1.

Forest degradation
Deforestation has emerged as one of the major concerns of the world and currently for
Rwanda green environment, According to IUCN’s Forest Programme Deforestation and
forest degradation are the biggest threats to forests worldwide. Deforestation occurs when
forests are converted to non-forest uses, such as agriculture and road construction. Forest
degradation may occurs when forest ecosystems lose their capacity to provide important
goods and services to people and nature .Over half of the tropical forests worldwide have
been destroyed since the 1960s, and every second, more than one hectare of tropical forests is
destroyed or drastically degraded. This intense and devastating pressure on forests is not
limited to the tropics – an estimated 3.7 million hectares of Europe’s forests are damaged by
livestock, insects, diseases, forest fires, and other human-linked activities.
According to Global Forest Watch, Year and place, The tropics lost 12 million hectares of
tree cover in 2018, the fourth-highest annual loss since record-keeping began in 2001. Of
greatest concern is the disappearance of 3.6 million hectares of primary rainforest, an area the
size of Belgium, they argued that in 2002, just two countries—Brazil and Indonesia—made
up 71 percent of tropical primary forest loss. More recent data shows that the frontiers of
primary forest loss are starting to shift. Brazil and Indonesia only accounted for 46 percent of
primary rainforest loss in 2018, while countries like Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and
Democratic Republic of the Congo saw loss rates rise considerably.

Jean Paul Lanly, 2014???? In his book “forestation and forest degradation “ stated that the
humid tropics the horizontal expansion of the different forms of agriculture (and animal
husbandry) constitutes the most important direct overall factor, since it is responsible for
nearly 85% of deforestation”

According to CDP, 2018 Indonesia forest reports “A lack of strong management of forest
related issues at L’Oréal could lead to the accusation of corporate irresponsibility at the
expense of the planet which would absolutely contravene the business ethos. Companies are
less and less able to get away with activities that contribute to deforestation and otherwise
adversely affect the planet”.
 2. Population gwroth

Joel E. Cohen, 1995 in his book on population growth stated that population have grown
rapidly, never before World War II did the entire human population grow as rapidly as it has
grown since then. Never has the human population of the Earth been nearly as big as it is
now. in 1995 the total number of people on the Earth was approximately 5.7 billion and the
annual increase in the total number of people on the Earth was around 90 million.

Martina Schwikowski,2018 in her book Preparing for Africa's population boom shows that
Africa's population is growing rapidly and is set to double by 2050. In Ethiopia, the change of
heart has already begun, Currently 1.4 billion people live on the African continent, In 32
years this number is expected to double.
S. Haddock et al., in International Encyclopedia of Public Health, 2008 mentioned that
population growth has proceeded at an unprecedented rate, with the world's population
currently totaling six billion people.
Thomas Malthus theorized that populations grew in geometric progression. A geometric
progression is a sequence of numbers where each term after the first is found by multiplying
the previous one by a fixed, non-zero number called the common ratioGabriel Habiyambere
et al. 2011[ CITATION Gab11 \l 1033 ] studied the effect of demographic pressure on Forest and
found that population growth is the change in a population over time. They studied the trends
in population growth in Rwanda from 1930 to 2010 and highlighted a dramatic increase in
population number where it increased four times during that period. The population of
Rwanda has slightly increased until 1950 followed by a dramatic increase between 1950 to
1970
Different literature has shown that all of these extra people need food, water, space, and
energy to survive which leads to deferastation .This unprecedented growth has put a strain on
our environment, economies, governments, infrastructures, and social institution
According to the Natinal institute of statistics, 2013, The rate of growth in Rwanda took a
sharp upswing around 2000 following the genocide that took so many lives but has since
steadied into consistent annual growth over 2%. This growth, however, is posing some
challenges for Rwanda, as it is already Africa's most densely populated non-island nation. An
increase in food supply must match the rate of population increase, yet there is no more space
for additional agriculture. Like many countries in Africa, large families are part of their
culture and the birth rate is over 5 children born per woman.( 2020 sencus) (World population
review)
The deforestation does not only affect the regulating services but also the others are affected.
As the forest is a shelter of several animals Gishwati natural forest has suffered as the fauna
species percentage loss is very disastrous and most of them are reduced at level higher than
90% from 1990 to 2002.
3. Linkage between poulation growth and forest degradation

