Slash and Burn

No this isn't a post about a horror film or serial killer. It is about a type of deforestation used by farmers in order to get a nutrient rich field for their crops. The farmers will only use the plot of land for a short amount of time, they use it until the nutrients in the soil don't allow a good harvest. There are multiple negative effects on the land after the slash and burn technique is used.

An in-process slash and burn on a plot of land.
Shows the devastation to the forest.

As I said above, slash and burn is a type of deforestation or the destruction of forests to make the land available for other uses. This type is very different than the conventional chopping down of the trees. The first step is the farmer will go into the forest and cut down all the vegetation and leave some of the trees standing to e used as timber. They then let the downed vegetation dry out on the forest floor. The next step is to burn the vegetation which drives away all the pests and leaves an abundance of nutrients for future crops. The last step is to plant the seeds right into the ash that is left after the burn. The land may be farmed for multiple years until the ground is no longer fertile. Once the ground is no longer fertile for crops the farmers will leave the plot of land alone for many years, allowing the forest to grow back. Once the forest is grown back, the farmers can come back to the plot of land and restart the process.

The negative aspects of the slash and burn include deforestation, erosion, nutrient loss, and biodiversity loss. I have already covered deforestation, but the reason this is bad is that this done over time or in large population can cause the permanent loss of the forest. Meaning the forest may never grow back. Erosion, the act in which the earth is worn away, is a problem because when the plots of land are slashed and burned in quick succession of one another, like they are many times, the grounds nutrients leave the area permanently. This leads us directly to nutrient loss. This is a major problem because without the nutrients in the soil the vegetation won't be able to grow. The land will be infertile and not be able to support any kind of plant. The last and perhaps the most obvious negative aspect is biodiversity loss. When the process of slash and burn is implemented, the plants and animals that were in that area are now moved out of that area and forced to move. For the species that are only in that area, they may become extinct because they will be completely swept away. This is magnified because slash and burning is mostly used in tropical areas which are very diverse. All of these problems are usually interconnected. When there is one problem that arises, usually another is not all of them are present as well.

Need to be one with nature.

This shows that by being a pair of lungs.

This is definitely an example of environmental domination, using the environment to our advantage with no regard to how we affect it. People may think that since there is so much forest in the world that this isn't a big problem, you have to look at the big picture and see what it is doing to the entire environment in which you live in. There are many living organisms in that area other than human beings, though we think we are the only ones there are. We need to be more in touch with the environment and realize that we need it in order to survive. Don't take advantage of it just because it is there, treat it as if it were your own body. You don't want harm to your own body so don't cause harm to the environment.