Final Conclusion

Deforestation has become a huge problem that is getting out of hand. People are not caring enough about the actual and crucial effects that it has on species, global warming and the people that rely on the forests. The industry is becoming too lucrative and people are becoming more selfish and blinded each day. People need to stop thinking about themselves and start thinking about the other factors and repercussions that result from this. We as human beings have a responsibility now to plant more trees to try and offset the destruction of so many trees around the world.  Martin Luther King once said:

“If I thought the world were to end tomorrow, I would still plant an apple tree today” 

And this is the exact mindset that more people around the world need to adapt to make this planet healthy again and to kill this plague before its too late. 

Thoughts...

There seems to be two distinctive views, one of which is that some people feel that trees are so beautiful and shouldn't be cut down due to its heritage and the other of agreement with the replacement of the pine trees to fynbos. Both groups seem to understand their opposition’s opinion but it seems that before it was known that the exotic plants were consuming a lot of our precious water, nobody had a problem with them. 

SANpark (The South African National Park) claimed to the media and all the newspapers that all the pine trees are “alien” and this statement is not believed to be true by many scientists and plant experts. By using the word “alien” and “invasive” makes it seem that the trees are negative and should not be in the Cape. It makes readers immediately feel against the trees by associating the trees as something bad. Most of the people that are for the replacement of pine trees to fynbos have based their opinion and constructed their argument on what SANpark has insinuated.  Although the trees are said to be consuming lots of water, it is believed that the reason why they need so much water is because they shield the land and therefore as a result of this shielding, the trees leaves and branches need more water. If there were not any protection from the harmful sun rays then the ground would turn into a desert and consume all the water anyways. This is just an excuse to place more fynbos, which does not need much water to survive, in the area and to maintain water for the Cape. (Cool Forest. 2010)

Although this is a very different situation to that of mass deforestation, the fact of cutting down trees to benefit groups that prefer fynbos seems absurd. Trees are not only beautiful to look at, but they are a part of us as humans. They provide us with oxygen that makes us live and this is how we repay them. Trees should be cared for as if they were an extended organ of our body that is helping us survive. Fynbos is not a tree and it won’t provide as much oxygen that the pine trees give. It seems suicidal to cut down trees and replace them with shrubs. Whilst it is claimed that the pine trees are taking too much of our water, it would serve the government, relevant groups and activists involved in this issue well to provide actual proof on this matter instead of an assumption that is not backed up properly. 

(Buckham. 2012)

(What-to-do-in-cape-town. 2012)

Comments & Opinions

Ian Cormack wrote a letter into The Cape Times on January 28^th 2010 stating that “I can accept the botanical arguments about the Table Mountain bio zone, its uniqueness, the impact upon it of a wide range of alien species that outcompete local species for light, water and other nutrients and that increase fire risks. I can accept that the local species need protection and that culling alien’s species is a sound way of providing this protection. However, I am proposing that it does not automatically follow that every square meter of Table Mountain should be cleared of all aliens. I am proposing that the wishes of the city's residents should be taken into account in preserving areas where these aliens are so long-standing and attractive that they provide amenities and beauty to the city. I am thinking particularly of Rhodes Drive, the lower Tokai forest, the Cecilia forest, the area above Kirstenbosch and Newlands forest including those magnificent pines above the junction of the N2 and M3. These are all in residential areas where residents and visitors take walks or simply gaze in awe at the magnificent trees that populate these areas. To remove them would be an act of undemocratic vandalism no matter what the justification.” (Cool forest. 2010)

Doctor Tony Rebelo wrote into The Cape Times on February the 2^nd 2010 in reply to Ian’s statement stating that “To even suggest that pine plantations should be maintained in so threatened an ecosystem is incomprehensible. Imagine if this was a tropical forest: people would be up in arms at the wanton destruction of biodiversity. Instead, Capetonians complain that if they walk their dogs in Fynbos, then they have to walk in the sun. Shame!” (Cool forest. 2010)

(Cape Times. 2012)

Those against fynbos

The removal of the pine trees came as a shock to many frequent drivers and walkers around Tokai and Cecilia forest. The fact that the public had no knowledge of what was happening and were not informed before it occurred caused an upset among their respected communities. One day the trees were there and the next they were simply destroyed. Although there was in fact a document that was released in 2009, people were not aware that the act was going to be passed and ultimately become a law. The document stated that it was being released for “public comment” but it seemed that even those that were opposed to the act and commented on it, were ignored. As a result of this, came many people against the removal of the trees. 

