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Illegal Logging Should be Stopped or Not?

By Nur Amalia Rosyada

Our country, Indonesia, is one of the richest countries in the world. Maybe were not rich if we measure it by money or welfare, but if we look in different point of view, then we will say that we have everything in this country. We have something that we call biodiversity. Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given species, ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. In the simple word, it means that Indonesia is one important source for the world to get a lot of materials that derived from living things. One of the important materials is timber. As we know, Indonesia as a tropical country has vast area of tropical rain forest that consists of various types of trees. From various types of trees we can get various types of timber that we need for various purposes. This condition leads us to exploit our forest. The benefit that will come from exporting timber all over the world become one of the most powerful reasons to destroy our nature. It is the reason for some people or company in this country to do illegal logging. From the statistic in 2011, Indonesias forest only the remaining 80 million hectares of the 130 million hectares. More than one hundred cases of illegal logging found out in 2011. Ramin ( Gonstylus spp. ), Meranti ( Shorea spp. ), Damar ( Araucaria spp. ), Kenari ( Canarium spp. ), and Agatis ( Aghatis spp. ) are popular timber that came from illegal logging because its price and qualities. Nowadays illegal logging still controversial in our country, it has positive side and negative side. In the positive side, illegal logging made us easier to get timber with the good quality and sometimes lower price. But in the other hand, illegal logging is harm for our nature and of course for us. First , illegal logging cause the amount of carbondioxide in our air increase, second it leads to reduce water catchment area, and the moreover it is make lots of animals lose their habitats. From the positive side, there is one benefit that very important for us as an Indonesia citizen. We can get timber with the good quality and sometimes with lower price. Timber in the modern country with a relatively limited land is a rare commodity. If people want to get some timber with the good quality they must import it from tropical country like Indonesia. They usually need timber to get classic furniture with high artistic value. To fulfill their desire of course they must pay it with a high price. Because it is imported from other country of course the price is higher because they need to pay postage and import tax. For us as Indonesia citizen, with the illegal logging, we can get timber with the good quality easier and cheaper. We can fulfill our wish to make classic furniture even built a wooden house. For example, nowadays, in the market there is some furniture with high price, very exotic, and

they are really rare. The furniture use an exotic timber called Ramin as the basic material. Because of their beauty and classic-modern style some people vying to get it. They do not care how much they must pay for it. They just want to have exotic and rare furniture. In contrary with what happened in other country, in Indonesia, we can get Ramin easier and sometimes cheaper, we can buy it directly to some people or company which is do illegal logging in their logging place with the lower price, or we can buy it in their agent in the big city with a little higher price. We can choose what suit for us, and the both option still give us a lower price than if we buy it from other country. In the opposite of the good side of illegal logging, there are much more disadvantage of illegal logging. The first is illegal logging cause the amount of carbon-dioxide increase. Nowadays, the amount of carbon-dioxide in the air, especially in Indonesias sky, increases rapidly. This is happen because tree in the forest is decreasing exponentially. Tree is one important component in nature which is directly involved in the regulation of carbon. Every day, one tree can take 20 gram 30 gram carbon-dioxide per day from the air and in their lifetime one tree can take almost 7500 gram carbon-dioxide. After they take it, through the photosynthesis process, they produce some oxygen and some sugar that stored in the tubers. From harmful substances for human, tree can convert it to some useful substances for human. The presence of tree is a really important thing that we cannot doubt about it. Lately, with the economic development of our country, the addition number of motor vehicle cannot be avoided. With so many vehicle in the street, the amount of carbon-dioxide in the air will increase. It will be okay and not a big problem if the addition number of motor vehicle and the addition number of tree are equal. But it will be serious problem if the numbers of tree are lesser than the number of motor vehicle. Carbon-dioxide that should be absorbed by the tree, but because of massive illegal logging it does not happen, accumulate in the air. Some carbon dioxide gathered at the Earths atmosphere will cause green house effect. When the energy arrives on the earths surface, 45 % of it absorbed by the Earths surface and will reflected again to the atmosphere. But because there too much carbon-dioxide gases on the atmosphere, the heat energy trapped and unable to pass the atmosphere .This phenomena at the end lead the increasing of the Earths surface temperature that called global warming. Beside the global warming phenomenon, too much carbon-dioxide in the air, will cause the quality of the air in Indonesia is not good enough for us to live the health life. Normal levels of carbon dioxide in the air is 350 part per million until below 600 part per million. If the level of carbon dioxide in the air is above 600 part per million, we could say that the air is dirty. And it is not good for us live in there. After damaging our air with increasing the amount of carbon dioxide, illegal logging causes a serious problem for our soil. With the loss of trees that cover the surface of the soils, when rain come it

