Nature is life. The production of the oxygen we breathe is dependent upon a complex ecological web of interconnected processes, all providing a cycle that keeps our planet, and ourselves, healthy, diverse and vibrant. Each living creature contributes to our biosphere, and they need the space to live so that they can support this system, and in turn, us.[1]
The rampant deforestation that has gripped our planet does not just harm our oxygen production and biodiversity, however. Through the loss of our forests we also lose an essential defendant against global warming, as trees pull more carbon from the atmosphere than any other natural system. Worse still, the carbon they’ve stored is released back into the atmosphere once rotted or burnt, and with most deforested land replaced by agriculture and livestock, these practices generate huge quantities of greenhouse gasses where once it was being absorbed.[2] These devastated forest communities become breeding grounds for disease, threatening our food alongside our ecosystems.
Presently a mere 15.4% of our planet is protected in pockets across the globe[3] through the efforts of conservationists and green lobbyists, and they've shown how protected areas can double the preservation effects compared to areas outside of legislated protection[4]. With this in mind, many scientists, conservationists and future-minded public officials call for stronger protection than the 30% by 2050 being considered by the United Nations[5]. When 70% of our planet is ocean, is 50% really too much to ask to safeguard our future?
[1]https://www.wild.org/natureneedshalf/
[2]https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/articles/relationship-between-deforestation-climate-change
[3]https://www.unep-wcmc.org/featured-projects/mapping-the-worlds-special-places
[4]https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12649
[5]https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/conservation-groups-call-for-protecting-30-percent-earth-2030/
Search terms for your own research: why does the earth need protection, deforestation facts, the world without forests
Pioneer Materials, Natural Capital Accounting
Habitat Destruction, High Red Meat Diet