Introduction

The amazon rainforest is situated in the Amazon basin in Brazil (South America). The amazon basin has the most developed rainforest of anywhere in the world and over 20% of the world’s oxygen is produced there. The amazon river runs 3,000 miles from the Andes to the sea, and it’s length is second only to the Nile. Scientist’s have predicted that the amazon rainforest is about 100 million years old and is home to 50% (up to 1 million) of the world’s plant and animal species. Around 2,000 ml of rain falls through a year on average. The amazon covers 8 million square kilometres, more than any other rainforest. But not for much longer if deforestation continues at the rate that it’s going at now…

Definition of Deforestation

‘The cutting down and removal of all or most of the trees in a forested area. Deforestation can erode soils, contribute to desertification and the pollution of waterways, and decrease biodiversity through the destruction of habitat.’ (http://dictionary.reference.com)

In this assignment I will be exploring the causes of deforestation and looking at the they have the environment. I will also be looking at sustainable ways of using the Amazon’s resources and the consequences of not managing the rainforest.

There are many different causes of deforestation in the rainforest but the four main sources are:

Cattle Ranching

Logging

Farming

Mining

This pie chart shows whice types of deforestation are causing the most damage. The biggest cause is clearly Cattle Ranching.

Cattle Ranching

Around 60% of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is the result of Cattle Ranching. Beacuase of the free land lots of people

come to the amazon for work, claim land as their own and set up cattle ranches. However, before their cows can start grazing, the land needs to be cleared of trees. Many poor people can not afford to spend time cutting down lots of trees so they just burn them instead which adds to carbon emmissions and therefore global warming. Farmers use Zebu cows which are bred especially for the rainforest environment. When the cows are introduced to the pastures some of them refuse to eat the grass because it is so poor. Farmers generally allow 3,000 hecatares per every 2,000 cattle which is quite a lot of land. After 2-3 years the grass becomes very acidic and it is very hard for anything to be replanted there; even if trees are replanted they do not grow well. It is very hard for new trees to take root and grow because there are hardly any minerals in the soil, there is lots of water and the soil is shalllow.

Logging

There is a big business being made from Logging in the rainforest. Tropical hardwoods like teak, mahogany, rosewood and other timber for furniture is very valuable and very big profits are made from it. On average there is only one mahogany tree per every 2 hectares and 28 trees are damaged when one big tree is pulled down. When trees have been cut down, they are taken to one of the 4,000 saw mills in the amazon regions. There they are machine cut into very thin pieces of wood and much of it is turned into chip board for things like furniture. The trees are also used as rafts. 15,000 trees are cut down per year by

just two loggers every.

Farming

The Government offered lots of free land in the amazon and 1,000,000 people came to start a new life in the farming industry. When they got

there they found that the soil was very poor and not ferile; it wasn’t good for farming. Farmers grow coffee, cocoa, fruit, corn and rice even they didn’t get the fertiliser they were promised by the Government. Many of the farmers in the Amazon are poor and so cannot afford to spend time cutting down the trees to clear spaces for farming; they slash and burn the trees which adds to CO2 emissions which then worsens global warming.

Clearing land for farming The ‘Slash and Burn’ technique

Mining

Gold, Copper, Iron, Tin, metal, manganese, oil and lead ore are mined and separated from the rock in the amazon. Some metals like the tin are worth 10,000 a ton. High pressure hoses are used to break down the clay. The clay water then runs down into a filter system where the lumps are separated and the water and sludge is drained away into the Amazon river and you are left with pure Gold. The Amazon river gets very polluted and lots of silt is deposited in it. Working on a mine is hard work and workers are only payed an average of £10 a day. Mining in the Amazon has left ugly scars.

Other Souces of deforestation

Virtually all clearing of the forest is done by fire. Though the fires are only intended to burn set areas, they very often get out of hand and end up burning large pristine areas of the rainforest. Fires and climate change are having a dramatic impact on the Amazon. Recent studies have shown that the Amazon may be losing its ability to stay green all year round as degradation and drought are making it extremely flammable. Scientists say that as much as 50% of the Amazon could go up in smoke if fires continue. Also, humidity levels are dropping significantly.

