Deforestation in Colombia

By Caterinne Johana Gutierrez Pardo

"A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of the earth, they purify the air and give pure strength to our people" (Franklin D. Roosavelt).

-Half of the Colombian territory is covered by trees, and deforestation is due to the expansion of the agricultural frontier, especially for extensive cattle ranching, planting of illicit crops, illegal logging, mining and pressure for population growth, but here we ask ourselves what is it affecting the environment? What about animals? What could we do about it? Now I invite you to continue reading this short essay.

-Let's start with the most worrying question of all, how does it affect the environment? Unfortunately, as human needs grow, so does deforestation. With the development of urbanization, more and more land is needed, but at what cost? And this is where our second question comes into play, what about animals?.

Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. One of the biggest impacts is the loss of habitat for millions of species. In the last 20 years a large number of hectares has been lost, that is, 56.6% of the national territory, an area the size of Costa Rica has been lost. We have a clear example of illegal logging, in the Magdalena basin the river annually drags 160 tons of garbage per square kilometer. This makes it the most deforested basin in South America and the tenth in the world.

The cause of deforestation in Colombia is illegal logging. Logging and illegal timber trafficking are a growing problem that threatens the subsistence of several species, particularly those with a high commercial value in national and international markets.

-To finish with our last question, what can we do? If you ask me, I think we should demand laws to have stable and diverse forests and provide a strategic framework to balance land uses at the national, sub-national and territorial scales, however; effective regulation is necessary for this change. Additionally, forest fires are more common and more dangerous, but many of the fires are intentional and the vast majority are caused by man, carelessness or negligence.

Speaking personally, I believe that we must start with the basics, at home recycling, reusing, in the street we should not throw garbage on the streets. Do not forget that: The change begins with us. I guess that everything must be for autonomy, in order to improve our world and not lose what we have left.

 By 

Camilo Guzman

Dear friend Joseph,

I hope you´re feeling great in Berlin, what did you do yesterday? my day was very strange as my family is a little complex, I have neither voice nor boot, I remember you were studying to be a pilot, I´d love to know how did you study in Berlin?, did you have to ask your uncle for help?, Joseph soon I will be with you and I long to know the most important thing of Berlin.

 

Remember to give my regards to your uncle. Joseph you have to be very judicious with your work in college, soon I´ll be with you.

 

Friend remember that in a few months I will be in Berlin with you, we will get to know the whole city, I’d love you to tell me all about Berlin, I hope Berlin  is clean, big and interesting also that your city is modern and  with less pollution.

 

Remember to go to the Reichstag or Checkpoint Charlie

 

Your friend.
Camilo Guzman

 

 

 OPINION ARTICLES STUDENTS EXAMPLES 

Environmental Problems

By Nicolas Martinez

Introduction

A lot of countries around the world are having problems with the way to dispose their waste, this problem is something that we can see in countries as China, USA, India, among other big countries. How could they change it? The easiest way to reduce the contamination in any of them is by making tougher laws about the legal limits of pollution for the companies. However, in my opinion there are two very important things which the countries have to make for change their environmental situation.

-         The production and fabrication of new products should be more responsible about the materials used to make and in this way the whole parts of the product after could be recycled.

-         Make laws about the limits of natural resources that the companies can use and the obligations that they will have for use it.

In February of 2020, the world could see how the amazon was burning, then some countries started to change them ways to regulate the pollution in the air when it was increasing around the world. However, this shouldn’t have made only to the environmental crisis.

Amazon is called “The lung of the world”, it produces the 20% of the air in the planet and reduce in 14% the carbon dioxide. This are very important quantities of oxygen and carbon dioxide, but the rest of it must be produced and reduced by the rest of the world. The other countries can’t be indifferent about it.

 

On the other hand, if the countries were more responsible about the pollution, the way to dispose them waste or the importance of the natural resources, the world wouldn’t have many problems of pollution.  

 

According to the WHO based on the increasing of pollution, “The air of the big countries could be toxic for 2030”, it could generate skin and respiratory diseases. For this reason, if the countries start to change the politics and the limits of pollution for the companies, the air quality will be better than today. The change must be now.