Discuss about the Deforestation and Forest Degradation Drivers.
In developing solutions to sustainability challenges systems thinking is critical. A systems thinker frames a problem in terms of the behaviours or the pattern that are existent over a period of time. Whereas, systems thinking is not focussed on the particular events. The perspective of the seeing thing things is done macroscopically instead of seeing microscopically. The subject is seen beyond the details of the contexts of relationships within which it is embedded. Presently, the practitioners and the academics use the systems thinking in order to address the sustainability challenges. Deforestation is one of the environmental degradations and it occurs through the destruction of the forests to make land available for other uses (Palo and Vanhanen 2012). Deforestation occurs throughout the world and especially takes place in the tropical rainforests. It is even estimated within 100 years the rainforests may vanish. A significant amount of deforestation occurs in countries like Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil and Eastern parts of Europe. The aim of the essay is to use the systems thinking in the analysis of deforestation in order to develop solutions pertaining to the sustainability challenges. The issues of deforestation will be discussed based on Indonesia and the integration of the systems thinking into the management of the deforestation and finding solutions in association to the reduction of deforestation.
Systems thinking is useful when dealing with the problems and the issues rated to the sustainability. The approach is much more macroscopic than it appears and it includes the looking at things in a broader way rather than just looking at the shorter picture. Systems thinking is used widely by the practitioners and the academicians. In the year 1956, systems thinking was founded by the professor Jay Forrester. There is a wide difference between the traditional approach and the systems thinking approach. The traditional approach focuses only on the subject that is studied, while the systems thinking approach lays emphasis on the interrelationships between the constituents of a system (Nguyen and Bosch 2013). It is no denying that the world is moving towards an era of globalization and industrialization and due to this, there are several problems and issues that are surfacing due to the needs of the world. Systems thinking thus helps in dealing with the complex problems and systems test is an effective approach to the systems thinking. There are three important parts of a systems test are functions, elements and purpose. The first part of the systems test includes the purpose of the and the aim due to which the systems thinking is adopted. The second part deals with the different elements of systems thinking. The final part deals with the interrelationships that exist within the different elements. One can say that the computers have made the calculations of the complex solutions easy (Banson et al. 2015). The systems thinking is also helpful in finding and developing interrelationships with the environmental impacts, human behaviour and technology. In the present world, there is a shift from the computational thinking to systems thinking. It can be said that the computational thinking lays a lot of emphasis on the algorithms and the programming in order to solve an issue. There is a limitation with respect to the algorithm and algorithms hinder the proper expression of the problems. Thus, due to this problem complex systems thinking has gradually evolved (Pandey and Kumar 2016).
Systems thinking is a holistic approach and thus the management and deforestation will depend upon the several aspects and the reasons due to which the deforestation is actually occurring. In order to manage the deforestation, there is a need to focus on the different factors that are enhancing the rates of deforestation. 1. Agricultural expansion- the conversion of the agricultural land the forest lands are one of the major cause of deforestation. The global demand for the food crops has increased and the due to this rates of deforestation has increased alarmingly. Also due to the increased effects of agricultural activity, the agricultural lands are losing the fertility, and thus there is an added emphasis on the deforestation to acquire more lands (Hosonuma et al. 2012). 2. Livestock ranching- clearing the forest for the livestock ranching is one of the major contributors to deforestation. Since the year 1990, Brazil has stopped to be the largest exporter of beef and this has led to the loss of forest area. Brazil has lost around 3 fourth of the forest area and the area is similar to the area of Texas. The high demand for the beef is also supported by the government and this has led to the increased rates of deforestation (Cohn et al. 2014). 3. Logging- Logging is one of the illegal activities that has contributed to the deforestation and is one of the prime reason for deforestation. Especially in Indonesia, the illegal logging has led to people losing their earning ability and thus it has reduced below 1 dollar a day. It is also important to note that destruction of the forest also leads to the destruction of the livelihood of the people that depend on the forest. Indonesia is the largest exporter of the timer in the world and majority (80 percent) of the export is illegal. It is also estimated that due to illegal logging about 10 to 15 dollars are received by the criminals (Boekhout van Solinge 2014). 4. Infrastructure expansion- construction of the roads and buildings leads to deforestation by providing an entryway into the forest and the remote lands. The interoceanic highly which is 5404 km long passes through the Amazon rainforest and the runs from Brazil to Peru. This has resulted in the conservationists to worry about the damage the road is causing to the biodiversity (Hosonuma et al. 2012). The road expansion through the forest area leads to the increase in illegal activity of logging and increase the illegal slashing of the trees without the prior permission from the government. Also when the forest trees are slashed down, illegal settlers start to settle in those lands and it disturbs the peace of the area (Boekhout van Solinge 2014). 5. Our planet Earth used to house 15 million people in the prehistoric times and now it houses around 7 billion people and counting. Due to the overpopulation, the global needs of the people has increased and this has led to expansion and deforestation. The rate of deforestation has is equal to the rates of growth of the population.
