Deforestation from Perspective of Business

Question: Discuss about the Deforestation from Perspective of Business. Answer: Introduction: Deforestation refers to conversion of the forest ground for an alternate and permanent use of the forest ground for some other activity such as agriculture, grazing or development of the urban community. It primarily affects the developing countries that are present in the tropics as the less availability of the forest areas enhances the loss of biodiversity and increases the effects of greenhouse gases (Cacho et al. 2014). Russia, Brazil, Canada. The United States of America and China accounted for more than 53 percent of the total area that was covered in forest, but the recent business opportunities and expansions in the organization have made the percentage shift on the downward side. Countries such as Mongolia, Iran and Chad have more than ten million hectares covered in forest ground because of the low activities related to business. The presence of deforestation is also felt in the temperate and the sub-tropical areas of the world where the urban development due to high-income levels has led to the growth of luxury living by sacrificing the forests for personal benefits (Spracklen et al. 2015). The causes of deforestation can be divided in direct and indirect causes. The direct causes are the expansion of the land due to farming activities, which helps in the business activities that are related to the agriculture. The mass production of crops for the business to maximize its profits had resulted in mass consumption of the forest areas. This is done so that the business can meet the rising demands of the consumers (Hiedanpaa and Bromley 2016). The concept of shifting agriculture which resulted in using up the nutrients present in the soil of a particular place and then moving on to another ground to practice the same has directly resulted in the loss of habitat in the forest. The plantations of timber is also one of the primary factors of deforestation which on the first hand shows the crops being planted are later on harvested by the companies for profit maximization. This leads to deforestation as the lands are being use for commercial purpose. The companies for transport ing their goods need proper transport networks, which results in building of roads by sacrificing the forest areas by a large margin (Ryan, Berry and Joshi 2014). The major dairy companies in the world have purchased large portions of the forest floors so that the cattle can graze on the grass. Though they have their own pastures, they are in constant search of lands to help the cattle graze on the grass. This leads to overgrazing which causes the top soil of the land in becoming loose. This allows the external factors such as wind, rain, etc. to wash away the soil that is loaded with nutrients. Thus, the dairy companies need to ensure that it does not affect the quality of the soil by the overgrazing factor (Carroll and Buchholtz 2014). The mining industries cause deforestation at a vast level because it aggravates the forestland by a huge margin. The international companies pay millions of dollars for mining aluminum, bauxites and iron ores has cleared up vast lands, which helps t he shifting agriculturists and the ranch farmers to cultivate the rich soils (Tacconi 2015). The indirect causes of deforestation arise from the exploitation that takes place by the developed countries on the others. The countries tend to dictate terms with the government to invest in the country so that the capital increases for that particular country. This in turn leads to deforestation as the forest grounds are cleared by a large margin to build the company so that it can have the business activity in that country. This provides the economy of the third world country to grow by sacrificing the natural habitats of that region (Epule et al. 2014). Another reason is the overpopulation, which is linked with poverty of that state or the region. Overpopulation is one of the major reasons for deforestation to take place. The land, which is available to sustain the growth rate of the families, is limited so people are now finding alternative places by cutting down the trees and increasing their own habitats. People are destroying the forest areas to build new houses and good tra nsportation networks to support their families. There has been a huge increment in the agricultural lands in some countries due to the poverty factor (Benn, Dunphy and Griffiths 2014). The poor nations are not being able to support the people who are finding alternatives in the agricultural activities. These activities are happening by slashing and burning down huge forest areas where agriculture produce is taking place. The natural habitats of the wild animals are shrinking due to deforestation, which is seen by the daily conflicts between the animals and humans. Thus, poverty makes the farmers go deep in to the forests where the soil is rich in nutrients to support their agricultural practices. The forest areas gives rise to illegal trading activities which often helps in the deforestation process because the traders cut down large numbers of valuable trees and sell it to the high end companies that makes furniture and other products. The traders with the help of the locals manage the supply chain from the forests to the companies that are targeted (Busch and Engelmann 2015). The adverse effects of deforestation are that it changes the climatic conditions of many regions. Deforestation helps in increasing the changes related to energy on a global scale and increases the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which absorbs the thermal infrared radiations in the atmosphere. Deforestation leads in affecting the wind flows and the absorption of the solar energies that are present in the atmosphere, which influences the local as well as the global change in the climate. It also disrupts the rainfall patterns in areas where companies practice timber cultivation as it helps in the formation of clouds (Boucher 2014). Without, the trees, the clouds cannot be formed and the region is deprived from the required rainfall. The mining activities and the shifting type of agriculture create a change in the weather pattern, which makes the places hotter, and drier, which indirectly leads to drought and desertification. The overgrazing factor of the cattle of the dairy companies leads to