The Solution
The five main problems encouraging deforestation include agricultural business such as farming to raise cattle and grow crops, industrial logging in order to create materials such as paper and office supplies, mining for metals which destroys forests due to the run-off from the metals which contaminates the forests, road building in which much of the forestation is cut down which also leads to the loss of habitat for many animal species, and lastly, hydroelectric dams which flood forests and destroy wildlife. Even though there are many factors that contribute to deforestation, there are also a variety of ways to prevent and stop this growing issue. For one, large corporations and markets have the ability to help reduce deforestation by making a policy in which all of their paper-products are produced in a way which minimally effects forests and wildlife. Large corporations can also use recycled materials to make their products to reduce the amount of trees being cut down. Not only do large corporations and companies have the ability to put a halt to deforestation, but people as individuals have the same ability as well. If individuals globally begin buying and using recycled products, it will put pressure on those companies not using recycled products because they will start losing business, reducing deforestation. Instead of printing 10 pages to read, try to read them on your computer. Use the front and back of sheets of paper to reduce the amount of pages you need. Also, buy a lunch box instead of bringing a paper bag to school every day of the year. Reducing the amount of tree-based products you use is one way to help reduce deforestation. Just because you can't make a large change doesn't mean you can't make a change at all! These are only a couple of ways to help reduce deforestation, and many more are out there.