Preventing the Loss of Timber
Did you know Canada uses 243 million m³ of wood per year?
Timber Harvest:
The Usage of Timber:
Logs of hardwood Timber
The very first step of timber harvesting consist of felling the trees and trucking the logs to the mill.
Hardwood Timber Planks
Maple Wood Kitchen
The Environmental Impact of harvesting Timber:
Soil:
Logging affects the physical, chemical and biological characteristic of the soil which reduces its productivity and leads to soil compaction, rutting as well as pudding (Brenda, 2012). The soil erosion caused by logging also lead to insufficient nutrients in the ground which ultimately the reduces the growth of plants (Brenda, 2012).
Watersheds:
The negative impact of logging on watersheds includes runoff and gully erosion as well as changes in the water table dept which may effect the aquatic life (Brenda, 2012).
Wild Species:
Impact on wildlife is dependent on their habitat's needs, characteristics and population of wild species in the particular area (Jade, 2011). Also, many wild spices are very adaptable to the forest changes while others are not so much (Brenda, 2012). Logging activities in the forests has also disrupted the population of elephants and great apes who starts to roam more widely leading to increases human animal conflicts (Jackie, 2010). The current research suggests that removing all the trees from the forest may a negative effects on amphibians during their later cycles which could lead to decreased numbers of offspring in the future (Mathew, 2012).
The Social Impact of Timber Harvest:
1: The communities living near the forest tends to loose the access to wild meat and fish because; after the harvest the region is open for commercial use such as hunting and wild games (Jackie, 2010).
2: Large quantities of soil sediments, chemical and diesel oil from the machinery washed away from the logging cite into rivers and stream which reduces the water quality in the region (Jackie, 2010).
3: The wild fruit trees are either destroyed by degradation of logging or accidental cutting by the machines which results in the loss of vital daily food for people (Jackie, 2010).
4: The loss of vital foods and polluted water sources lead to human health problems among communities with women and children (Jackie, 2010).
5: Since forest is open for commercial usage therefore, the communities are more prone to contracting new diseases from the outsider which they have no immunity for (Maurice, 2009).
6: Due to insufficient amount of timber available, the communities may struggle to survive if their main source of income arrives from selling logs (Jackie, 2010).
7: Women might have to cope with male orientated tasks which requires physical effort as their man go outside the community to seek employment to feed their families (Jackie, 2010).
The Exploitation of Timber Harvest:
A Step towards the Sustainable Future:
Here are the following steps that must be taken:
1: Loggers should consider what is left on the site more important than what is removed (Klan, 2009). Paying more attention to what is left on the ground may enforce companies to use timber more efficiently since; it is non-renewable.
2: Companies may avoid harvesting the "best trees" until a new forest of healthy, and younger trees begin to grow underneath it to reduce the impact on wildlife (Klan, 2009). By removing all the trees all at once could damage the life style of animals because; they will not have the right habitat to survive.
3: Loggers should be responsible for planting new trees after harvesting to allow the healthy young growth (seeds and sprouts on the ground) to compete the weaker trees and the forest will slowly begin to recover (Eliza, 2010). Planting new trees will encourage new species to grow such as plants with fruits which may help the local communities to obtain food.
4:Companies should remove all the trees from the forest after an intense episode of harvesting to prevent the growth of slow-growing trees with poor structure and undesirable species (Klan, 2009). This will reduce the chances of future forest to be composed of trees which comes from the weakest possible parent (Clan, 2009).
5: To prevent the future forest composed of trees from the weakest possible parent, the forest management crew should consider introducing trees with strong genes in order, to increase the life span of the forest. The forest management crew will also try to repair or provide essential nutrients for damage trees which may reduce the chance of extinction (Klan, 2009).
6: To lessen the negative effect on amphibians, scientists have recommended partial or selection cuts to forests rather than completely removing the trees (Mathew, 2012).
Removing only a portion of trees and canopy will allows amphibians to persist better in the future (Mathew, 2012).
Allowable Cut vs. Actual Amount Harvested
Combating the Illegal Timber Trade
WWF Camping to stop Illegal Logging
Few last words:
Raising Awareness About Timber Harvesting!
Created and edited by Danish Mahmood.
Email: danish.mahmoud@gmail.com