Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
DEFORESTATION—NOTES FROM A
FIELD DIARY
Let me take you on a short journey. This trip runs
a couple of dozen kilometres from the north coast
of Honduras in Central America and, in the
process, it runs through the entire deforestation
story. It begins at La Ceiba, a bustling coastal city
on the narrow coastal plain. From there, the route
runs south via the Cangrejal and Cuero river
valleys to the new settlements of Toncontin and El
Urraco. South of the city, a dirt track leads into
the mountains. It runs alongside a wild river in a
narrow valley and through a rain forest reserve.
The junction between the reserve and the
inhabited coastal plain is abrupt, then the forest is
tall and dense, interrupted only by occasional
intrusions from the huts and boats of 'Ecotourist'
enterprises. Further into the hills, these disappear
and the forest is unbroken. Eventually, the road
runs out of the reserve. A few kilometres further
on, the first signs of deforestation appear. Quickly
the scene turns to one of total devastation: fallen
timbers, burnt trees, muddied slopes, landslides,
rampant erosion, scene's from an
environmentalist's hell. Further on, the road passes
through this deforestation front. The landscape
becomes calm and it transforms into something
very familiar. Clumps of old and secondary forest
remain on the hilltops and steeper slopes. Between,
there are villages with well-kept gardens and
carefully tended fields. The familiar maize, beans
and banana agricultural landscapes of Honduras
have begun.
The message is this: forest conversion represents
a very dramatic landscape transformation. This
transformation affects most of the fundamental
topics addressed by geography: climate, ecology,
hydrology, landforms, soils, and the habitats and
economy of human communities. It also affects
subjects more usually studied by other
environmental scientists, such as biogeochemical
cycling, water quality, biodiversity and the
distribution of pathogens. In addition, it involves
those major changes in human communities that
exercise cultural and socio-economic geographers,
anthropologists, and the other social scientists who
Plate 14.1
Deforestation in northern Honduras, 1996; (A)
before; (B) during; (C) after.
watch on as the communities of the original forest
are transformed by inroads from the communities
of deforesters and their followers. However,
deforestation is, beyond all argument, an aspect of
the process called 'development'.
