Lungs of The World
Environments that keep our world habitable, safe and cool
Lungs of the world are tropical rainforest. The tropical rainforest is one of the world’s oxygen makers. They produce oxygen by absorbing carbon dioxide. So carbon dioxide that produces by motorized vehicle, and factory are absorbed by the tropical rainforest, they then produced oxygen.
Tropical rain forests can be found near the equator. Right at latitude 0 ° — 10 ° to the north and south of the equator. Tropical rain forests exist on several continents such as Australia, Asia, Africa, Central America, South America, Mexico, and the Pacific Islands.
Tropical rain forests have a myriad of benefits. Not only is it beneficial for humans to meet their food and shelter needs, but tropical rain forests are an ecosystem, a home for half the world’s flora and fauna population. Tropical rain forests are also dubbed as the world’s largest pharmacy because most of the modern medicine comes from there.
Indonesia has a tropical rainforest that is a contributor of oxygen to the lungs of the world. Indonesia has the third-largest forest land in the world says indonesia.go.id. Not only that, Indonesia’s forests are filled with biodiversity and animals that are unmatched in terms of both quantity and uniqueness.
At present, the lungs of the world are on the threshold. Deforestation and forest fires are increasingly alarming. The fires that recently occurred in the Amazon jungle are said to be the worst fires when compared to previous years.
Not only in the Amazon are experiencing severe deforestation, but forests in Indonesia are also experiencing the same thing. In 2017 major forest fires hit the island of Sumatra. Followed by strong winds and heavy smoke, the entire city is covered with smoke and impedes economic activity.
Based on data from the PKHL directorate of the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the average area of fires in each province in Indonesia has increased every year.
The fire with the largest area was in Central Kalimantan at 583,833.4 hectares in 2015. Whereas in 2019 the fire with the largest area is in Riau province.
Forest fires have 2 possible causes, natural factors, and artificial factors. Natural fires that have occurred are usually caused by lightning strikes, dry twigs in the dry season and volcanic eruptions. While artificial forest fires occur because of human activity such as, people throw cigarette butts still burning in any place, and there are naughty parties who deliberately burn the forest to open agricultural land. The Amazon forest fire in mid-2019 was rumored to originate from burning land to open new agricultural land. On the island of Kalimantan, many deliberately burn forests to open up oil palm land.
Forest fires have harmful effects on all living things. For humans, fires threaten human lives. The firefighters could lose their lives and could also be injured by the blazing fire. Also, the smoke produced can disrupt the respiratory system and can worsen an allergy. Forest fires also threaten the lives of the animals that live in them. Like Himba, an Orang-Utan baby who was the victim of a forest fire in Tarakas, a village in Mungku Baru district, Palangkaraya. Himba suffered serious burns to her hands, feet, head, throat, mouth, eyes and around her anus. Her mother had serious burns all over her body and eventually died.
The government has established many regulations, both PERDA and PP. For example, the Regional Regulation of the Province of South Kalimantan Concerning Land and / or Forest Fire Control Chapter III article 3 paragraph (1) which contains “Every person or legal entity is prohibited from burning forests.” Article 3 paragraph (2) which contains “Implementation of burning land or forest for special purpose or conditions that cannot be avoided except for fire control, eradication of pests and fostering of plant and animal habitat can be done after obtaining permission from the authorized official”. And article 4 which contains,” Every person or legal entity is prohibited intentionally or unintentionally take actions that can cause land and/or forest fires that cause vegetation to burn and continue to spread to the surrounding land and/or forest”. Another example is the Republic of Indonesia Government Regulation Number 4 of 2001 concerning Environmental Damage and/or Pollution Control Related to Forest and Land Fires and many more.
Despite the regulations, there are still many people who continue to deliberately burn the land. Also, only a few cases of forest burning can reach court and be trialed. Not many of these cases have been proven guilty and not many of these cases were convicted of heavy sentences.
In conclusion, if humans still do not take care of the environment and continue to burn forests until the lungs of the world is run out, it can be said that the level of human population in the world will decrease dramatically. But, if we want to change maybe there is still a time to improve this. However, only knowing the causes and effects of forest fires and the depletion of tropical rain forests as the lungs of the world is not enough. An effort is needed to improve the conditions of the world. Start to plant trees. Plant a thousand trees, recycling waste, start a zero-waste living, donate to forest organization, do whatever needed to help the forest and tropical rainforest.
