Ethics and Sustainability Analysis on Deforestation

This article discusses the environmental, social, and economic impacts of deforestation, including soil erosion, floods, depletion of the ozone layer, poverty, and corruption. It also proposes solutions such as eco-forestry, community forestry, and regulating the cost of fuel.

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Ethics and Sustainability Analysis
Name:
Course:
Date:

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1. Select one important sustainability issue of global significance and express this
issue in no more than one short sentence (2 marks)
Deforestation refers to the process of clearing virgin forests or intentional destruction of trees
and other vegetation for the purpose of housing, commercial, agriculture of firewood without
planting others or allowing time for the forest to regenerate itself.
2. Describe the main environmental elements of deforestation (5 marks).
Deforestation is a global issue which is caused by the rapid growth of the world which
presents the need for more space for development and commercial activities. The
environmental elements of deforestation include the causes such as agricultural activities,
mining, and it is an aspect which has been there since times in memorial but it has increased
rapidly over the last 50 years owing to the growing population. The aspect causes various
effects such as causing soil erosion through wind and water which leaves the land bare and
unable to support healthy plant growth. This means that various crops will not grow and this
poses a threat to human food security. Clearing of trees also promotes floods whenever a
there is a heavy downpour as there are no trees to absorb much of the water. Crops and
human life are destroyed by floods while many people are left without homesteads (Sovacool,
2012, pg. 235). Deforestation causes depletion of the ozone layer as there are no trees to hold
the harmful gases emitted from the factories. This leads to the release of ultraviolet radiation
which causes various health-related problems. Other effects include:
Increased Greenhouse Gases
Trees trap most of the carbon dioxide released to the environment hence deforestation makes
the gases to be released into the atmosphere. This poses a negative impact on the human
beings who also lack the oxygen gotten from the trees (Samii et al, 2014, pg. 98).
Lack of Atmospheric Water
The trees regulate the amount of water in the atmosphere. Thus, deforestation makes less

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water to be left in the air which should be returned to the soil to support the growth of crops
used for food. This makes the soil drier and unable to support the growth of crops which
poses a threat to food security.
3. Describe the critical social elements of deforestation
There are various social origins and impacts of deforestation and also social ideas on
how to stop the scenario. Poverty can contribute to deforestation in various ways. For
instance, the poor farmers may need to clear more land and sell it in order to acquire capital
and buy the inputs required to invest in their lands to produce more of their agricultural crops
(Desbureaux & Brimont, 2015, pg. 18). Some also cut down trees to burn charcoal which
they sell to afford catering for their needs. Deforestation has enabled the production of more
food through agricultural activities hence leading to an increase in the population growth.
This rise in population leads to the demand for more land for habitation and other natural
resources (Clark, 2012, pg. 69). This competition plays a role in contributing to social evils
such as land grabbing and violence as people fight over resources hence destroying peace in
the society.
The social impacts of deforestation include the rise in the rate of urbanization. As more
trees are cut down in the rural areas, the land is left unproductive due to soil erosion. This
leaves the cities to be the only place with more concentration of economic opportunities
hence more people migrate there in search of better opportunities. This also increases the
social evils which come along urbanization such as theft, rape cases, murder, and burglary
cases as people lack the opportunities they hoped to get.
Many people in the world rely on forests for hunting, small-scale agriculture, and
gathering. Deforestation disrupts the lives of such people as they are no longer able to carry
out such activities. In areas where land tenure systems are weak, social conflicts and
migration have been caused by deforestation. Additionally, the poor people are largely

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affected as their lands are grabbed by the rich in the society or are lured to sell their forested
areas and move to the deserted places. It also has impacts on the medical benefits as various
people use them as a cure for certain diseases. It is nearly impossible to measure the
pharmaceutical potential destroyed by deforestation each day. For instance, the scientists
suggest that the mimosa tree has the potential of curing some types of cancer but the high rate
of deforestation deprives them the chance to research more, hence the disease may remain
incurable (Lima et al, 2011, pg. 213). It also causes the destruction of habitats for many
animals where they also obtain food and protection against predators through camouflaging.
This exposure eventually kills the animals. Trees also act as windbreakers and their absence
makes strong winds to destroy lives. It also leads to the loss of habitat as various plant and
animal species depend on trees for habitation hence deforestation leads to their loss as they
lack place to habituate. According to research, almost 65% of animal and plant species are
found in the forest and when their homes are destroyed by deforestation, they cannot survive
anymore leading to their extinct.
4. Describe the key economic elements of deforestation (5 marks).
The relationship between economic development and deforestation is a crucial aspect in
the world since, the development of infrastructure to promote a better transport system is a
major economic cause of deforestation (Rajão et al, 2012, pg. 240). In the modern global
business, where people want to transact their businesses in the shortest time possible has
heightened the need to develop good roads and loading and offloading zones hence
deforestation. According to the research, the rate of deforestation is more rampant in the less
developed countries than in the developed ones. This is because the less developed countries
lack the resources need to carry out large-scale commercial and logging activities unlike the
developed ones where heavy machinery are available, and the technology to invest in such
activities is also high. However, as income in the countries continues to grow, people engage

