Good morning residents of Queens Park, thank you for joining me here today.
I once lived in Maputo, back when it was home to the most ethereal forests and delightful fauna. I don’t recognise it anymore. The luscious green forestry and the diverse creatures that once made the city a beautiful, green oasis, was obliterated. I miss it.
I don’t want to miss Queens Park.
Now if you’re wondering why I’d have to miss our lovely suburb, to put it simply, the city council has plans to deforest Queens Park Reserve, our residential forest, and build a new stadium in place. If you’re wondering what deforestation is, it refers to the large-scale removal of trees and vegetation from a forested area. It typically affects tropical countries, including Brazil, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and many others. However, Australia has the highest rate of deforestation in a first-world country. If you’re wondering why this occurs, the reasons are multifaceted. Typically, agriculture, illegal logging, mining, and urbanisation are the main motives.
This matters to you because we, in Greta Thunbergs words, “are in the beginning of a mass extinction.”
Globally, we deforest 100 000 km^2 of forests annually. To put things in perspective, this is an area the size of Portugal, exterminated each year. In the 200 years since our
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We know that trees play a critical role in regulating the Earth's climate. So, clearing them would obviously have adverse effects on the environment. This includes an increase in soil erosion, landslides, carbon dioxide emissions, and other forms of environmental degeneration that can impact water quality and decrease biodiversity, which further impacts the quality of life for locals like us. Expert scientist, Doctor Yujie Chen, says that halting deforestation is “just as urgent” as stopping the use of fossil