Deforestation triggers more disease Part 2

GOOD Morning to you all again, I love walking in the morning to another beautiful day in GOD's creation. Many people forget that nothing would be possible without the intervention of our Lord God.

Everything we see around us, with the exception of the man-made structures, was made by God. From the stars in heaven, which he knows each one by name to the corals under the seas, So ask yourself, Who am I? Why not ask God, He knew you before you were born. Many people ask another question, what is happening to our world? For the answers to this friends-read the bible, God explains everything you need to know in there. This is his world, he made it, and we are his children, and we are destroying our fathers' creation, what a great pity, its called self-centeredness.

Let us pause for a moment: We need strength to keep us true and straight in everything we do, we need a power to keep us strong when we are tempted to do wrong. You will not go astray on the straight and narrow way.

Our topic- This week we will continue with our topic on deforestation. We must take this subject seriously, because it is slowly ruining our lives, and the livelihoods of our people, -read on-yellow fever, an acute infection on tropical and sub-tropical disease was originally transmitted in a jungle cycle from monkeys to monkeys via the mosquito-“aedes africanus”, when logging started, people entered this cycle. Bitten in the forest, loggers would return to their homes in cities, where the disease would be spread in a person-person cycle via alternate aedes species that thrive in disturbed urban environments. A more global example is the aids virus human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which some scientists think may have first infected “bush meat” hunters given access to Africa 's tropical forest by the growing network of logging roads in the continent's interior. The disease subsequently spread by human contact and has become a global tragedy through the ability of humans to travel the world with relative ease.

Where have all our forest gone? In the Philippines, most provinces now have less, yes that's right, less than 50 percent forest cover left, This is according to –Rep Edcel Lagman of Albay, based on a report from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources report and on documents from the United States Agency for International Development, he claimed only 16 provinces have forest cover and more than 50 percent forest cover left. The top ten provinces with the thickest forest cover left are: Aurora –78.80%, Quirino-76.30%, Eastern Samar-65.84%, Palawan-65.29%, Nueva Viscaya-64.82%. Occidental Mindoro 61.80%, Ifugao- 61.49%, Oriental Mindoro-60.74%, Cagayan-58.34% and Mountain Province-54.78%. The six other provinces with more than 50% forest cover are: Bataan-54.59%, Abra-54.42%, Isabela 53.62%, Rizal 53.54%, Lanao Del Sur-52.37% and Catanduanes-50.24%.

Logging either illegal has been cited as the primary culprit of the rapid disappearance of the country's forest cover. Aside from logging however, other causes of deforestation in the Philippines are forest fires, slash and born farming (logically known as Kaingin), mining operations, geothermal exploration and dam construction and operation and of course we must not forget the land development project such as construction of subdivisions, industrial estate and commercial sites. Volcanic eruptions have also devastated some of the country's forests, so have typhoons, which have devastated considerable hectares of forest cover. We must not forget the country's surging population growth, this is also contributing to the problem. At least a fourth of the total population live in the upland areas, where most trees are located. Dr. Ernesto Guiang , of the Development Alternatives, Inc. echoes the same concern –we are now at the eleventh hour, we have to pay attention to the handwriting on the wall with respect to our forest. Take Care, See You Soon!