Background

Humans are clearing the Earth’s trees at an increasing rate. Currently, forests cover about thirty percent of the land, but quantities the size of Panama are being lost every year. Forests are important to the wellbeing of not only humans but also the numerous amounts of species of plants and animals (70%) that make the forests their homes.  Deforestation is happening because of money, and the need for more land for agriculture. Companies that provide paper and wood cut down a sizeable amount of trees each year thus increasing the dependence and problem. Cutting down trees is not good for the environment. This activity pushes climate change and destroys millions of habitats. Even though there is a general consensus that deforestation should be stopped, the dependence that humans have on forests is too much for there to be a sudden stoppage of a reliable source of wood, thus there needs to be better solutions to tackle this increasing problem.

Problem

India’s need for “forest-based products” is rising causing an in deforestation. World Wildlife Foundation predicts that India’s consumption of wood “could exceed 70 million m³ per year by the end of the decade”. Being one of the world’s most rapidly developing countries and having the world’s second largest population, India’s thirst for wood is non-ending, so stopping this problem is tough. There are three major causes of deforestation in India: 1) Agriculture- To feed over 1.2 billion people, India expands its agriculture sector thus cutting down forests to make space 2) Shifting Cultivation- People cut down tree to use the land temporarily, however after they leave, the ecosystems are beyond repair 3) Fire Wood- With all the small villages in India, the villagers’ only source of light is fire. To create fire, they must cut down trees surrounding their village. Indian deforestation is linear so the problem grows the longer the government continues to avoid to it.

Solution

Although there are many proposed solutions to deforestation in India, the best one is probably the UN-REDD Program, which is currently evident in fifty countries. The goal of the United Nations program is to assist developing countries on reducing emission from deforestation. Right now, India is not a part of this program. Although right now it may not seem like a big deal, deforestation is growing in India and stopping it early is essential