of that forest

cover remaining. The comparatively good news is that about 37% of that is frontier forest.

The bad news about Haiti is that it has had a 22% decline in forest cover in the past

twenty years. The even worse news is that Haiti has already cleared all but a fraction of a

percent of it's original forest, 99.2% to be exact. Here's the symbol par excellence of what

happens when you have horrendous forestry practice.

HONDURAS

LOCATION ON MAP:

Honduras borders the Caribbean Sea on the north coast and the Pacific Ocean on the

south through the Gulf of Fonseca. The climate varies from tropical in the lowlands to

temperate in the mountains. The central and southern regions are relatively hotter and less

humid than the northern coast.

The Honduran territory consists mainly of mountains, but there are narrow plains

along the coasts, a large undeveloped lowland jungle La Mosquitia region in the northeast,

and the heavily populated lowland Sula valley in the northwest. In La Mosquitia, lies the

UNESCO world-heritage site Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, with the Coco River which

divides the country from Nicaragua.

Ecology:

The 1980s saw a heightened awareness and concern over ecological issues. Even

though Honduras is not overpopulated, its land resources have been overexploited, and there

are numerous reasons for concern regarding deforestation and the prevalence of unsustainable

agricultural practices. Enforcement of the few regulations already in effect is uneven.

Honduras has two major national parks. One is the Tigra Cloud Forest Park near

Tegucigalpa. The other is the Copán National Park near the border with Guatemala, which

houses the Mayan ruins. Honduras also has established the Río Plátano Reserve.

Furthermore, the government has attempted to encourage ecotourism in the Islas de la Bahía,

where biologically rich coral reefs are located.

As a consequence of the expansion of environmental consciousness, the Honduran

Association of Ecology (Asociación Hondureña de la Ecología--AHE) was founded in the

1980s. Following the example set in the foundation of the AHE, many other groups formed

with the stated purpose of promoting ecologically sound policies. Unfortunately, in 1993

many sources of international funding dried up following the discovery of corruption in a

number of Honduran ecological groups. Despite the continued presence of many

environmental problems, ecologists are encouraged by the increasing environmental

consciousness among all sectors of the population. The fact that environmental concerns are

part of the policies advocated by peasant organizations, labor unions, and other interest

groups is a sign that the ecological movement has come to maturity.

Honduran society provides examples of the most severe problems faced by

developing nations. Yet within that same society, the unique relationship between social and

political forces provides potential for progress in alleviating the country's problems

FORESTS IN HONDURAS:

In the northeastern region of La Mosquitia lies the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, a

lowland rainforest which is home to a great diversity of life. The reserve was added to the

UNESCO World Heritage Sites List in 1982.

Honduras has rain forests, cloud forests (which can rise up to nearly three thousand

meters above sea level), mangroves, savannas and mountain ranges with pine and oak trees,

and the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. In the Bay Islands there are bottlenose dolphins,

manta rays, parrot fish, schools of blue tang and whale shark.

DEFORESTATION IN HONDURAS:

Honduras's high rate of deforestation stems from its poverty. Despite its natural

wealth, both mineral and biological, Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Central

America. Deforestation results from agricultural colonization by subsistence farmers, clearing

for cattle pasture, collection of fuel-wood (65 percent of the country's energy comes from

fuel-wood), mining activities, timber harvesting, and forest fires.

Illegal logging is a major problem in Honduras. By some estimates, as much as 85 percent of

timber production in the country is illegal. The illicit timber trade feeds endemic corruption

that involves politicians, bureaucrats, timber companies, mayors, police, and other officials,

according to a 2005 investigation by the Center for International Policy and the

Environmental Investigation Agency.

While the government has increasingly taken a pro-environment stance by

establishing protected areas and generally cracking down on some illegal forest activities—

corruption notwithstanding—its biggest challenge is gaining support from people who rely on

forests for subsistence activities. Colonists put pressure on nature reserves while a lack of

funds—some of which are being diverted to fight the country's burgeoning gang problem—

means that parks are understaffed and illegal activities are hard to control.

Where the government fails or lags, a blossoming grassroots environmental

movement has stepped in and is seen by many conservationists as a key to the future of the

country's environment. In 1993, the Honduran government passed the country's first national

environmental law after years of pressure from these local environmental organizations.

The effects of deforestation are evident during tropical storms and hurricanes that

periodically batter the country. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch killed thousands and caused

widespread damage to infrastructure. Aerial surveys following the storm revealed that

mudslides were worst in deforested areas. Hillsides forested with natural vegetation which

anchors soils suffered less damage.

Honduras: Forest Cover, 2010

Total Land Area (1000 square kilometers): 11189

Total Forest Area (1000 ha): 5192

Percent Forest Cover: 46

Primary Forest Cover (1000 ha): 457

Primary Forest, % total forest: 9

Other wooded land (1000 ha): 1475

Percent other wooded land: 13

TOTAL FOREST COVER (1000 ha):

1900 2000 2005 2010

8136 6392 5792 5192

ANNUAL CHANGE RATE (1000 ha) Negative number represents deforestation

1990-2000 2000-2005 2005-2010

-174 -120 -120

ANNUAL CHANGE RATE (percent) Negative number represents deforestation

1990-2000

2000-2005

2005-2010

-2.38

-1.95

-2.16

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