Biodiversity and deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or cluster of trees from land which is then converted to a non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use.
The most concentrated deforestation occurs in tropical rainforests, which are particularly important to the world because they provide a habitat for millions of species of organisms, they regulate the world’s climate, they store nearly half of the world’s rainwater and they contain plants that are used in modern medications. Rain forests also absorb massive amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2).
About 31% of Earth’s land surface is covered by forests. Deforestation can directly lead to biodiversity loss when animal species that live in the trees no longer have their habitat, cannot relocate, and therefore become extinct. Deforestation can lead certain tree species to permanently disappear, which affects biodiversity of plant species in an environment.
Deforestation affects biodiversity in a number of ways. Trees may be removed from particular areas in order to make various wood products, to clear land for new buildings or roads, or for creating new farming or grazing land. It can also occur as a result of natural disasters or accidental fires.
Climate 101: Deforestation | National Geographic
Forests cover about 30% of the planet, but deforestation is clearing these essential habitats on a massive scale. What is deforestation? Find out the causes, effects, and solutions to deforestation.
What If We Lost The Amazon Rainforest?
This short film from ‘What If’ explains why the Amazon Rainforest is so important by considering what the impact would be if it was completely destroyed, and explores what we can do about it.
How To Save Our Forests and Rewild Our Planet
After centuries of clearing forest find out from Sir David Attenborough why we could soon have more forest than any of us have ever known.
Iceland Is Growing New Forests for the First Time in 1,000 Years
The landscape of Iceland has changed a lot in a thousand years. When the Vikings first arrived in the ninth century, the land was covered in 25 to 40 percent forest but historically Iceland has been among the worst examples in the world of deforestation. Now a programme of reforestation is planting resilient forests genetically well-adapted to the changing environment.
Rain Forest Hero Plants Over 30,000 Trees to Save the Amazon
For decades the people in the Manu region of Peru have used slash-and-burn as their primary farming technique. Realizing that there would soon be no forest left if this practice continued, Reynaldo Ochoa began experimenting with different approaches to farming the land. He’s now dedicated to reforesting the region and teaching residents more sustainable alternatives to deforestation, like agroforestry and permaculture.
Topher White: What can save the rainforest? Your used cell phone
The sounds of the rainforest include: the chirps of birds, the buzz of cicadas, the banter of gibbons. But in the background is the almost-always present sound of a chainsaw, from illegal loggers. Engineer Topher White shares a simple, scalable way to stop this brutal deforestation — that starts with your old cell phone
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