Deforestation Case

Deforestation can be described as cutting down the trees without planting others in their place. Deforestation is caused by the growing demand for forest products such as wood and the conversion of forest to agriculture as the human population continues to expand. Professor Zulkifly, researcher from LIPI, states that there are two major reasons why people cut down forest: first, the need for land to build houses. With the increase of human population, people need a lot of land to build houses. The second reason is that need for land for business purpose such as building factories or industries or opening a new agricultural area such as for palm oil plantation. The demand for land for cultivation is a major reason for the destruction of forest especially in the countries that have agriculture as the backbone of their economy. Some professionals state that the demands for wood and cutting trees for fuel are also the reasons for the deforestation.

One of the biggest drivers of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers cut forests to provide more area for planting crops. Angga Junaimi, senior environment analyst in Ministry of Environment said, “As long as it can be controlled by government, I agree with this purpose.” He also states that government should have regulations to control this activity such as regulation on wide of conversion area and regulation on reforestation. Furthermore, he states that if there are no regulations to control this activity, it will become the driver for serious problems on our environment.

Today, deforestation is becoming a serious threat to our environment. Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The destruction of the forests not only poses a threat to people existence but also poses a threat to animal that live in the forests and depend on the forests for protection and food supply. Professor Zulkifly states that deforestation has the following dangers: green house effect or global warming (climate