Deforestation of Columbia

I have chosen deforestation of Colombia. ColombiaÐŽ®s forest account for approximately 49 percent. ColombiaЎЇs forests are the home of 55,000 plant species and 358 mammal species, 15 percent of the worldЎЇs primates. Currently, 1,000 plants species and 24 mammalsЎЇ species are threatened with extinction largely because of mass deforestation.

Each year, a total of 1.5 to 2.2 million acres is lost to deforestation. At this rate, ColombiaЎЇs woodlands will be depleted in 40 years. Already one-third of this countryЎЇs original forest lands have felled. ColombiaЎЇs Pacific region consists of lush rainforests and contains most of the countryЎЇs natural resources. Under ColombiaЎЇs ambitious plans to develop their economy, the area has become targeted for the extraction and exportation of natural resources on the last ten years. The scheme is known as Plan Pacifico. Under the plan, one hundred and sixty thousand hectares are destroyed each year for wood and paper or to make way for agro-industrial production of African palm. There has been a considerable drop in mangrove coverage with the installation of commercial shrimp farms, and massive sedimentation and mercury contamination in rivers has been caused by deforestation and uncontrolled mining.

The forests are also inhabited by ColombiaЎЇs ingenious and much of its black population who secure their live hoods through sustainable means. They started to erode the social and economic structures of these communities. They started to abuse drugs and hurt people of the country. Crime, alcoholism and domestic violence has sharply increased in recent years.

I think they should not cut the trees on the forest and gave up the Plan Pacifico. I think the people of Colombia should take care of their forest because they own it.