the erosion of soils due to rainfall or other weather anomalies, which leaves the place to be dry, and the lands are barren (Busch and Engelmann 2015). The various business activities linked to deforestation gives rise in the global warming or the change in the climatic conditions on a global scale. The shift in the temperatures, the precipitation levels of the regions, the rise in the sea levels, the depletion of the ozone layer in the stratosphere, and the pollution factor are all factors that lead to global warming due to the deforestation activities. The mining activities of the companies have increased the emission of carbon dioxide and the greenhouse gases by almost 25 percent, which indirectly harms the atmospheric levels (Epule et al. 2014). The use of lands for agricultural purposes by the companies has resulted in tilling of low lands and plains, which gets flooded in the monsoon season. Had there been no deforestation in these places, the floras would help manage the floods by controlling the flood levels in that region. The companies, which promote deforestation affects the drinking water, the habitats, related to the aquatic animals and causes silt formation in the rivers and the other waterways. The land cannot tackle the runoffs that happen due to floods or excessive rainfall, which causes the top soil to erode, washing away the nutrients of the soils. One such example is the, Yangtze basin in China where heavy silt formation due to deforestation has led in an increase in the riverbed, which floods the entire place whenever there is rainfall. The land surrounding the river is under different companies who indulged in the deforestation activities to increase their supply to meet the demands of the people (Lima et a l. 2014). The tropical forests serve as a reservoir for the biodiversity and are home to lots of flora and fauna including endangered animal species and variety of plant lives. The poor farmers who cultivate these forest grounds to make a living due to the population growth in the country has led to the destroying of the forest floors. The agricultural process has led to the loss of many migratory birds that visit these forests at a particular season for their spawning season and resulted in the habitat loss of the animals (Grainger 2013). The increase in the farming activities due to business purposes have also led to the clearing of the forest grounds and the animals are made to move further deep inside the forests. This has directly resulted in the conflicts with the humans where it is seen that the animals are killed. The trade of bush meat has also endangered many species of animals as consumers pay highly to have the prized meat of these animals (Becker 2016). To control the risks in deforestation the growth of the population needs to be controlled, if that happens then the per capita income of the place will increase which will give more purchasing power in the hands of the people. This will help in the shift from the rural to the urban places of the regions. The literacy rate of the region will increase which will help in lowering the pressure on the remaining forest areas in the world and the changes will take place related to the use of land. The timber production needs to be controlled by the companies and some new alternatives need to be found out so that the worst affected regions that is the United States and Canada can conserve their forests. The Australia Illegal Logging Prohibition Act, which was introduced in 2012, stated that the timber production needs to be reserved at a particular area of the forest (Herrera 2014). The production of the timber is a long-term tenure, which directly needs to be applied in the forests so that the interests to keep the forests intact on a long-term basis can be beneficial to the timber company owners. The dairy companies need to follow certain guidelines that need to be set by the dairy council so that the overgrazing factor comes to a halt and the forest floors can be protected from erosion. To promote the sustainable management of the forests, the companies need to sustain the forest ecologically, economically as well as socially. The companies can use the forests to its maximum benefits but it should not harm the biodiversity of the area, the erosion of the top soil needs to be controlled keeping in mind the fertility of the soil as well. The companies that provide substitutes of the products that are produced by the effect of deforestation needs to be promoted by the government so that people purchase more from these companies. The U.S. Lacey Act, 1900, bans the illegal trafficking of wildlife and in 2008 amended the law to include plants and plant products such as timber and paper. This law came in to effect in May 2008 and was the first law in the world that banned the trade on illegal wood products (Sims and Alix-Garcia 2015). The customers need to select their products after looking at the labels that the products are produced in an environment friendly manner. The government and non-government bodies need to take up necessary steps so that deforestation can be checked at once. They should promote the planting of trees and NGOs should contribute on the process of afforestation by bringing together the companies to fight against the social causes of deforestation. The government bodies need to encourage the participation of the forest management and rights needs to be formulated to stop the companies from encroaching in to the forests (Hahn et al. 2014). Therefore, to sum it up it is seen that deforestation negatively affects the business organizations on a global scale. The increase in the cultivable lands and means of transportation by chopping down the trees will make the forests disappear in the near future. The effects of global warming on the world have increased because of the increased deforestation activities. The mining companies need to ensure that they do not risk the lives of the people who are involved in the companies by ensuring that proper methods are followed in the mining activities. The deforestation of the tropical areas needs to be reduced so that the migratory birds can visit these places and the human animal conflicts can be reduced largely. The companies need to educate the employees on the environmental benefits by conducting various workshops with the help of experts and the government. 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