The Ecology Book

THE HUMAN FACTOR 259

5000

Reforesting

the Amazon

About 17 percent of rain forest

in the Amazon Basin has

been lost since the mid-1970s.

At the United Nations Paris

Climate Summit in 2015,

Brazil pledged to restore

nearly 30 million acres (12

million hectares) by the year

2030. In 2017, Conservation
      International, in partnership
      with the Brazilian government,
      launched the area’s biggest
      reforestation program to date,
      under which Amazonas state
      will gain 73 million trees
      through seeding and planting.
      Local communities are
      being enrolled to implement
      the program, using a
      technique called muvuca. This
      involves spreading the seeds
      of more than 200 native forest
      species over every square yard
      of land. Less labor-intensive
      than traditional tree-planting,
      the method can reforest land
      quickly, delivering around
      6,000 plants per acre. In
      addition to the seeding
      program some planting will
      enrich secondary forest and
      return pasture land to forest.

exposed soil dries out faster than

tree-covered areas, making it more

prone to wind erosion.

Fueling global warming

Burning wood or forests adds

carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to the

atmosphere. By contrast, living

plants of all kinds reduce CO 2 ,

as they absorb carbon, taking up

the greenhouse gas to perform

photosynthesis, thus countering

the damaging impact of human

activities. Globally, forests suck up

2.65 billion tons (2.4 billion tonnes)

of CO 2 every year. Environmentalists

and climatologists worry that

removing large tracts of tropical

forest could be disastrous.

Reforesting Earth

Currently, about 31 percent

of Earth’s land surface is covered

by forests, but that figure is rapidly

decreasing in some parts of the

world. However, there are regions,

including Europe, where forest

areas are gradually expanding.

Measures to restrict deforestation

include payments to communities

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

The depleting rainforest cover in the Amazon Basin is a

global concern. The land is now being stripped of trees at a

rate of 8,000 sq km (3,000 sq miles) annually.

0

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015

AREA DEFORESTED, IN SQ KM

for conserving forest, and the

creation of extractive reserves,

where local people can harvest

products sustainably.

Globally, alternative sources

of fuel need to be found, along

with new ways to develop less

land-hungry forms of agriculture.

A few nations are taking the lead

in reforestation programs. For

example, a project in which people

from 500 villages have planted 150

million mangrove trees on the coast

of Senegal will restore mangrove

forests to boost fishing and shield

rice paddies from the influx of salt

water. The Chinese aimed to plant

16.3 million acres (6.6 million

hectares) in 2018, equal to the area

of Ireland; in 2000, the proportion of

China covered by forest had fallen

to 19 percent, but the target is to

increase this to 23 percent by 2020

and 26 percent in 2035. ■

The first African woman to win

a Nobel Peace Prize (2004), Wangari

Maathai initiated a community-based

tree planting program to reverse

erosion and desertification in Kenya.

US_254-259_Deforestation.indd 259 12/11/18 6:25 PM