Problems In The Amazon

The climate in the amazon is very hot and very wet all the time. The layer of topsoil is very thin and when it rains this layer of soil is easily washed away. Because of this, it is very hard for new trees to grow because it is very hard for them to take root and there are not many nutrients in the soil.

Big clearings created for cattle ranching and soy farms suck moisture from the surrounding forest. When the wind blows down trees, the canopy gets thinned, which allows sunlight to reach the forest floor. The dries out the shrub layer and leaf litter which kills yet more trees. Dying trees drop leaf litter and branches. This creates tinder for surface fires that burn through the forest.

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How long will the rainforest last?

Estimates on how long the rainforest will last vary a lot. Environmentalists have said that the rainforest may only last another 20 years but the Brazillian Government say that the rainforest will last another 300 years. These figures differ because environmentalists want people to take immediate action in protecting the rainforest and for Brazil, the rainforest is their biggest source of income.

Values and Attitudes

People have very different views of deforestation in the amazon. Here I have put together a table to show how different people feel about it:

Sustainability

Definition of sustainability

Capability of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment.

Most of the ways in which people make use of the Rainforests resources are not sustainable: such as cattle ranching, mining, logging and farming. However, there are sustainable ways of using the rainforest such as rubber tapping.

The Process of Rubber Tapping

Rubber tapping is hard work. It can starts as early as 2 am. The cool temperature of the early morning air encourages the latex to flow; this improves the yield. A special tapping knife is used to shear off a thin layer of the rubber trees bark. Care must be taken not to cut too deep so the tree isn’t injured. The latex flows into a cup attatched to the tree. By mid-day or early afternoon, the latex stops flowing and can be collected and taken to a rubber factory. It is then poured into moulds and formic acid is added to the liquid latex to make it set. This transforms the latex into a solid block of rubber. The block of rubber is rolled using a wooden roller so it is thin enough to be put through the mangle machine. The rubber sheet is manually rolled using the mangle to make it thinner by squeezing out the water. This also makes it easier for the sheets to dry. The rubber sheets are brought home to dry and the finished rubber sheet is golden brown instead of its previous white colour. Rubber tapping is sustainable because the rubber tree used is not useless once it has been used once. The rubber tappers switch to using the other side of the tree while the side they already used heals. By the time they have got back to the first side it will have healed and they can use it again. This process can be repeated over and over again so it is sustainable.

Shearing off the bark Collecting the latex

The rubber after it has set The Mangle Machine

The drying rubber sheets The dried rubber sheets

Afforestation

Afforestation means planting trees in areas that previously didn’t have trees. This has started happening in the rainforest because of the mass deforestation and people being worried that the rainforest will be completely destroyed.

Reafforestation

Reafforestation means planting trees where they were previously but were removed. This is also happening in the amazon although it is difficult for new trees to be planted because of the lack of minerals in the thin layer of topsoil.

Selective Logging

Selective logging means the practice of removing just a few trees in a certain area in the hope that it will not cause as much destruction and that the trees will grow back again better.

Ecotourism

Ecotourism involves people travelling to areas or natural or ecological interest, typically under the guidance of a

nuturalist. They go to learn about and observe the wildlife and be close to nature whilst not bringing negative effects on the environment.

Conclusion

We have to act against deforestation as very soon the whole amazon rainforest could be gone. This could prove disasterous in many ways as the Amazon Rainforest – described as the lungs of the earth – currently produces around 20% of the worlds oxygen and we need that to live! There are ways we can help save the rainforest such as raising money to buy areas of the rainforest so they cannot (called buffer zones) be deforested. As a school we have already bought an area of the Rainforest to help protect it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://rainforestweb.org/

http://www.mongabay.com/

http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2006/final/threats/threat_agg.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/

http://sarawak-rubbertapper.tripod.com/process.htm

www.google.com

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/

http://dictionary.reference.com/

http://thesaurus.reference.com/

http://www.reference.com/

http://www.rainforestlive.org.uk/

My Geography Book!