Deforestation means cutting down trees indiscriminately. It is one of the most concerned global problems now. It is a great threat to the human existence on earth. Mostly, human beings are responsible for the problem.
There are several reasons behind deforestation. The first and foremost reason is the increasing population across the world. The population of the world is increasing at an alarming rate. The world population exceeded 7 billion on March 12, 2012. This huge number of population needs more shelter, agricultural land, fuel, furniture etc. They are cutting trees to meet up these basic needs.
The situation of populated country like Bangladesh is more dreadful. The country is one of the most densely populated countries. Its population is much more in proportion to its area. This large number of people are creating a great pressure on the little forest areas of the country. A country should have at least 25% of its land occupied by forest. But we have less than 17%. Moreover there are some dishonest people who cut trees in our forests to make money.
The consequence of deforestation is most fatal for the environment and the people. Natural disasters like flood, drought, excess of rainfall, shortage of rainfall are the offspring of deforestation. Due to the deforestation, the amount of the poisonous carbon-dioxide and carbon-mono-oxide are increasing in the air and the world is becoming warmer day after day.
As a result, the sea level is rising and the lower parts of the world are under the threat of plunge into the water. Soil erosion is another devastating consequence of deforestation. Our Bangladesh is a low-lying country and so we must be concerned immediately. According to the experts, some lower parts of the country including Vola district may sink into water within the next half century.
It is not unknown to anybody that trees play a vital role in maintaining ecological balance by producing oxygen and taking carbon-dioxide away. But still people are accustomed to acting unwisely. We often get the news of cutting trees on electronic and print media. Still we have time to think over the matter seriously. The government should take fruitful steps immediately, not any phoney steps. The electronic and print media can create awareness among the people about the evil effects of deforestation. The people who are,engaged in cutting our forest must be punished.
There are some things which have no alternative in our life. Trees are like that. Above all, we have to realize the essentiality of forest which realized our great poet Rabindranath Tagore eighty years before. His humble narration-
“Give back the forest
Take your town”.
