Forest farming is the need of time to protect our environment. It is a type of agriculture that focuses on growing trees and shrubs in a forest-like setting. Forest farming has many environmental benefits. Such as producing clean air and water, sequestering carbon, and improving soil quality.
The food chain is the flow of food from producer to consumer. Forests are one of the major sources of food production not only for humans but also for other wild creatures as well. Forest farming can improve the environment very efficiently. Because it provides many environmental benefits including clean air, freshwater, improving soil quality, and reducing the pollution in the air.
We Need More Forest Farming to Save Our Planet
We need to grow more trees in forests if we want to reverse the process of deforestation. This is because deforestation is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.
Forests have been an important part of our ecosystems for centuries. They provide clean air, freshwater, help with temperature regulation, and house the majority of the Earth’s species. Forests also help keep our planet cool by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, over the past century, humans have destroyed a huge percentage of the Earth’s forests.
Forest Farming’s Role in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Forest Farming is a sustainable land use management technique, which integrates the production of food, fodder, fuelwood, and non-timber forest products. It is an appropriate strategy to alleviate poverty and promote equitable development in rural areas.
Forest farming can be applied at different scales for different purposes. For example, it can be used to reforest marginal lands with high agricultural value for the production of food and fodder. Or it can provide livelihood opportunities on underutilized public lands with high potential for fuelwood production.
The most important benefit of forest farming is that it promotes sustainable development by reducing pressure on natural forests. And by using degraded or marginal lands for forestry operations, thus reducing deforestation rates.
Major Effects of Deforestation on Climate Change
Deforestation is the process in which the ratio to cutting the trees down is much higher than a plantation. People living in far urban areas normally do such practices in order to create cropland or pasture for livestock. Or on the other hand, it is done to provide timber or wood fuel for the local settlements. Proper management of forests is necessary to maintain the diversity of forest ecosystems and their sustainability. Deforestation alters the climate by changing its albedo properties and carbon sequestration rates.
Global Warming and need for Afforestation
Global warming is an environmental issue that has been haunting us for the last few decades. Recent studies have shown that it is problematic for both animals and plants. Afforestation is the process of planting trees in areas that are barren or degraded.
It remained very successful in many countries successfully. For example, Pakistan has initiated a billion tree tsunami project. It is really amazing to know that the project is leaping to its success.
Our Major Responsibility to Save our Planet
Our earth is in dire need of restoration from the environmental damages. With the world population rising exponentially, the challenges are only getting more difficult. We are facing an imminent water shortage, failing crops, rising sea levels, and unpredictable weather patterns.
But there’s still hope for our planet. Saving it will take all of us working together to make changes in our daily lives. We need to work for the betterment of our planet and for our future generations.
Role of Policy Makers to Encourage Afforestation
All the Policymakers need to make the right policies that would encourage afforestation. These policies could be budgetary, economic, or regulatory in nature. The policymakers should work with social mobilizers and forest dwellers to understand their concerns and address them before formulating policies for afforestation.
Afforestation to Fight against Pollution
A lot of people are working to protect the environment. The main objective of their efforts is to reduce pollution by planting trees. We should encourage to plant more and more trees in the most polluted cities in the world.
Afforestation is a technique for restoring forests that have been destroyed or have disappeared. It can be used to remove pollution from the environment by planting more trees and other plants.
Our Responsibilities to Plant more Trees for better Future
Each of us has the responsibility of planting more trees for the betterment of our future. The United Nations Environment Programme emphasizes this responsibility and facilitates the people to plant more trees. But, what are our responsibilities to plant more trees?
We can plant at least one tree every month to make a difference for the coming generations. It is not so difficult to do it by using the available resources in our surroundings. We can also choose to plant trees on public lands. For example, some communities are planting trees on strips of public land. Which are located on their way to school or work or while they commute from shopping malls or other places.
The government too has taken some initiatives by setting up some nurseries in some areas where it is often difficult to find saplings and taking care of them till they grow into small plants.
Conclusion
There are two main types of forest farming i-e silvopasture and agroforestry. Silvopasture is practiced when trees are planted in pasturelands. This type of forest farming is very common in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina. Agroforestry is when trees are planted around crops or in agricultural settings. Both silvopasture and agroforestry have positive impacts on the environment.
The benefits of using these practices remained very encouraging in multiple studies. By using such techniques there is a lot of improvement in soil quality, water retention, carbon sequestration rates, and soil fertility retention. More greenery means more production in the form of livestock.
With enhanced soil fertility, the crop yield rates increase as well. It is time to plant more trees before it gets too late. Since we are already facing the consequences of deforestation in terms of pollution and global warming. So, plant a tree today for the future of your generation.