• Definition
• Causes of Deforestation
• Effects of Deforestation
• Forest Degradation in India
• Control measures
• Impact of deforestation on
Tribal people
• Case study

• Deforestation, clearance or clearing is the removal of a
forest.
• Examples of deforestation include conversion of
forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use.
• According to UN conference in 1992 deforestation is
defined as “ Land degradation in arid, semi-arid and sub-
humid areas resulting from various factors including
climatic variation and human activities.”

1) Shifting cultivation:-
• Most of the clearing of forest is done for
agricultural
purposes.
• Poor farmers cut down trees or burn
it and start agriculture.
• Intensive or modern agriculture destroy the
forest on a
large scale.
• It is principal cause of deforestation in
some countries like America(35%),
Asia(50%),Africa(70%).

2) Commercial Logging:-
• It involves cutting trees for sale as
timber or pulp.
• It employs heavy machinery to
remove cut trees and build roads.
• Logging roads enable people to
access the interiors of the forest,
which in results in deforestation .
• In Africa, 75% of land being cleared
by poor farmers is land that has
been previously logged.

3) Mining and Dams:-
• Mining, industrial development and hydroelectric power
plant projects are also causes of deforestation.
• Dams open the previously inaccessible forest and
damage ecosystems.
• In Brazil, the grand carajas project occupies 90,000
km2.
• It also affect 23 tribal groups and also cause the high soil,
water and air pollution.

• Deforestation also occurs due to
overgrazing and
conversion of forest to pasture for
domestic animals .
• Expansion of agribusiness that
grows oil palm , rubber, fruit trees
and ornamental plants has also
resulted in deforestation.
• Governmental sponsored programs
that resettle landless farmers on
forested sites have contributed to
deforestation all around the world.
• Other reasons includes fire, pest,
etc.

1) Soil Erosion:- The soil gets washed
away with rain water on sloppy area in
the absence of trees leading to soil
erosion.
2) Expansion of Deserts:- Due to action of
strong wind
mass of land gradually gets covered to
sand deserts.
3) Decrease in Rainfall:- In the absence
of forest, rainfall decreases
considerably because forests bring
rains and maintains high humidity in
atmosphere.

4) Loss of Fertile Land:- Less rainfall results into the loss
of fertile land owing to less natural vegetation growth.
5) Effect on Climate:- Deforestation includes regional and
global climate change. Climate has become warmer
due to the lack of humidity in deforestation regions and
also patterns of rainfall has changed. Droughts have
become common.

6) Economic Losses:- Deforestation will cause loss of
industrial timber and non-timber products and loss of
long term productivity on the site.
7) Loss of Bio-diversity:- Deforestation cause the bio-
diversity leading to disturbances in ecological balance
world wild.

8) Loss of medical Plants:- There are many
species of plants, which have been used in
India for centuries as insecticide, fungicide, in
medicine and in bio-fertilizers. Deforestation
may lead to the extinction of these valuable
plants.
9) Environmental Changes:- It will lead to
increase in carbon dioxide concentration
and other air pollutants. This would result in
Global Warming.
10) Change in living Habits:- This may force
indigenous people to live a new life which
they are not prepared. Disturbance in forest
eco-system may result in other eco-systems
that may be separated by great distances.

• Depletion of forestry cover less than 90% is considered
as forest degradation and more than 90% is
considered as deforestation, according to Food and
Agriculture Organisation(FAO) of the UN.
• Logging is considered as a forest degradation and not
as a deforestation.
• In India timber is used for preparing plywood, veneer,
boards, doors, windows and other furniture.

• Wood is also used for cooking and heating.
• Population, rapid development and men’s dependency on
forest are mainly responsible for Forest Degradation.
• India has lost 3.4 million hectares of forest cover from the
period of 1951-1970.
• Nearly 1% of land is turning barren per year due to
deforestation.

• Reforestation:-
Many countries in the world have started reforestation and
forestry, and East Asian nations are leading in this regard.
Many East Asian countries, including China, have successfully
managed to reverse deforestation.
• Legislation :-
By making suitable changes
in the law, so that cutting
trees in a forest will not only
lead to deforestation being
controlled in a major way,
but its flow may also be
reversed.

• Wildlife Sanctuaries :-
Sanctuaries are very important, not only to save wildlife, but to
save trees as well. Sanctuaries go a long way in protecting all
wildlife.
• Commercial Forest Plantations :-
There can be special forest plantations for all the wood that is
needed for the industry. This way the wood can be cut in a
controlled and regulated environment.

