Environment
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What is Hard Deforestation?

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Hard deforestation occurs when forested lands are clearcut and then compromised so that the trees cannot grow back. By contrast, soft deforestation happens when trees are cleared, but they later grow back. Biologists are very concerned about the effects of hard deforestation, as the permanent destruction of woodland areas around the world is a rapidly growing trend. Researchers in numerous nations including the United States and Great Britain are studying hard deforestation extensively and proposing plans to avert it.

New England offers some excellent examples of both soft and hard deforestation. When early settlers to the United States first reached New England, they cut down many trees for the purpose of developing agriculture. Over time, agricultural production shifted to other regions of the country, and these trees grew back; this is an example of soft deforestation, in which trees are removed but eventually replaced. Soft deforestation is also a common phenomenon in Europe. Biologists have noted that this second growth can actually be quite healthy, and that these once clearcut and now wooded lands provide numerous benefits to their communities.

When land is clear cut and trees cannot grow back, it is known as hard deforestation.
When land is clear cut and trees cannot grow back, it is known as hard deforestation.

The revival of forested land in New England is often touted by biologists, illustrating the way in which nature can recover from negative human activity. However, researchers at the Harvard Forest in Massachusetts have pointed out a disturbing and growing trend; the clearcutting of trees for the purpose of development, resulting in hard deforestation. In hard deforestation, wooded lands are replaced with roads, parking lots, malls, and developments, making it impossible for nature to recover itself. Hard deforestation, as a result, causes a permanent net decrease in wooded lands.

Clearcutting, or removing all the trees from a geographic area, is a type of hard deforestation.
Clearcutting, or removing all the trees from a geographic area, is a type of hard deforestation.

Woodlands are extremely valuable for a number of reasons. Environmentally, they help to sequester carbon emissions, provide habitat to animals, and also act as temperature regulators. In regions with parks and wooded areas, these natural features can help to reduce temperature swings, keeping the region cooler in summer and warmer in winter. Many people also simply enjoy woodlands, finding them beautiful and pleasant, and these individuals are concerned about the loss of quality of life which is caused by hard deforestation.

Organizations which are trying to combat hard deforestation want to encourage people to value forests as they are, without the need for development. Some of these groups also promote selective timber harvesting, which makes forested land valuable. Others suggest that woodlands could be stocked with game for hunting, or turned into pleasure parks for people to enjoy, thus creating intrinsic value for wooded areas.

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a AllThingsNature researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a AllThingsNature researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

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Discussion Comments

anon258536

Good article in pointing out the results of the Harvard study, however when the author mentions suggestions of stocking the forest with game, I think the notion that we can never allow nature to do what it does naturally, but must always be "managed" to improve on it can be counterproductive.

An example of this is the notion that managed forests are better, when in fact, the forests that sequester the most carbon to help prevent global warming are the forests that were disturbed the least by logging, which is a synonym for management. Most of the carbon sequestered in the forest is actually in the soil, which when disturbed by logging, releases large amounts of carbon.

I know some scenarios, like selective cutting, could theoretically protect the soil from this loss to some extent, however because selective cutting has been so abused by "high grading" (the process of taking the good straight trees and leaving the crooked or damaged trees), the only hope for restoring these forests to a productive timber factory is to clear cut these degraded stands and start over. This, of course, releases huge amounts of carbon, especially when the wood or byproducts of the timber are then burned in biomass plants releasing even more CO2 into the atmosphere.

anon7191

what are some examples of deforestation happening in earth?

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    • When land is clear cut and trees cannot grow back, it is known as hard deforestation.
      By: Lars Johansson
      When land is clear cut and trees cannot grow back, it is known as hard deforestation.
    • Clearcutting, or removing all the trees from a geographic area, is a type of hard deforestation.
      By: Taina Sohlman
      Clearcutting, or removing all the trees from a geographic area, is a type of hard deforestation.