Causes of Deforestation in Libya

By Tareg Eljebuni (545)

A variety of environmental problems now affects our entire world such as acid rain, global warming, ozone depletion and overpopulation. However, some people think the loss of areas through deforestation is not harming the earth or human beings, but this loss of area is worse due to the killing in many animal species and making people sick from terminal diseases. They not only threaten the health and life of all human beings but also cause damage to the environment. Most people in our country, Libya are concerned about the environmental problems, as this has become an important issue within the last decade. Nowadays, scientists are doing their best to find out how to avoid this problem or at least to reduce it. Indeed, I have recently noticed the environmental problem in my country, Libya: the loss of areas through deforestation.

One of the most worrying factors today is the massive destruction of forests in Libya due to human activities, which are chopping down trees for construction purposes and clearing forests in order to accommodate expanding urban areas. For example, most people use wood to build their houses in order to support their ceilings during the construction of the houses. In addition, wood is renewed for making various kinds of furniture. Regarding paper products, wood is the most important factor in the paper industry. Furthermore, the quality of the wood reflects the quality of the paper in almost all its uses. Farmers try to clear forests in order to accommodate expanding urban areas. It’s obvious to me that there are two benefits, which are growing seeds for agricultural activities or useful kinds of trees such as olive trees and palm trees because they have good benefits for farmers to sell their fruits and products. The other benefit for farmers is to sell to the urban areas to become rich because nowadays one square meter costs from 100 dollars up to 2000 dollars, and this has been reflecting badly by disappearing forests.

My opinion: why some people in our country have logged trees? I know that for a number of reasons, which include the need for timber and space for agriculture. If human beings continue logging the trees for their own purposes, this will become a disaster for all the people who live in my country and animals as well. Therefore, my country will become difficult to live in because all the requirements of our lives become unavailable. I hope this will not happen in my country or any other place.