• Cities :-
All cities, let alone new cities, have to
be managed properly. Their expansion
has to be curtailed or at least done in a
systematic manner, so that there is
enough green cover, and new trees are
planted where ever possible.
Incentive to Corporate :-
Tax cuts should be granted to
corporations, to get them actively
interested in reforestation.

• Water Management :-
Improper water management affects deforestation in a
big way. If the wildlife doesn't have water, then the
entire ecosystem will falter. The construction of new
dams should be planned properly, so that any one area
isn't deprived of water, while another area has
abundance of it.

 In the name of development people have been indulging in
deforestation in large numbers thus snatching away the homes of the
tribals. The tribal community has not only lost the physical entity of
land because of deforestation but has lost its heritage, its culture, its
legacy and inheritance
 Displacement
 Due to deforestation when the tribal families are displaced to urban,
industrial or mining areas so as to make out an existence, they are
confronted with strange experiences and insurmountable problems.
During the first few days the tribals remain completely disillusioned
and despondent in the strange environment, because of lack of food,
water, shelter, and place for defecation, lack of friends and neighbors
etc. This has resulted in the break down of socio-economic
interdependence

 As a result of the destruction of the environment and increasing pressure from the
village many men have to migrate to other region, which increases the workload of
women. Thus the economic status of the family particularly of women deteriorates
due to the migration. Moreover, in the absence of men, women are left to fend for
themselves and deal with the exploitative elements such as moneylenders,
businessmen and landlords. Tribal women with low literacy are especially
susceptible to this situation, leading to land alienation, cheating and sexual
exploitation
 Exploitation: Jarawas, a pre-historic indigenous tribe when came in contact with
the tourists were sexually exploited. The tourists would give bare Jarawa men and
women money, throw empty water bottles at them, and some offered cigarettes to
small Jarawa children. This led to the Jarawa children becoming addicted to
smoking and the adults dancing in exchange for money

 DEFORESTATION AFFECTS TRIBAL PEOPLE IN MANY WAYS:
 •They are unable to carry out their traditional ways of life, and their homeland is
often destroyed.
 • It can affect their food and water sources, nothing farming, deforestation is
when trees are cut down for things such as logging, and tribes live in the rain
forests, they live like their ancestors by hunting for their food.
 • They do not have all the modern technology that we have. When the trees are cut
down it will destroy their homes and they will have no where else to go and they
won’t be able to adapt to the lives people live in the urban areas of their countries,
they also would find it very hard to get a job due to their history of living in tribes
and rainforests.

 When indigenous people lose their rainforest refuge, they do not die out, in the
physical sense, nor can they just relocate, as some animals are able to do.
 • They do lose their culture and their ways of life that have lasted for many
generations.
 • They lose their traditional beliefs and sustenance patterns that allowed them to
live in harmony within the rainforest for so many generations
 • Their great knowledge of the rainforest, how it works and awareness of
medicinal plant species is also lost.

 The hamburger chain Burger King has been buying animal feed
produced in soy plantations carved out by the burning of tropical
forests in Brazil and Bolivia.
 The meat in Burger King sandwiches comes from livestock who are
raised on soybeans.
 The cultivation of soybeans is the leading cause of deforestation
especially when it’s grown as a monoculture and sprayed with
pesticides.
 The suppliers who provide soybeans to Burger King are the same
businessmen and traders who are causing deforestation.
 Thus, its corporate sustainability policy fails to inform its stakeholders
about how its meat produced or how many of its ingredients are raised
sustainably and responsibly

 Health:
 The reduction in the extent and quality of land available for shifting
cultivation, the disappearance and reduced availability of minor forest
produce along with the forest have thus led to a decline in the quality
and quantity of food consumed. The consequences of inadequate and
low nutrition food intake combined with the extra workload are bound
to show on their physical health. Physical deterioration has been
compounded by the non-availability of many medicinal herbs or roots,
derivatives of animals etc which in the past served as effective medicine
in times of illness.
 Examples
 The new Greenpeace report, “Slaughtering the Amazon,” tracks beef,
leather, and other cattle products from ranches involved in illegal
deforestation in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. The investigation
indicates the “laundering” of leather and beef into supply chains of top
brands such as Adidas, Reebok, Nike, Clarks, Timberland, Gucci, IKEA,
Kraft, and Wal-Mart.

Conclusion : -
If we do not put an end to deforestation, all of earth’s
forests will disappear within the next 100 years.