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in logging activities and this contributes to deforestation. Thus, the per capita income of a
country may be said to be inversely proportional to the rate of deforestation.
Effects
The resources provided by the forests are the reasons why the countries continue with
the practice despite the having the knowledge of the severe impacts it may cause to the
economy. It is unfortunate that most of the impacts of deforestation are caused by people’s
greed who cannot do the activity in a standard manner (Megevand, 2013, pg. 201). Such
effects include floods due to lack of trees to hold back much of the water. Floods pose a
natural disaster which causes losses of lives and homesteads and this necessitates the
government to chip in and spend a lot of money in catering for the displaced people. The
money spend on this impacts negatively on the economy as it would have been used to do
some other developments. When the floods sweep away crops for the farmers, it leaves them
without enough food supply for them and the nation at large. This again requires the
government to spend extra money to import food from other countries.
5. Identify two major ethical problems which are strongly connected with
deforestation (2 marks).
1) Poverty
2) Corruption
6. Discuss the two ethical problems identified in part 5 drawing on relevant ethical
theory (8 marks).
Human beings have a great relationship with the forests. The ability to produce more
food through agricultural activities leads to population growth. The growing population
thrives for competition for the scarce resources hence contributing to their depletion.

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Poverty
Poverty and deforestation are related in a way that each is a causing factor for the other.
It is certain to find that most of the poorest parts of the world have the largest forests.
According to a research, about 1.4 billion in the world who live in extreme poverty, about
90% of this condition is contributed by forests. Most of the people depend on forests for fuel
and other by-products and when a forest becomes depleted, they migrate to the next and the
cycle continues. Most of the poor people find no choice for means of providing food and
other basics to their families except through cutting down trees and burning charcoal for sale
(Vadjunec, 2011, pg. 160). Here, poverty contributes to deforestation. However, it is possible
to find poor people living in the forests but lacks the idea of the benefits they may get from
the trees hence leave the trees to continue growing. They may also lack the resources required
to exploit the forests and in this case, poverty contributes to the growth of more trees. On the
other hand, the rich people invest in expanding agricultural systems, lumbering activities, and
clearing land for building houses which contributes to deforestation.
Corruption
Corruption is a major contributing factor to deforestation whereby the World Bank
reports that about $20 billion worth of wood is cut each year illegally (Bofin et al, 2011, pg.
195). This contributes to the loss of revenue to the government. Most of these activities
occur in developing countries and this robs the society much revenue hence keeping people in
poverty. As logging activities require capital, politicians are involved in the scandals of
deciding who is to own land, get contracts and carry out logging activities (Stephan, 2012,
pg. 625). This kind of corruption contributes to having the poor people who have no say in
the society to earn nothing from the deforestation while the rich people and the politicians
continue becoming rich. The poor people are grabbed of their land and they remain with no
one to question for them hence this kind of corruption contributes to injustices to the society.

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It is crucial to realize that those that are involved in the corruption are mostly the politicians
who have access to public funds, hence they are not made to face the charges of their corrupt
deeds.
7. Deforestation issue presents both significant threats and opportunities for
business. Discuss these major business threats and opportunities.(5 marks).
Deforestation poses serious threats and also opportunities to the businesses globally.
The trees absorb carbon dioxide emitted from factories and thus deforestation will mean that
the gases will be emitted into the atmosphere hence causing dangers to the human life. The
factories, however, do not have alternative means to emit the gases (Pasgaard & Chea, 2013,
pg.330). By clearing the land through deforestation also poses a threat to those involved in
lumbering and logging activities since they may end up lacking the trees to carry on with
such activities. This will pose a challenge to such businesses. It also opens up business
opportunities. For instance, the cattle ranching activities allow the farmers to raise cattle
which produce milk for them and they sell to earn income (Calmon et al, 2011, pg. 155). The
cattle can also be sold. Agricultural activities enable rearing of crops which are sold out as
food in exchange for money (Summers et al, 2012, pg. 132). Companies are able to obtain
timber products which are sold to promote business activities. Deforestation promotes the
global trade of palm oil, soybeans, cattle and timber products by company supply chain.
8. You are required to propose an ethical and sustainable solution to the problems
which underpin deforestation. This proposed solution should address causes of
unsustainability, as well as financial, technological and behavioral barriers to
removing these causes of unsustainability. (8 marks).
Trees form an important aspect of human life and the living things in general, to the
animals, environment, and the human beings. They filter carbon dioxide hence regulating the
climate. They also act as food and shelter for various species of the earth hence a need to

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conserve them. Deforestation may not be easy to control due to the benefits it brings to the
economy despite hurting the environment, and the challenges of corruption and poverty
associated with its control measures. However, it is the responsibility of each individual to
bear the responsibility of taking care of trees and ensuring to plant more of them since anyone
can fall a victim of the impacts of deforestation.
Eco-forestry which advocates that only selected trees should be cut down and only
under cautious conditions. Laws and regulations should also be enacted against deforestation
such that the victims can face serious actions. Community forestry whereby the local
communities and government organize for tree planting days. This can be on occasions such
as holidays or opening ceremonies. This involves various campaigns to be organized by the
government in conjunction with the local community leaders to promote tree planting
activities and discourage the cutting down of trees. It is mostly the high cost of alternative
fuel that drives people into using firewood and charcoal as the only sources of fuel. The
government should thus, regulate the cost of fuel considering the low-income earners and
those living in the rural areas so as to encourage the citizens to use alternative sources of fuel
such as gas and others. Some of the old ladies and less learned people in the rural areas may
not have the knowledge of using sources of fuel like gas and thus the community should
educate them on this.

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