Agriculture has been known being the main source of various varieties of food. This has led to deforestation in order to create room for the land that can be used in farming. Forests provide home for many different species of living things. During deforestation, species which are not able to cope with the change in ecosystem become eliminated while others are displaced. Further, trees absorb carbon dioxide, which is harmful in terms of global warming, and release oxygen into the atmosphere. This means that, without trees, global warming will definitely take place. Forest is well known to be a water catchment area hence its elimination will definitely lead to destruction of a water source. Farming activities also contribute to soil erosion and change in soil properties because vegetation cover on the earth’s surface is reduced after deforestation.
Land encroachment by human beings is the major cause of species extinction in the present-day. This is because the encroachment leads to deforestation, which further leads to the habitat destruction of many homes belonging to different species, hence creating a new environment into which these species are not adapted leading to their extinction. This can be prevented by introducing policies and land conservation programs. Policy action is a very good method of sustaining economic value as far as the land conservation is concerned. Land conservation programs contribute to the protection of land hence preventing human beings from misusing it. This further ensures that water resources will remain productive in both in present time and in the future. The government is very active in supporting these policies and land conservation projects in order to sustain its productivity indefinitely. Some of the conserved lands have also ended up being a tourist destination where tourists come to see various protected species ranging from plants to animals.
References
Bucholtz, S., Lubowski, R. N., Claassen, R., Roberts, M. J., Cooper, J. C., Gueorguieva, A., et al. (2006). Environmental Effects of Agricultural Land-Use Change. 5-70.
RISENG, C. M., WILEY, M. J., BLACK, R. W., & MUNN, M. D. (2011). Impacts of agricultural land use on biological integrity. 1-19.
Sodhi, N. S., Brook, B. W., & Bradshaw, C. J. (2002). Causes and Consequences of Species Extinctions. 515-519.
U.S Department of Defense and U.S fish and Wildlife Service. (2004). Protecting Endangered Species on Military Lands. 1-2.