OYCE HUANG ,2015 stated that human activity has disrupted natural ecosystems more
extensively in the past 50 years, large areas on all continents have been converted to
farmland, forests have been felled for timber and to make way for pasture and the growing of
crops, Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein, Sustaining Life 2015 state that More than 80
percent of the world’s old-growth forests have been destroyed, taking with them the habitats
of countless species. Each year, humans cut down an additional 32 million acres of forest.
According to Frederick A.B. Meyerson 2004, people cut or burn down forests for a variety
of reasons, most of them survivalrelated. Although the relationship between deforestation,
harmful policies, poverty, and population growth is complicated, the fact remains that rapidly
growing populations of people place growing demands on existing forests.
He added that, as agriculturally based population density increases in and near forested areas,
the strongest relationship between population growth and deforestation occurs, as local
people and young migrant families arrive at the forest frontier and clear land to provide more
area for subsistence farming. The poorer the soil quality, the lower the agricultural production
per hectare, and the more land per capita is likely to be cleared .
According to the The Global Forest Assessment 2000 , the Central America, population
density and loss of forest cover are closely related at many scales: at the regional and national
level, and in local areas inside and near forest reserves.[ CITATION Fre03 \l 1033 ]Alain
Marcoux, 2011 writes reported that The impact of population growth on fuelwood
consumption is direct, since energy needs are essentially proportional to population size
According to a more recent report by FAO, in Africa, between 1990 and 2010 reveals that
Woodfuel removals jumped as a result of the rising population in the region
Asian Development Bank (ADB) claims themajor environmental problems arising from
population pressures which includes lack of development,the development process itself ,land
degradation and depletion of natural resources pollution of soil, water and air; which results
to consequences of deforestation (Jalal 1993, p. 2).

Foster and Rosenzweig (2002) stated that population growth affect land management in
general and the management of forest exploitation. There is a reciprocal relationship between
population and forest cover, in the large. More people, more food required, more land for
cultivation and grazing there are still many questions concerning the pace of deforestation
relative to population growth, particularly about how land clearing for food production feeds
back into population growth.

Patrick Durst 2009 studied the Impacts of demographic changes on Forests and forestry in
his paper stated that the rising human population has resulted in a dramatic increase in the
demand for wood products, which has led to overexploitation or harvesting beyond sustained
yields. This has led to forest degradation in many Developing and Small Island countries.
Forest degradation has been reported even in forested transition countries like India. The
pressure on land and forests has increased in Developing countries with the growing
population and rapid urbanization. However, this situation largely varies at the country level.
MINITERE CGIS-NUR (2005) remarked that the striking population growth and its activities
have progressively degraded our environment and suggests the State to carefully control the
population growth and establish new policies concerning grouped settlements so as to reduce
forest vulnerability.

Gabriel H. at al stated the the human activity impacts on the environment are remarkable
worlwide and Rwanda is not left behind, population growth rate dramatically increased from
4.7 to 93% from 1930 to 1990. It is noticeable that during the period 1990 to 2010, the
population growth slightly increased by a value of 50.6% due to the horrible events, such as
war consequences and genocide. In addition, deforestation rates rose from 0 to 103% from
1930 to 2010 and the decrease can be attributed to to the increase of population which surely
necessitates more land to occupy for various purposes. It is clear to note that the increase in
population growth involving the massive destruction of forests indicate temperature for about
0.5°C and therefore precipitation underwent a monthly decrease of 10 mm.

Studying the ling between population and environment, Oslon, 1994 illustrate the effect of
demographic change as a powerful force behind land use changes where the factors behind
demographic processes must be understood by predicting future demographic changes. For
him, migration movements are caused in part by regional differences in economic
opportunity, such as acquisition of land and labour availability etc.[ CITATION Jen94 \l 1033 ]