Case Study: Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest

What percent of the earth’s surface does the ARF span?

4-6%

By how many hectares does the ARF deplete by every year - what percent is already gone?

1.5-2.5 million hectares of ARF is lost annually.

Around 20%

Where is the Amazon rainforest located?

South America.

It spans across 9 countries: Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.

Why does the ARF have an Equatorial climate?

Because it is located near the equator, where the suns rays strike the earth directly.

This results in consistently high temperatures and significant solar energy year-round.

The intense heat causes high levels of evaporation, leading to frequent and abundant rainfall.

This combination of heat moisture creates the hot, humid conditions characteristics of equatorial climates.

Why did deforestation rates accelerate in the 1970s?

The opening of roads that travel deep into the forest, like the trans-amazonian highway.

Why did deforestation increase in 2015?

Due to the demand for Palm oil.

What is logging? What is felling?

The cutting, skidding and process of loading trees or logs onto trucks or other vehicles.

Felling is when vast areas of rainforest are cleared in one go, mostly to farm timber.

Logging overs 6% of the causes of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

Why does logging occur in the ARF? (Why is it profitable?)

Timber companies selectively log woods they are interested in such as mahogany and teak.

They sell them to different companies to make furniture.

What happens when logging is managed improperly?

It potentially removes habitats for wildlife such as birds and animals that use trees for cover, nesting habitat or food.

If logging occurs along stream banks, the risk of flooding and erosion will increase.

What are positives affects of logging?

It can restore health to forests by opening the ecosystem for new plant growth.

Why may mineral extraction increase in the ARF?

The economic benefits of the industry means its likely to rise. The ARF is an abundant natural resource, with mineral including copper, tin, nickl, gold etc. The ARF is estimated to contain a quarter of the worlds gold.

Today, over 50,000 hectares of forest have been cleared for gold mining alone.

What is the carajas mineral province in Brazil and what does it do?

It extracts charcoal from 6100km of forest per year.

Deforestation on this scale contributes to the encroachment (intrusion upon another’s property) of indigenous lands and loss of natural agriculture.

Energy Development: Why are dams beginning to be built in the ARF?

There's an unlimited supply of water and ideal river conditions which have encouraged dams to be built to generate hydroelectric power.

Energy Development: How do dams used to generate hydroelectric power contribute to deforestation?

Often the dams have a short life and cause vast areas of forest to be flooded.

The submerged forest gradually rots, making the water very acidic.

This then corrodes the HEP turbines.

The dams also become blocked with soil washed down by the heavy rain.

Commercial Farming: How is the rainforest being used for cattle ranching and what is it?

Vast areas are being cleared so that cattle an be raised by mass on a pasture.

When the cows reach a certain size and weight, they are slaughtered for meat which is then distributed around the world.

The price of the meat is cheap, which is why suppliers buy it.

The meat is used for human or pet consumption.

Commercial Farming: How does cattle ranching contribute to deforestation?

Cattle ranching counts for 80% of the rainforest’s destruction.

This method isnt sustainable as the quality of the land declines quickly, so farmers must clear more land when the quality gets particularly bad and leave the poor quality soil.

How is settlment and population growth a cause of deforestation in the ARF?

Employees are needed to do the jobs such as road building, commercial Farming for crops, cattle ranching and other jobs.

Workeers and their families require settlements and room for resources, and rainforest must be cleared for this.

Poor farmers are beginning to overpopulate the rainforests by continually turning to them for shelter and food.

They also take advantage of the fertile soils there.

How has the increasing rate of deforestation caused conflict?

Indigenuous people, loggers and other developers often have disputes over the land, causing conflict.

People such as cattle ranchers, loggers and farmers often argue over land use for their own reasons and profit.

Describe how the cultivation of soybean has resulted in deforestation.

The amount of rainforest cleared for soybeans doubled between 1990 and 2010.

As with cattle ranching, the soil won’t sustain crops for long. After a few years, more forest must be cut down for new plantations.