will cause erosion in our soils. The top soil containing humus which is useful for plants growth will slowly erode. When all of the top soil has been erode, we cannot use the land to grow some plants again. Moreover, the loss of tress that covers the surface of the soils will reduce water catchment area. Tree roots normally hold water and keep it for a while than absorb it to the ground. We can use the water as the ground water. But because all the trees are loss this process will never occur. Than the dangerous disasters come along with the absence of process. When the rain falls, the water is not absorbed to the ground; the water will flow on the surface of the ground, gathered in the lowland and will cause the flood. When the water comes with some materials like the top soil, it will cause mudslides. And if the rain fall in plateau with steep cliffs it will be more dangerous. Landslide will occur and many people will be hurt if below the cliff there are a lot of peoples houses. Not only hurt, maybe it will cause some people die. From all the things that we mention above, we cannot close our eyes that illegal logging has led the dangerous nature disaster for us. Not only causes nature disaster, illegal logging also takes the responsibility for the loss of habitat of many animals in Indonesia. Massive illegal logging cause the forest reduce rapidly and some animal that live in there loss their place to life. This is the reason why some animals in Indonesia are in danger of becoming extinct. When illegal logging occurs, the animal that lives in there will go to the other place or survival for their areas. When their survive in their area, the person whom do illegal logging will kill them, and it will be a benefit for them if the animals that have been killed is a rare animals. They can sell the body of the animal like the trunk or skin to be collected and they will get extra money. But when animal search for other place there are two possibilities that would occur, first if they can adapted with the new environment of course they would survive but when they cannot adapted they would die. There is one obvious example to prove it. Massive illegal logging is occurring in Sumatra Island and Sumatran Tiger are becoming extinct. The Sumatran tiger numbering fewer than 400 in the wild, and it will decreasing again if we cannot prevent the massive illegal logging. There is one cases again, occur in 2012 that will be some learning for us. One Sumatran tiger killed by the residents because the tiger entered the village. It is a big question for us, why the Sumatran tiger can arrive in the village. Of course the answer is because they loss their habitat and their searching for a new place. We cannot blame the village because we know that is one way to survive their self. But know we can blame something that we called illegal logging. If illegal logging still occur in our country, Lately, not only Sumatran Tiger that becoming extinct, but also all the animals that live in the Indonesias forest. In the conclusion, with all the advantage and disadvantage of illegal logging we can conclude that illegal logging should be stopped. There are advantages of illegal logging but there are much more

the disadvantages of illegal logging. We must open our eyes that the ease with which we can get the good qualities of timber and the money that we save from lower price of timber are not equal with all of disasters that come along with the illegal logging. Air pollution, flood, landslide, animal becoming extinct; never be equal with all money that comes from illegal logging. There are some things that we can do to stop the illegal logging. First, the government must clear the legislation on illegal logging; severely punish company and person who do illegal logging. After make the law, the government must clamping implementation of these laws and prevent all thing that will leads the decreasing of Indonesias forest. To improve the degraded forest, we together with the government can do deforestation, plant some trees in the place that illegal logging had been occurring. It maybe will take a long time for the forest to be as before. But if we wait patiently the time will come and we can enjoy our health nature again. The last thing that we can do is reduce the use of object that derived from tree, like furniture, ornament, or paper. We can use some furniture from metal like aluminum, copper. For ornament, we can replace wood with glass or maybe if you are a rich person you can use some precious metal like silver, gold, and platinum to decorate your house. For replace a paper we can use recycled paper or we can recycling paper by our self. Maybe there are so many things that we can do beside all the things that we mention above. Its just a little idea to solve the problem. In the end, we must recognize that the tree give so much contribution for us, it help us convert something harmful like carbon dioxide and convert it to useful thing for us like oxygen and sugar in tubers, it help us to prevent flood and landslide, and at the end it was a precious habitat for some animal that we cannot replace it with artificial habitat. So, lets stopped the illegal logging, to live the better life.

Soure : http://ekowisata.org/pohon-penyerap-co2-pencemar-penghasil-oksigen-dan-penyimpan-karbon/ http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efek_rumah_kaca http://www.anneahira.com/pencemaran-lingkungan-udara.htm http://harimau-sumatera.blogspot.com/ http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/tigers/about_tigers/sumatran_tiger/ http://www.google.com/

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