Planting trees can make a large difference in an eco-system. Trees do a lot of good things like combat climate change, provide fresh air, and so much more. Many countries around the world are having troubles with deforestation, which is where they are cutting down a large major of the trees for their own use. If people can start planting more trees, and become more mindful about the amount of trees that they are cutting down, everyone could help combat climate change.
First off, deforestation has a lot of repercussions on the environment, yet many people will not stop because they need the trees removed from the ground for their own survival, rather than keeping them in place. One of the biggest problems with deforestation is that it destroys habitats for millions of animals. With those animals living in trees being taken out, their whole food chain can become messed up. Another problem of deforestation is that with the removal of these forests, protection is also being lost. The soil that was below the trees will have no protection from the sun and are more prone to becoming dried out. This will lead to the soil not being able to be used by the locals. Not only does the soil get no protection from the sun, but the area below the trees will no longer have protection from the heat of sun, resulting in higher, more extreme temperatures.
Last but not least, deforestation is not helping with climate change. One of the main reasons for the rising temperatures on Earth is because the amount of CO2 emissions in the air. The trees take care of cleaning the air for us, and even during spring and summer, when trees and other plants are starting to come to life again, the amounts of CO2 in the air are significantly reduced. This just shows that the more trees there are in the environment, the better it will be for the people, and trying to combat climate change.
Unfortunately, the majority of countries who are at the top of the list for deforestation are third-world countries who are taking down the trees to use them for fires to warm their homes or burn their trash. Those emissions are just adding more pollution to the air, making the country worse off. When looking at the list of countries who have the highest deforestation rates one might be surprised to not see Brazil on the list because of how much of a bad reputation they have for constantly cutting down the Amazon Rainforest, but in reality they are very low on the list. Since the Amazon Rainforest is so large, the trees they are cutting down in contrast to other countries is much smaller. For example, Haiti has cleared around 99.2% of their forests, whereas Brazil still has 70% of their forests still standing. Below, you can see the picture that shows just how bad Haiti’s landscape is compared to their neighbor, the Dominican Republic.
I had the opportunity to travel to Haiti in 2016 and could smell the deforestation. By that I mean that the air quality there was quite horrible in that it always smelled of burning wood. Turns out they were making bon fires for their trash, and to have light during the nights. This is a prime example of how some countries have to resort to deforestation enable to survive their daily lives. People have made comments though about how Haiti has used their resources too fast only for short term use, but they will be hurting in the coming years when they run out of their resources. Fortunately, the people of Haiti are finding ways to use these resources up the most they can before completely throwing them away.
One obvious way to fix the problem of deforestation is to have government officials make sure that they are regulating the amount of trees that are being cut down in their countries. I believe this option could work for well developed countries, but for third world countries like Haiti, it is hard to enforce such laws when their government is corrupt. Another option is to start planting more trees. It is a simple task that will make a big difference in the long run. There are more benefits to planting a tree than to not, and they range from cleaning the air, as mentioned above, to increasing business traffic in some areas. Studies have shown that people are more attracted to shops with greenery around them, so why not plant more in major cities?
It will take a long time to repopulate some of the forests that were taken down, but that should not stop people from starting to plant trees now. All it takes is some seeds and hard work to make the environment a better place to live for those who do not have the luxury of trees.