Basic Knowledge in Agriculture #51

Sometimes people get confused between bush clearing and deforestation. Bush clearing is basically for the purpose of planting (agricultural purpose). It is one of the processes carried out before planting crops on the farm. And then you may ask then, what is deforestation? That's why we're here. Let's keep going.

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Deforestation, according to my little knowledge of teaching Social Studies, is the unnecessary falling of trees while the land is use for other purposes e.g commercial purposes. This is how it is, we all understand that many people make use of firewood for cooking. It is mostly practised in rural communities and for people who engage in large-scale cooking. People fall trees in order to obtain firewood and also for the purpose of construction e.g roads, bridges, houses and other infrastructure.

Another reason people fall trees is to get charcoal. Coal is not only for cooking purposes, it can be used for other things, such as ironing of cloth with a locally fabricated iron called box iron in my locality. It can be used for production of other items.

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• Deforestation causes erosion and erosion causes loss and destruction of soil and crops.

• It leads to desert encroachment. This is when trees in the forest closer to the desert are cut down, and as a result, extends the heat from the desert closer to the tropical areas, causing trees to stop growing or die.

• Deforestation exposes the environment to air pollution. As we may know, trees (forests) purify the air we breathe. When trees are cut down, the environment lacks that natural purifier there by causing more threats and air pollution.

• It destroys wildlife as animals lose their natural habitat and begin to wander and die.

• It threatens the medical and pharmaceutical industry as trees' leaves, stems and roots are used to produce medicines.

• Deforestation causes wandering animals to spread viral sickness to humans. For instance, the Ebola virus caused by an animal.

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Deforestation can be encouraged by:

1. Tree planting exercises by individuals and groups

2. There should be alternatives to the use of firewood and charcoal. For example, the use of an industrial gas cooker for cooking large quantities of food and electronic cookers.

3. Burning of bushes should also be discouraged as this also threatens the forest.

I'm inviting @tempestinyang, @nsisong2022 and @akareen