Masalah Alam Sekitar Berkaitan Perhutanan di Provinsi Riau, Indonesia

Forest which forms a part of the physical environment has numerous uses either in its interaction with other physical components such as atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere, or human beings and other living things. At the early stage of human existence forest and its products inclusive of animals have been exploited as source of food supply. Increase in human population with their more varied needs especially when they started settling down and coupled with improved technology has caused forest not to be just a supplier of food, but also became supplier of building materials. Such changes also occurred in Riau Province where initially the exploitation of forest was minimal. However, when the need to support the growing population and various forms of development, deforestation was carried out intensively. Logging and the opening up of forest for plantation and agriculture together with numerous other activities have either directly or indirectly created problems to all the major components of the physical environment namely the biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. Since a few decades ago a number of problems have surfaced especially in relation to an eminent threat to biodiversity extinction, soil erosion, water sources, river water pollution, flood, drought, air pollution and possibility of climate change.