The trees were planted in the forests in the 1800’s and are seen as having great historical and cultural value to the area. Not only are they massive in size but they are also so strikingly beautiful that it provides great scenery for the people walking through the forest and the people driving past it.   The fynbos that would be planted in its place would leave such a gaping space in both forests and would take away its beauty. After all, fynbos is a shrub and not a tree. Fynbos also has to be burned every decade to rejuvenate which many people living near the forest are nervous about. Even though the fires would be under control, the burning of the plants will still leave surrounding areas and homes with the affects of smoke and air pollution. People get nervous when they see fire, whether it is a controlled fire or a wild fire, they still feel on edge. This makes the plantation of more fynbos unsettling, knowing that it will have to be burned at some stage. Animals that have settled in the fynbos will be forcibly removed and forced to find a new settlement as well as some of the creatures even dying from the burning of the shrubs. It is claimed above, that if one of the pine trees were to catch on fire, it could spell disaster due to it being so close to urban areas, but people believe that the fynbos would have to be forcibly burned anyways so it doesn’t make much difference. (SANA. 2012)

Pictures personally took on Rhodes Drive

Pictures personally took on Rhodes Drive

(Totally Stoned. 2011)

This is a video of a mountain biker riding through tokai forest, it will give you a better  understanding of what the forest looks like today with the pine trees

Why should Fynbos be planted?

There are many reasons why people and groups want fynbos to be planted in place of the exotic trees:

• The fynbos is Proudly South African and should be everywhere instead of the exotic plants. There are around 8000 different species of fynbos such as Proteas, Ericas and Restios, and some people come from all over the world just to see it. 
•  the pine trees are soaking up too much of our valuable water and so should be replaced
• fynbos is becoming extinct due to it not being planted enough and so that is another factor as to why more of it is going to be planted. 
• The reality is that it is only found in the Cape which gives our province an opportunity for more tourism.  
• Some of the fynbos species are really beautiful and can make the areas from which it is grown look stunning and so that is also why people are insisting that it replace the alien plantation. 
• Another reason why the removal of the alien plants is necessary is because it is claimed that if one of the pine trees were to catch on fire, it could result in many of the surrounding trees easily catching on fire too. This would be very difficult to put out and due to them being placed so close to urban areas, it could spread easily and endanger human beings. 
• The more pine trees that are cut down, the more timber and wood we can receive, so some believe that it’s a benefit to us as consumers as well who buy products made out of the trees.  (WWF n.d) (Cool Forest n.d) (Glen Craig n.d) (Go 2 Africa. 2010)

Fynbos Flowers: (The Fynbos Hub. 2011)

The WWF

WWF South Africa supports the eradication of the trees in Cecilia and Tokai forest due to the belief that the trees are soaking up precious water that we need in the Cape. Thérèse Brinkcate, the Ecoregions Programme Manager, says in regard to the destruction of the trees that “although they might be green and leafy, the pine trees and other exotic trees like eucalyptus are not part of South Africa's natural wealth.  Rather, they are responsible for the demise of numerous plant and animal species which are indigenous to South Africa.  WWF works to support the health and integrity of our natural systems - this means that exotic and invasive plant vegetation must be cleared.  Not only do these plantations (they are not forests) cause the demise of numerous species, they also soak up precious freshwater and pose a heightened fire risk for the people on the Cape Peninsula." Although she claims that they are not clearing forests, the amount of trees that she is cutting down is on par with the amount of trees seen in a normal forest. It seems that there are many trees that are to be cut down due to them being “invasive” and so even though it may not be one large patch of forest that is being destroyed, all the individual trees put together could be the size of a forest. (Cool forest n.d)

(WWF. 2012)

Local Deforestation

In South Africa, on the 3^rd of April 2009, The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mr Marthinus Van Schalkwyk published a document that was to be released for 30 days for public comment. The document was titled “The 2nd draft of the Alien and Invasive Species Regulations of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No.10 of 2004)”. It stated that plants would be placed in sections named “species exempted (section 66), prohibited alien species (section 67) and invasive species (section 70).” When looking at “invasive species (section 70)” all the plant species that were considered to be this, were placed under 3 categories:

“Category 1a: Invasive species requiring compulsory control. Remove and destroy. Any specimens of Category 1a listed species need, by law, to be eradicated from the environment. No permits will be issued.”

“Category 1b: Invasive species requiring compulsory control as part of an invasive species control programme. Remove and destroy. These plants are deemed to have such a high invasive potential that infestations can qualify to be placed under a government sponsored invasive species management programme. No permits will be issued.”

“Category 2: Invasive species regulated by area. A demarcation permit is required to import, possess, grow, breed, move, sell, buy or accept as a gift any plants listed as Category 2 plants. No permits will be issued for Cat 2 plants to exist in riparian zones.”

