Countering deforestation

Deforestation is a pertinent issue that has great negative impact on the natural environment of the world. Many lands have been wiped clear of their natural vegetation. From the simple science that we learnt in primary school, good vegetation plays a cardinal role in the availability of good rains.

It is therefore, imperative for communities to understand that there is need to end or slow down the rate at which these forests are being wiped out.

It is worth noting that most of the poor rural dwellers’ survival revolves round the forests. They use firewood as an affordable energy resource, they clear land for cultivation, this in itself is not bad except they need to be educated on how best to carry out these activities.

Some of the better methods to counter deforestation:

• Producing charcoal briquettes to use in household cooking and heating. This simple technology does not necessarily use grown trees, but instead there are various types of vegetation used such as; husks, leaves, grass, left over vegetables, wood shavings and others. This entails that many trees will be saved from being cut down resulting in preserved forests for the benefit of future generations.
• Using organic manure in crop cultivation as this is good for the soil as compared to chemical fertilizers that destroy soils in the long run. Furthermore, organically produced food is good for the human consumption that lessens diseases that may crop up due to long term accumulation of chemical residues.
• Total avoidance of bush burning, this also contributes to soil erosion and the eventual gully formations and poor vegetation growth as most fertile top soil would have been washed away, instead the dried up leaves could apply for charcoal briquettes making like indicated in the first bullet above.
• Embracing conservation kind of farming that makes use of the scarce resources which promotes high yields. The system uses less chemical fertilizers, crops can survive longer periods of dry spells in an event that there is not enough rain fall.
• Tree replanting should also be taught to people so as to impart the knowledge of continuous planting trees and preserving forests. Infertile fields can be used as space for replanting activities.