Restore Habitats and Fight Deforestation
How do we restore habitats and fight deforestation? Kenya is a beautiful country with diverse ecosystems, but it is also one of the most deforested countries in Africa. Eco Clubs of Kenya has launched a campaign to plant one tree for every dollar donated to combat deforestation. This campaign will help restore the natural habitat for endangered animal species, reduce climate change, and fight deforestation.
Deforestation is a problem that is happening all over the world. Every year, we lose 15 billion trees. That is an astonishing number! Deforestation happens for many reasons: the predominance of agriculture, the need for wood and land, and climate change are some of the leading causes.
When trees are cut down, it destroys natural habitats and endangers animal species. For example, when a rainforest is cleared, the animals have to find new homes. This can be very difficult for them, and sometimes they die.
Forests cover 31% of the surface area of the world. Deforestation also contributes to climate change. Trees play an essential role in regulating the Earth’s climate. It is harder for us to fight climate change when they are destroyed.
We need to curb deforestation now!
If our world continues down this path, we’ll have decimated our forests entirely in the next several million years. The environmental degradation will become disastrous on a massive scale. Human beings, wildlife, and the entire Earth will suffer greatly. Since the beginning of time, six trillion trees have been growing worldwide. That’s twice as many trees as exist today in our forests.
Over the past two decades, deforestation has increased considerably, leading to the extinction of millions of animal species due to the loss of natural habitat and food.
Importance of Forests to Ecosystem
- Life is impossible without trees. Trees receive water from the soil, release it into the air, and contribute to the rainfall accordingly.
- Tree roots retain water and soil, preventing severe landslides.
- Trees clean the air by filtering out contaminants and toxins.
- Forests are a habitat for more than three-quarters of the world’s life on land. Forests are full of hundreds of precious species.
- Trees slow down climate change because they store carbon and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- Trees can effectively help reverse global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the air.
- Forests allow many people to obtain jobs; some 13.2 million people worldwide have jobs related to the forest sector, and another 41 million are related to the forestry industry.
Without trees, deserts would effectively cover parts of the world. Life would come to an end. It would be an extremely dismal condition.
Our communities’ food production, transportation, and personal industry activities collectively account for about half of the human-generated carbon dioxide we usually produce. Each person has around 6 tons of Carbon dioxide per year.
Things are far worst in industrialized regions. For example, in China, the average person produces eight tons of carbon dioxide; in Europe, nine tons are created. And in America, sixteen tons are produced.
An average adult tree can assimilate 10-20 kg of unhealthy air in an industrial area or 20-50 kg in a forest.
To absorb one ton of carbon dioxide emissions requires approximately 30 to 45 trees, depending on the tree.
To achieve CO2 reductions for everyone, each person would need to be responsible for planting at least 180 trees. In Europe, each person under the age of 70 also needs to plant 270 trees; among American residents of the same period, each person would have to be responsible for growing 480.
Causes of Deforestation
- The conversion to agriculture
An increase in population and changes in diet are credited with most of the world’s deforestation. As the world’s population grows, more food is needed. In addition, crops such as soy and palm oil are used in many products, from animal feed to lipstick and biofuels. Rising demand leads to a rise in deforestation.
2. Forest Fires
Fire is a natural and beneficial feature of the atmosphere taken by forests, but it’s harmful if it occurs in the wrong place, at the wrong time, or in too little quantity.
Every year, millions of acres of forest are destroyed or damaged by logging farming forest fires.
These fires affect the structure and composition of forests. They can also open up forests to invasive species, damage biological diversity, change the landscape’s water cycles and fertility, and threaten the livelihoods of those who live in and around forests.
3. Illegal logging
Illegal logging occurs in a range of types of forests all across the world, affecting both nature and people’s livelihoods and undermining trade. Illegally harvested wood finds its way into major food markets to further fuel the cycle.
4. Harvesting fuelwood
Over-harvesting for domestic or commercial trade in charcoal can severely harm forests.
5. Mining
Rainforests are steadily being destroyed by the demand for minerals, and new mining projects are being carried out as a result. Mining campaigns are accompanied by major infrastructural construction projects, including railway lines, roads and power plants, which dry up forests and pollute freshwater habitats.
6. Climate change
Forest loss is both a cause and a consequence of the effects of changing climate. Climate change is endangering forests, such as by decimating tropical rainforests and worsening fires in boreal forests. Inside forests, the effects of climate change are already harming biodiversity, a challenge that is certain to worsen.
Impacts of deforestation
Although most forests consist of trees and other plants, they are also integrated ecosystems. They house some of the most diverse nature on the planet and supply vital services such as the cycling of carbon and water. When forests are damaged or destroyed, they trigger a chain of effects far beyond the forest’s borders, with noticeable results locally and globally.
1. Disruptions to the water cycle.
Trees play a crucial role in the water cycle by helping to maintain a balance between the water in rivers and the atmosphere and land. However, that balance can be thrown off by deforestation or degradation, resulting in modifications in precipitation amounts and river flow amounts.
2. Increase in soil erosion
Without trees to provide solid areas of groundwater to anchor, erosion can occur, which sweeps the land into the wind. The agriculture plants that frequently replace the trees cannot practically secure the soil. These plant species, such as coffee, cotton, palm, soybean, and wheat, can worsen erosion. According to scientists, soil erosion has affected about a third of the Earth’s arable land.
3. The Disrupted source of income
About 1.25 billion people rely on forests for shelter, livelihoods, water, fuel, and food security. And 750 million people (approximately one-fifth of the total rural population) live in forests. This includes 60 million indigenous people. But deforestation can disrupt their lives, often with devastating consequences.
4. Increase in greenhouse emissions
Forests effectively act to remove carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the air. Their carbon content alone amounts to more than 228 to 247 gig tons, producing output comparable to human activities.
When forests are destroyed or cut down, greenhouse gases are released instead of absorbed. As a result, a significant percentage of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions stem from deforestation and forest degradation. These emissions lead to overheating, changes in climate patterns, and increased frequency of extreme weather events.
Climate change can cause changes in several types of animals by changing their habitats and diminishing the availability of food and water. Some species may adapt to this by switching to higher elevations or latitudes, but losses can occur.
Let’s plant trees and help make the natural habitat hospitable to animals in danger of becoming extinct.
One dollar for one tree is fundamental to the way it works.
You make donations online, https://ecoclubsofkenya.co.ke/donate/; our community’s partner organizations work with local communities and villages in Kajiado, growing fruit trees, planting native species of trees, protecting and restoring indigenous forests in Kenya, working with all levels of government, restored forests are protected.
The $1 donation of Eco Clubs of Kenya translates into planting a tree in Kenya, replacing deforested land, protecting animal species, and minimizing global climate change.
Our organization, Eco Clubs of Kenya, is devoted to planting trees. We wish to grow one million units over the following four years.
With the help of our organization, you help a charity that is fully committed to safeguarding and defending domestic and wild animals, rescuing millions of animals from the threat of extinction and concretely combating deforestation and climate change.
Eco Clubs of Kenya will plant one tree and fight climate change for every dollar donated.
Let’s accomplish the goal together!
