It is the harsh truth that humans are engaged in activities and practices that can be said to be self-destructive. Over the centuries, humans have been exploiting and cutting forests to satisfy their need, and this regular process has decreased the density of forest to a large extent, making difficult for millions of species of plants and animals to sustain. This practice will also leave the earth’s ecosystem and ecological balance shattered, and the consequences of this will be felt not only by plants and animals but by human beings as well because we are reliant on plants and animals for all our needs.
The fact, that forests have high significance to humans, is established by the information that forests are the sources of foods and medicines, aid to stabilise the world’s climate, shelter against floods and draughts and are also a great support for tribal people.
Despite all the advantages of forests, humans are leaving no stone unturned to earn profits by exploiting forest in a way that will affect our future generations. The process of deforestation is carried out mainly to get wood to be used for various purposes, to build roads and buildings, and to extract minerals and natural resources.
Also, paper-making companies exploit large proportion of forests to earn big bucks by selling paper
Therefore, it is important for mankind to soon understand the negative effects of destroying the forests. The effects of cutting down of forests include severe climatic changes, loosening of soil, decreasing fertility of soil and increasing intensity of floods and draughts. For example, Indonesia has experienced several severe draughts in the recent decades due to the same.
This also results in an interruption in the water cycle, thereby causing a disparity in the distribution of rainfall followed by soil erosion. Loss of habitat and extinction are the problems that arise due to deforestation.
For many centuries, man has been continuously misusing the environment to fulfil his selfish needs. But a time has come where everyone has to take responsibility to not damage the environment further. Like they say, excess of everything is bad. So, if we humans do not stop exploiting environment, we will be the biggest sufferers as we are dependent on forests for simplest to most complex needs.