The taiga has traditionally been a natural site where human presence is minimal. Wild animals and birds live here, clean rivers flow and special taiga air purified by millions of trees. But the current state of the taiga causes concern, both in scientific circles and among residents of settlements located in taiga regions.
What is taiga?
Taiga is not just a huge forest. This term refers to an entire ecosystem that has its own laws of existence and is located within a specific natural and climatic zone.
The word “taiga” was introduced into circulation in 1898 by the Russian scientist Porfiry Krylov. He described it as a forest of dark coniferous trees, dense and temperate. The size of such a forest is also important. Taiga forests cover hundreds of square kilometers, representing the largest forest areas on the planet.
The taiga has a very diverse flora and fauna. Since historically large forests were inaccessible to humans, predatory animals, rodents, snakes, and birds lived peacefully here in large numbers. Rare and professional hunters from among the inhabitants of the taiga settlements did not cause any tangible damage to wildlife.
Taiga problems
Everything changed with the beginning of the development of technology and, especially, with the beginning of active mining. In addition to valuable species of wood and rich fauna, huge reserves of coal, oil and gas are concentrated in the taiga. As a result, geological surveys, drilling of wells, transportation and installation of equipment, construction of workers’ camps began here.
Today, the taiga can no longer be called that rare piece of wildlife where animals and plants can live in natural conditions. Active human activity has made great adjustments to natural processes. For centuries, forest roads have crossed quiet places, pumping stations operate in the thickets, gas and oil pipelines are stretched across many kilometers.
Mining is impossible without the use of numerous equipment. It, in turn, works by burning fuel and forms exhaust gases. Certain technological processes, such as oil production, are accompanied by associated open combustion of gas leaving the well.
A separate problem of the modern taiga is cutting down trees. A huge amount of valuable wood is concentrated here, which is used in many industries. The scale of felling sometimes reaches barbaric. Particularly severe damage is caused by poaching felling, during which neither the further restoration of the forest nor the preservation of healthy trees is taken into account.
Protection and preservation of the taiga
Taiga forests are the “lungs of the planet”, as a huge number of trees are involved in global air purification. The barbaric and uncontrolled reduction of their numbers will inevitably affect the lives of all people. Considering the seriousness of these processes, protected areas and national parks are being created in many countries of the world, excluding any negative impact on wildlife.
A big step towards saving the taiga forests is the fight against poaching cutting down of trees and effective methods of legal influence on violators. However, the most important and most forgotten means of saving the taiga today is the personal responsibility of each person for wildlife.
