Difference Between Deforestation, Reforestation and Afforestation (with Comparison Chart)

To maintain ecological balance, forests play a vital role, which cannot be neglected. When a huge area of land is covered by trees, shrubs, bushes and other plants, and not used for other purposes, it is called a forest. Nowadays, due to the rapid increase in industrialization and urbanization forests are being cleared for urban land use. This practice of cutting down the trees of the forest and transforming them for other purposes is called deforestation.

As deforestation has a number of adverse effects on nature and mankind as well. The concepts like reforestation and afforestation are in vogue, to save the “Mother Earth”. Both attempts to introduce trees, to increase greenery, but they are not same. Reforestation, as the name suggests, replantation a destroyed forest area with trees.

Conversely, Afforestation is an emerging practice of creation of forest by planting and sowing seeds on the lands where no forest was present previously. Now, we are going to talk about the difference between deforestation, reforestation and afforestation.

Content: Deforestation Vs Reforestation Vs Afforestation

Comparison Chart
Definition
Key Differences
Conclusion

Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison	Deforestation	Reforestation	Afforestation
Meaning	Deforestation is the process of clearing the forest by logging or burning, for using the land, wood, fuel and other resources for different purposes.	Reforestation refers to the process of regrowing the forest in an area, where forest existed at some point in time.	Afforestation implies the process of establishing a new forest in a land where no trees were present earlier by sowing seeds or planting saplings.
Implies	Clearance or cutting down the trees from a forest.	Increasing the forest cover by planting young trees or sowing seeds in a temporarily unstocked forest area.	Creating a new forest, by planting new trees on land which is not originally forested.
Effect on the Environment	Adverse	Beneficial	Beneficial
Objective	To use the land occupied by forest for the construction of roads, buildings, industries, cattle grazing, etc.	To bring the forest back in the land which was destroyed or damaged by human activity or forest fire.	To forest an area where there is no such forest cover.

Definition of Deforestation

Deforestation, as the name signifies is the clearing or cutting of trees of the forest on a large scale, in order to use the land occupied by the forest, for some other purposes or permanent decrease in the tree cover below a specified limit.

The main causes of deforestation are logging, cattle ranching, agriculture, urban development, construction of roads, mining, extraction of oil and gas, plantation etc. It can be natural or anthropogenic.

Deforestation has severe effects on the environment, in the sense that it disturbs the ecological balance. Forests covers around 30% of the Earth’s surface and each year due to deforestation activities around 7.3 million hectares of forest is lost, resulting in damage of land and soil. It also leads to loss of biodiversity, habitat destruction and aridity.

Now think it this way, if more and more trees are being cut continuously then the high amount of greenhouse gases will be released into the atmosphere because in the absence of trees the carbon-di-oxide will not be absorbed. The effect of deforestation can be seen in the displacement or extinction of native specifies of plants and animals, changes in the climate, desertification and so on.

Definition of Reforestation

Reforestation refers to the practice of restoration of trees by planting and sowing seeds on the land where the forest was present previously or the land which is classified as forest. Basically, it is a deliberate or natural effort in restoring the former forest, that has been destroyed through deforestation.

Reforestation has many positive effects on the environment such as it improves the air quality, thereby bettering the living conditions of the humans and other organisms by absorbing the pollution and dust in the atmosphere. Moreover, it reconstructs habitats for the species of animals, birds and insects, which rely on the forest ecosystem of that particular area.

Besides this, it also plays an important role in combatting global warming to some extent and it also helps in renewing valuable and scarce resources.

Reforestation is possible by planning for natural regeneration or by artificial reforestation. In natural reforestation, the area where the forest was previously present is left undisturbed from any sort of activities, such as agriculture, construction or cattle grazing. Seedlings which are present in the soil, or carried by the wind or water to that area, germinate and grow.

In artificial reforestation, the human beings take necessary steps to reestablish forest, i.e. by planting seeds or young trees in that area.

Definition of Afforestation

Afforestation can be described as the creation of a forest by planting or intentional seeding on a barren area, i.e. the land where there is no forest previously or which has not been classified as a forest at all.

The main aim of afforestation is to establish a forest in a non-forest area and increasing carbon control and sequestration.

In this process, the seedlings and saplings of plants are sown in a barren land, as well as taken care of, continuously till they grow as a stand of the tree, which helps in purifying the air.

Afforestation is one of the important measures to deal with various environmental issues such as global warming, desertification, changes in climatic conditions as well as to maintain the ecological balance, to prevent soil erosion, to regulate monsoon, to maintain water cycle, to decrease the extinction or displacement of biodiversity.

Key Differences Between Deforestation, Reforestation and Afforestation

The points given below are noteworthy so far as the difference between deforestation, reforestation and afforestation are concerned:

Deforestation is a practice in which natural forests are cleared on a mass level, in order to use the wood, fuel and other resources or to convert the forest land for other land uses such as agriculture, ranches, cities, roads, etc.
Reforestation refers to the practice of renewing the forest cover, by planting trees in a land where the forest was present previously, but they were cut down or destroyed due to wildfire. On the other hand, Afforestation implies the transformation of a barren area of land, into a forest by planting trees there.
Deforestation implies transforming forest to another land, or a long term loss of forest cover below the specified percentage. Reforestation implies the regrowing of trees in a land which is deforested. Conversely, Afforestation is the process of converting a non-forest area (usually an abandoned or barren area) into a forest.
Deforestation has an adverse effect on nature as it causes an irregular change in the climate, extinction of the species, disrupted water cycle, global warming, etc. In contrast, reforestation and afforestation have beneficial effects on nature, as they regulate the environment.
The primary aim behind deforestation is to use the land occupied by the forest for other purposes such as the construction of roads, buildings, industries, cattle grazing, human habitation, etc.
Conversely, reforestation aims at repopulating an area with trees which has lost its tree cover, due to deforestation. However, afforestation is a widely accepted practice of creating a forest in a non-forest area, which ultimately results in an increase in the overall forest cover.

Conclusion

Global warming and climatic change are the burning issues which the entire world is facing today. One of the main cause of these issues is deforestation. It has a number of harmful effect both on the environment and living beings as well. Forest is the habitat for a wide variety of plants and animals. Deforestation leads to the destruction of habitats of a number of species which rely on the forest ecosystem.

Reforestation and Afforestation are the two great initiative which can help in coping up with these issues to a great extent by regenerating the forests and increasing the forest canopy coverIn this way, they ensure the ecological balance and also the survival of living beings.