“Category 3: Invasive species regulated by activity. An individual plant permit is required to undertake any of the following restricted activities (import, possess, grow, breed, move, sell, buy or accept as a gift) involving a Category 3 species. No permits will be issued for Cat 3 plants to exist in riparian zones.”

(SANA. 2012)

There are currently 200 plants and trees that are in this section of “invasive species” and 100 of those are placed under category 1.  These plants and trees are constantly being demolished all over the Cape, but the biggest debate going, with regard to this act, is the one that takes place in Cecilia and Tokai forest. 

In Cape Town, if you were to take a long drive on Rhodes Drive and you will see the beauty that is the large pine trees surrounding the road. That is until you come across a very noticeable and enormous patch of empty land with no trees. These trees in Cecilia forest have all been cut down to make space for the plantation of fynbos. Not only in Cecilia forest are there visible patches of destroyed trees, but also in Tokai forest where there has been a drastic and large amount of deforestation occurring. (SANA. 2012)

Who's to blame?

It’s hard to distinguish exactly who’s to blame for this rapid increase in deforestation. Immediately when you think about it, it seems like it’s an obvious answer. It must be the logging groups and the businesses that need the land for the production of their goods? Right? Maybe not. Unfortunately there is one group of individuals that seem to be completely forgotten about in this whole argument, and that would be consumers. Consumers play a huge role in the cutting down of trees, after all, we are the ones that demand the goods and the companies and businesses produce and supply them. So many things are made out of trees; wood for houses, furniture, boats, bridges, floors, toothpicks, picture frames, tissues, toilet paper, blankets, magazines, newspapers, books, pencils and the list could go on for days. We demand these products and so the supply of them has to increase. Our population is constantly increasing and so there is more of a need for those products to be provided to everyone. There is no defending the logging groups and businesses that steal the habitat of so many creatures in the forests and there is no defending them taking away our oxygen, but what other solutions are there. Until more solutions and substitutes become available, this will continue to happen.      

(BBC. 2012)

Campaigns against deforestation

There have been many campaigns against deforestation across the globe that has played a huge role in making more people aware of the situation and the repercussions that will result from it. The World Wide Fund  have been one of the most original when it comes to their campaigning against it and have created very alarming advertisements that leave a dent in those that witness the adverts mind.

(WWF. 2010)

 Greenpeace created a campaign against deforestation from a different angle and instead of scaring the public; they decide to make their campaign humorous to gain more attention. As the biggest toy company in the world, Mattel became highly criticised for using the manufacturer ‘Asia Pulp and Paper (APP)’ that is notoriously involved in the destruction of the Sumatran tiger’s habitat and forests for paper and pulp. The public became angry and decided to take action against them. Photos were created with Barbie holding a chain saw; interviews with ken were played out and received more than 1 million views on YouTube and not to forget the public feud between Barbie and Ken that was created on twitter. Greenpeace activists also climbed up the Mattel headquarters and dropped a gigantic banner that had a picture of Ken very angry with the comment “Barbie, its over. I don’t date girls that are into deforestation” which gained a lot of attention worldwide and even made it onto some of the leading news channels shows. While the news programmes were showing the banner, they also provided the reason as to why Greenpeace were doing it, and this brought a lot of attention to deforestation in Indonesia and the effects of it. Mattel knew that they needed to do some serious damage control to keep their current brand image. They decided to drop APP from their supply chain and use more responsible forms to create their Barbie dolls. They have also been trying to influence other companies to do the same and avoid manufacturers that are involved in deforestation and in their supply chains.

(Kenyon, L. 2011) (Merchant, B. 2011)

Reasons why deforestation has increased

Trees are demolished for many reasons, but the main motivation would be money. Businesses and farms are destroying acres of land because they need the land to keep up with the production of products that consumers demand. 

Farmers need more land to plant more crops and make more space for increasing numbers in cattle. Soy bean farming is seen as the worst production to be produced on the forests land due to harmful pesticides being used. When there are high volumes of rain, the excess pesticides run into the rivers and the toxic chemicals end up killing the species that live there. 

The main contributor to deforestation is industrial logging. Whether it illegal or legal, the main reason why so many acres of forest is gone is due to those companies. Paper, pulp and timber are made from the logging companies and so they are mainly to blame. It has become such a lucrative industry that roads are now being built to give them more access to remote forests in order for them to gain more trees and more acres.  It is also seen in many countries as a corrupt industry with the governments granting access to the countries forests without any care for the environment or the local people. Most logging companies are also not seen as transparent which leaves people very suspicious of their actions.

