Tropical Deforestation in Australia

        People have been committing the process of tropical deforestation for thousands of years all over the globe. According to earthobservatoy.gov, (Source 1) “although tropical forests are largely confined to developing countries, they aren't just meeting local or national needs; economic globalization means that the needs and wants of the global population are bearing down on them as well.” While there is no one direct cause for deforestation there are many contributing factors. One of the primary reason for people obliterating the forest is for the land. Once the land is cleared it could be used in many different ways. The land could be used for: croplands, pasture, raising livestock, or for urbanization. The second cause for deforestation is logging (Source 1). The trees that are being cut down are being used for a vast majority of objects. Including paper, pencils, lumber, cellophane, asphalt, paint, chewing gum, detergents and turpentine. The third major factor contributing to deforestation is according to earthobervatory.gov (Source 1)  is poverty. “Although poverty is often cited as the underlying cause of tropical deforestation, analyses of multiple scientific studies indicate that that explanation is an oversimplification. Poverty does drive people to migrate to forest frontiers, where they engage in slash and burn forest clearing for subsistence”.  

                                     Figure 1: A method of tropical deforestation

                        

                                                         

                                     Figure 2: Another method of tropical deforestation

                                   
                             Figure 3: Poverty pushes many people to live in the woods

      Tropical deforestation is a problem in Australia, even though most of Australia consists mostly of deserts. According to Corey J. A. Bradshaw’s Oxford Journal(Source 2) , even with Australia’s “relatively small human population (22.5 million) it has been responsible for extensive deforestation and forest degradation since European settlement in the late 18th century.”. Even though a small percent of Australia has tropical forest, a good portion of the forest is being stripped away. According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF) (Source 3), “It is estimated that around 7% of the agricultural area of western Australia is suffering from this problem following deforestation” . In a recent study done by WWF, Australia’s tropic soils will probably never recover from suffering tropical deforestation. 

By: Gabrielle Ramsay, Christie Johnson,  

Work Cited:

earthobservatory.nasa.gov (Source 1)

jaredandjillian.blogspot.com (Figure 1)

cafnec.org.au (Firgure 2)

www.gettyimages.com (Figure 3)

http://jpe.oxfordjournals.org/content/5/1/109.full (Source 2)

http://wwf.panda.org/who_we_are/wwf_offices/australia/environmental_problems_in_australia/  (Source 3)