Plausible solutions

The government should set aside land to be protected from loggers. They should also pass logging regulations. Land should be reserved for villagers to harvest fruits and nuts and electric furnaces and stoves should be given to people so they don't have to burn wood.

Why is the wood cut?

Smugglers use the wood to sell. Poor people burn it for warmth. Companies make wood and paper products out of the lumber

When did the deforestation start happening?

The deforestation in Afghanistan started in the 1950s

Where does the deforestation occur?

The answer is simple, were ever trees are

What is the problem?

Loggers can wipe out entire pistachio forests. Some villages depend on the pistachios to harvest and to sell to companies to make money. If the forests are gone, then villages can't make money.

Timber smuggling warlords can cause gang violence and control entire villages. Civilians can get caught in the crossfire during gang wars and be subject to unjust rules under warlord rules.

As people cut back trees, the effort to get wood increases therefore increasing the price. This is bad for the people who burn wood for warmth; poor people. The wood smoke causes respiratory problems.

In addition, without trees to hold the soil, the wind and rain carries away fertile topsoil, which people need to grow crops.

And finally, there are environmental problems. Trees turn carbon dioxide (CO2) into oxygen (O2). Too much CO2 causes air pollution. Air pollution leads to global climate change which is devastating.

Who?

The majority of people who cut down the forests are just people trying to earn money for their families. Of course there are logging companies too, but there are also smugglers. It's hard to believe it, but there are massive lumber smuggling operations in Afghanistan. These people have been nicknamed "timber mafias". But it makes me wonder how the heck you smuggle large quantities of lumber without being detected.

About this Blog

Originally, this blog was just a school project that I was selected to do. As you can tell, my project was about deforestation in Afghanistan. But in the process of my assignment, I started to worry as I searched through a number of articles and sources for information on the subject. There were not many facts about deforestation. The facts I did find were scattered throughout several articles. I got the sense that people weren't aware of this problem. I know I didn't before I read an article about the subject just recently. So, since millions of people go on the Internet every day, I decided to make a blog.