(Hallward, J. 2010)

(Greenpeace n.d) (The Amazon. 2007)

Deforestation Globally

Many countries have been seriously affected by deforestation and some have lost nearly half of their original forestry. There are three forests in particular that are losing the highest amount of trees at an alarming rate and are seen as the most important forests for human beings and animals.


1) The Amazon: covers over a billion acres across areas such as Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela is seen as the most valuable rain forest in the world. It provides more than 20% of the world’s oxygen and is described as the “lungs of our planet” due to its importance for human beings

(University of Michigan. n.d)

Source: Stephen Fry/Getty (The Guardian. 2008)

2) The Congo Basin: It is a massive forest that expands through Cameroon, The Republic of Congo, The Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. This forest houses some of the largest mammals seen in a forest, with 39 of them only being found in that area. Animal species in the forest include elephants, rare antelope, forest buffalo and houses more than half on the world’s current 700 gorillas. There are currently 270 different animal species living in the forest today along with tens of millions of human beings that rely on the forest for their livelihood.

(Austin, K. 2010)

Video of Academy Award Winning Marion Cotillard taken to The Congo by Greenpeace

3) Indonesia: It has become the third largest emitter of green house gases. Indonesia’s peat lands contain billions of tonnes of carbon and so when these lands are burned, drained and replaced by plants such as eucalyptus or palm oil, the carbon gets released into our air. The replaced plants are used in the production of disposable products such as toilet paper, packaging and glossy magazine pages for us consumers. 

(Mongabay n.d)

(Greenpeace. 2012) (Rainforest Facts. 2012)




PICTURES OF THE ANIMALS, CREATURES AND PLANTS FOUND IN THE FORESTS TODAY 

(Greenpeace, 2012)

What is Deforestation and why is it so bad?

Deforestation is the demolition of acres and acres of natural forest. It has spread to many countries around the world, and is seen as a very selfish and greedy act done by human beings.


Why is it bad?

• The world needs trees in order for them to produce oxygen for all beings to exist on the planet
• They are also needed to soak up all the greenhouse gases that are emitted by large countries such as Brazil and China. These gases fuel global warming and if high amounts are released into the atmosphere, the ozone layer that protects and shields all of humanity will weaken and result in high temperatures around the globe
• Animals and species are also affected by deforestation. 70% of the earth’s animals and species live in the world’s forest, and so by demolishing the trees, we are in fact demolishing their homes and lives. Many animals and plant species have become endangered and extinct as a result of this plague
• Trees protect and shield their surrounding soil from the harmful sun rays using their glorious and vast leaves and branches which leaves the ground moist and nutrient. Without such protection, more and more deserts will result from over exposure of harsh sun rays and temperatures

(National Geographic n.d) (Skye, J. 2006-2012)

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Philips, T (2008) Fears for Brazil rainforest after environment minister quits [Online] 15 May 2008. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/15/forests.brazil [Accessed on: 18 April 2012]

University of Michigan (n.d) Amazon Deforestation and Farming [Online] Available from: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/sec005group6/local_problems [Accessed on: April 22 2012]

Austin, K (2010) Preparing for REDD in the Republic of Congo [Online] 18 August 2010. Available from: http://www.wri.org/stories/2010/08/preparing-redd-republic-congo [Accessed on: 22 April 2010]

Mongabay (2005) Deforestation Statistics [Online] Available from: http://rainforests.mongabay.com/defor_index.htm

Hallward, J (2010) photo was taken on February 10, 2011 in Bishopscourt, Cape Town, Western Cape, ZA, using a Nikon D90. Available from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennyhallward/5434202056/ [Accessed on 22 April 2012]

BBC (2012) Population Change and Structure [Online] Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/population/population_change_structure_rev1.shtml [Accessed on: 22 April 2012]

The Fynbos Hub (2011) About [Online] Available from: http://www.fynboshub.co.za/about/ [Accessed on: 22 April 2012]

Totally stoned (2011) Smoke Clouds loom over Constantia [Online] Available from: http://www.totallystoned.co.za/2011/04/12/smoke-clouds-loom-over-constantia/

[Accessed on: 22 April 2012]

What-to-do-in-cape-town.com (2011) Cecilia Forest [Online] Available from: http://www.what-to-do-in-cape-town.com/cecilia-forest.html [Accessed on: 21 April 2012]

Buckham Birding (2011) Breaking some atlassing boundaries [Online] Available from: http://www.buckhambirding.co.za/wp/?page_id=5548 [Accessed on: 22 April 2012]