How has road building led to deforestation?

Many people argue that road construction is the most destructive cause of deforestation as building roads opens up the rainforest and makes it commercially accessible and enables further exploitation.

This is because by building new roads it makes it easier to bring in equipment and transport goods found in the rainforest to markets.

A good example of this is the 4000km long TransAmazonian Highway which has opened up many remote areas of the Amazon rainforest to exploitation.

How is animal and plant species loss impacted by deforestation?

It is estimated over 140 animal and plant species are lost per day

50,000 per year.

How is the decline of indigenous tribes a local impact of deforestation?

Currently around 100 - 200 tribes left.

Many may have died as a result of western colonisation and diseases.

Many are also forced out of their homes and rainforest all together by the construction roads, logging, farming and mining.

How is river pollution a local impact of deforestation?

In gold mining, mercury is used to separate the gold from the mud, and as a result it is common for it to seep into the local rivers.

As the ARF is interdependent, if fish and other aquatic organisms died from the pollution, this would impact other animals further up the ecosystem.

How is climate change a global impact of deforestation?

The trees and plants of the Amazon Basin absorb carbon dioxide during the process of photosynthesis.

If there are fewer trees and plants, due to deforestation, then less carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere.

In this way deforestation contributes to global warming and therefore climate change.

How is economic development an impact of deforestation?

The creation of mines, farms and roads - which caused deforestation - has also led to economic development.

The money created from these enterprises allows a country to generate foreign income, which can then be used to pay off debts or be invested in further development projects.

How is soil erosion an impact of deforestation?

Once the land is cleared of rainforest vegetation the soil is left bare.

When it rains, the nutrients in the soil are washed away. The nutrient cycle stops because there are no plants or trees shedding leaves to replace the nutrients in the soil.

The soil is no longer able to support plant life because it is not fertile.

The roots of plants and trees no longer hold the soil together so it is easily eroded.

How will eco-tourism help the ARF be more sustainable?

It provides jobs for locals and uses local produce - supports local industry.

It is sustainable and minimises the consumption of non-renewable resources and the ecological impact.

A way of educating people on the importance of sustainability.

What is ecotourism?

responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education

How will selective logging help the ARF be more sustainable?

This is cutting down trees when they are fully frown and then once cut down, planting saplings in their place, leaving them to grow.

This protects the ground from erosion and can be a 30-40 year cycle.

However, can still be damaging as when one tree falls, it can bring down 30 others.

How will agroforestry help the ARF be more sustainable?

This involves combining crops and trees, by allowing crops to be grown in carefully controlled, cleared areas within the rainforest, and by growing rainforest trees on plantations outside the rainforest.

This can increase biodiversity and reduce erosion in the areas plants are growing.

How will inter-government agreements on hardwoods and endangered species help the ARF be more sustainable?

This is aimed at protecting the biodiversity of the rainforest and the animal species that live there, as well as the resources the rainforest can provide. For example, the international timber agreement (2006) which restricts the trade in hardwoods taken from the TRF. Sustainably felled timber is marked with a registration number.

How do debt reductions by HICs aim to reduce deforestation?

Most countries with TRFs within their boundaries are either NEEs or LICs. Schemes known as debt-for-nature swaps can be arranged. For example, in 2010, Brazil and the USA signed an agreement to swap a large Brazilian debt of 13.5 million into a fund to project large areas of the TRF.

How does conservation and education by NGOs aim to reduce deforestation?

For example, WWF.

They aim to promote the conservation message, provide practical help to make different programmes more sustainable. They also purchased threatened areas to turn them into nature reserves.

Why do TRFs need to be managed sustainably? What is sustainable management?

If the goods and services of the rainforest are not protected they'll be lost. Sustainable management means using the resources in such a way that they are still available for future generations.

How will stopping illegal logging improve the sustainability of the ARF?

Illegal logging can go easily unnoticed and is still happening on a large scale. However, satellites and drones are now helping to monitor this.