The World’s Forests

By David Wall
Guest Columnist

Until roughly the mid-1930s, U.S. logging companies had a philosophy of cut out and get out, without consideration for the land.  Two things changed this in our country.  First, the resultant land degradation was so bad, public outcry began forcing changes.  Second, Companies like SE Oklahoma’s Dierks Lumber & Coal found the forests were regenerating on their own.  The result became the basis for what we know today as sustained forestry, i.e., forests, with man’s help, will sustain production needs well into the future.

Today, some 30% of earth’s land surface is still covered in forests, although this percentage is down considerably from the past and is constantly decreasing.  While we have a philosophy of planting at least one tree for every tree taken out, a large portion of the world doesn’t share such a philosophy. World-wide, earth is currently losing some 18 million acres of forests each year.  At the current rate, earth’s rain forests could easily be gone by 2118.  Hopefully conservation will be introduced that will halt this decimation.  Ghana, for example, once had 66% of its lands covered in forests.  Less than 10% of that 66% is left.

While logging, road building, and mining are measures of progress, doing so without reforestation only harms the environment.  Then, as we learn more about our limited supply of water, dams for electricity and flood control take out huge amounts of forests.  On top of this, third world country populations often clear forest lands for cattle and other farming activities

Fortunately, some countries are starting to realize the potential catastrophe of losing their forests.  Brazil, for example, while still losing forests, has cut the rate of deforestation by nearly 790 square miles per year due to better laws and law enforcement. Unfortunately, anything less than 0% deforestation is unacceptable.