System Thinking Approach to Deforestation in Australia

Running head: SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability
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Title: “System thinking is critical in developing solutions to sustainability challenges”
Introduction
System thinking is conceptualised as the holistic approach that mainly concentrates on
the constituent part of the interrelated system. Deforestation is a human act of removing or
clearing a larger area of ecosystem and forest lands for using it for non-forest purposes (Pavlacky
Jr, Possingham and Goldizen 2015). The concept of deforestation has been into practice from
decades and it has created the considerable impacts on misbalancing the ecosystem. The essay
aims to identify the system thinking approach based on the specific wicked problem of
deforestation in Australia. It is noticeable that system thinking is a critical component in terms
of developing solutions to the considerable challenges faced in the sustainability context. The
essay would thus discuss the characteristics of deforestation, which is the major issue considered
in this study. The 6 steps Iceberg Model of system thinking would be discussed in this essay to
identify the potential challenges faced in the sustainability parameter. Furthermore, the study
would develop understanding regarding the 3 pillars of sustainability, such as ecosystem, society,
and environment. The clear elaboration of these aspects would be presented in this study.
Discussion
The impact of deforestation on the ecosystems and environment is mostly highlighted in
the declines of soil fertility, loss of biodiversity, and climate change. According to Evans (2016),
in Australia, almost 40% of the forests are lost and some of the remaining forests are even
fragmented. It has been observed that the coastal region of Australia is mostly surrounded by the
forests whereas the rest of the lands or continents are covered dry lands and deserts. The coastal
regions in Australia are the most fertile areas since the colonial times. The colonial rulers used to

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clear those forests in the coastal regions for the agricultural purposes (Education.seattlepi.com
2018). It is noticeable that Australia is the forest-poor country due to which it is necessary to
provide the extensive efforts to prevent the ecological effects of deforestation.
In describing the characteristics of deforestation, Mahmood, Pielke Sr and McAlpine
(2016) described that the forest fragmentation or deforestation has the adverse effects on the
biodiversity of the plants and animals. As a consequence, it has been observed that many birds
have lost their lives in Queensland, Victoria, Mount Lofty Ranges, New South Wales, and
Western Australia. The reptiles have also declined in the forest-fragmented regions. Another
characteristic of deforestation is climate change. It has been observed that clearing the forests
affects the local temperature and the patterns of the participations. It has the clear impacts on the
high temperature level and decreases the rainfall rate. The natural water cycle is disrupted as the
trees are cutting off. McNeill and Agnoletti (2014) recognised the soil salinity due to the
continuous deforestation. Water can drain from the deforested land for affecting the down-slope
areas ad downstream process and it creates the significant impact on the water quality and plant
life. Soil fertility is another characteristic of deforestation in which the major losses are found in
nitrogen, organic carbon, sulphur, and phosphorus. It is notable that removal of tree increases the
decomposition rate of the topsoil erosion and soil nutrients. Moreover, it even decreases the
biomass both above and below the ground. These characteristics of deforestation are much
harmful for the environment.
The six step of system thinking provides the insightful ideas about the selected wicked
problem. Haines (2016) explained that the system thinking steps are mainly applied to resolve
the complex problems. Michael Goodman and Richard Karash introduced this six step iceberg
model to provide the effective solution after identifying the complex problem. The first step is

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to tell the story, which indicates that, the problem at first needs to be understood. The complete
understanding of the problem is possible through looking deeper into the matter instead of
concentrating on the individual part. In order to understand more deeply about the problem, it is
necessary to meet the stakeholders who have been experiencing the scenario. For example, the
people from the coastal region of Australia have been experiencing the struggles due to the
enormous deforestations. The information gathered from them about the consequences would
provide the ideas about the issues faced dur to the deforestation. According to Watanabe et al.
(2017) utilizing the common maps is one of the common tools for recognising the issue more
specifically. These cross maps present the visual form of the elements, concept links, cross-links,
proposition statements, and examples.
The second stage is Drawing Behaviour Over Time, which is a graphical
representation of noticing the influences of the current situation. It provides the analysis of the
situation that is analysed through the map created for recognising the underlying problem. The
graphical representation presents the curve, which determines how effective the problem is for a
particular segment. In fact, it measures the effectiveness of the solutions provided for the
complex problems. The third stage is creating a focusing statement, which develops the clear
vision about the problem solving process (Duić, Urbaniec and Huisingh 2015). This problem
solving process is defined in the form of statement, which indicate the target of the team and he
reasons for the occurrence of these problems. For example, it is necessary to identify the reasons
of deforestation. Many of the industrialists use the lands for developing factories due to which it
is necessary to remove the trees. On the contrary, deforestations even take place for developing
the agricultural process on that land. Understanding the root cause of the problem is the third
step of the system thinking process.