Reports suggest that the rate of deforestation is the highest in Indonesia. According to the researchers at the University of Maryland, Indonesia has lost about 15 million acres of forest from the year 200 to 2012. According to a journal, Monga Bay that focusses on conservation. The Indonesian president has put a temporary ban on the deforestation. This step proved to success and ban required permits for the forest-related activity and thus protected 63 millions of hectares of forest and peatland (Erickson-Davis 2018). Tropical rainforests are considered as the rich spots for as carbon sinks, while the peatlands are the more powerful carbon sinks that are more effective with respect to the rainforest. In the year 2014, due to the high carbon emission in Indonesia, the effect of El Nino was found to be higher (Landen 2018). This has resulted in the forest drylands that are susceptible to fires. This will further hamper the country that had taken the pledge that it will reduce the emission of carbon by 26 percent by the year 2020. According to the reports of the world resource institute, the Indonesian forest and the peatland fires have increased considerably in the month of March and are concentrated in the areas that are managed by the palm oil, pulpwood and the logging companies (World Resources Institute. 2018). Indonesia has the rates of deforestation which is more in comparison to the rates of deforestation in Brazil. The deforestation has also led to the endangering the world’s most endangered species. According to the report published in the Nature Climate Change magazine, the archipelago has lost twice the forest area in comparison to Brazil by the year 2012 (Business-standard, 2018).
The underlying causes of forest degradation and deforestation are the shift in the developmental paradigm that is adopted by the multilateral, bilateral and structural adjustment loans; regional and the international trade pressures; the paradigm of the economic growth development under the natural resource that is depleted. The systems thinking involves the solutions to the difficult and the complex problems. This problem of deforestation includes the issues and have resulted into destruction of the environment, the habitat for wildlife and the natural resources. Thus, solutions framed with respect to the systems thinking will result into addressing the issues from multiple directions or through a holistic way.
Solutions- since the Indonesian government generally owns the forests. The inclusion of the community in the management of has not been applied on a large scale. The engagement of the community has been done only to areas that have the been specifically designated by the Environment and the Forests Ministry. The areas that are designated are the districts of Yogyakarta and Gunungkidul. The areas of the Gunungkidul was one a degraded piece of land due to deforestation. This area has been reforested with the effective tree plantation strategy. This has been done effectively by the smallholders and cooperatives. The farmers in the Gunngkidul derive the most of their income from the animal husbandry and agricultural crops. The farmer looks at the trees as assets and saves the same as long-term savings. Considering the weak legal framework of the forest governance, the forest management involves the prevention and the hindrance of the further deforestation. Thus the sustainable management of the forests can only be done by actively integrating the local communities that around the forest area and within the forest area (Center for Indonesian Policy Studies 2018). Reforestation programs are one of the best strategies to counter the deforestation. In order to simply increase the number of trees in the wild, the reforestation program is best-suited areas that are already undergoing the land degradation and deforestation. The reforestation program will serve to reduce the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the reduce the build-up of the same in the future, the wildlife habitats will again build-up, restoration of the ecosystem that will help in balancing the water cycle and the carbon storage (Barr and Sayer 2012).
The deforestation rates in Indonesia is high due to the companies that entirely depend on the palm oil. Companies like Ferrero, Nestle, Pepsi, Unilever, Kellogg’s must be contributing to the future of Indonesia and help the country to have a deforestation-free environment. The supply chain of the majority of the companies must sacrifice in order to reduce the pressure on the environment. Protest march can be organized so that the pressure from the people can force and compel these companies to stop moving into the rainforests of Indonesia. The big companies must cancel contracts with other companies like the Sinar Mars so that the corporate giants remain committed to the benefit of the Indonesian people and the forests (Greenpeace USA 2018). No exploitation, no peat and no deforestation is the slogan that the majority of the consumer good companies must take into account in order to reduce the deforestation. This can be effectively achieved through the banning of the deforestation activities that is widely rampant in Indonesia (Pacheco 2018).
Thus, from the above conclusion, it can be concluded that the systems thinking is one of the best and the suitable methods of addressing the sustainability issues. The systems thinking employs the strategies that look at the problem in a holistic way and the must provide a solution through effective strategies. The effective strategies of the systems thinking are best suited for the solving the environmental problems. For this study, deforestation issues in Indonesia are selected and the reasons for the deforestation is highlighted and along with it, the solutions are provided that are in accordance with the systems thinking.
Reference
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