Rainforest_Deforestation

Rainforest Deforestation Theresa Mann SCI/275 March 17, 2010 Rainforest Deforestation “Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth’s land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years” (Taylor, p.1, para.1, 2005). Deforestation of rainforests is causing the loss of the planet’s greatest biological treasures. Every minute of every day, 150 acres of rainforest is lost. Many different issues cause rainforest deforestation. Understanding the impacts on the environment and the causes of rainforest deforestation is important before developing any solutions through a sustainability plan. The biodiversity of the rainforest is immeasurable. Rainforests contain the largest collection of plant and animal species in the world. This biome may only occupy six percent of the Earth’s land surface, but half of the planet’s wild plants and wildlife inhabits these areas. That is more than half of 10 million species of insects, animals, and plants. Seven hundred and fifty different types of trees call the rainforest home (Taylor, 2005). “Experts estimate that we our losing 137 plant, animal, and insect species every single day due to rainforest deforestation” (Taylor, p.1, para.1, 2005).Many species are specialized to microhabitats, which makes them susceptible to extinction (Przyborski, 2010). Thousands of species are being destroyed before they have even been identified. The obliteration of the rainforest, more specifically the trees, cause climate and air problem. The water cycle in the rainforest returns 30 % of the water as rainfall. In addition to sustaining the rainfall in the rainforest, the water cycle (the evaporation) also helps cool the Earth’s surface (Przyborski, 2010). Replacing the rainforest with pastures and crops will disrupt rainfall patterns and create hotter and drier climate. Models at NASA predict “that tropical deforestation will disrupt rainfall pattern far outside the tropics, including China, northern Mexico, and the south-central United States” (Przyborski, pg.1, para.1, 2010). Clearing the rainforest for crops and grazing land, also releases stored carbon into the atmosphere accelerating global warming and the greenhouse effect. “In the Amazon alone, scientists estimate that the trees contain more carbon than 10 years worth of human-produced greenhouse gases” (Przyborski, p.1, para.3, 2010). The final stage in clearing an area of rainforest is usually done with fire, this releases the carbon stored in the wood into the atmosphere. Once the land becomes grazing or crop land, the soil can also become a large source of carbon emissions. The rainforest is so lush that it can be hard to imagine that the soil underneath is very thin and poor in nutrients. Over time the high temperatures and heavy rains wash most of the minerals from the soil. Most of the nutrient content in rainforests is in the living plants or the discomposure of the rainforest floor. Farmers commonly burn the vegetation to create a layer of ash that acts as a fertilizer. After this occurs, the nutrient reservoir is lost and erosion and flooding rates increase. The soil becomes unable to support crops in just a few years. If cattle become involved, the ground also becomes compacted, this prevents the recovery of the rainforest area (Przyborski, p.2, para.3, 2010). Agriculture is one of the causes of deforestation of the rainforests. As populations explode in Third-World countries, subsistence farming has had a profound influence on deforestation of rainforests. Unsettled or wild land in the rainforest is free for anyone willing to clear the forest and till the soil. “In Brazil, approximately 42% of cultivated land is owned by 1% of the population. Landless peasants make up half of Brazil’s population” (Rosenhek, p. 2, par. 8, n.d.). These farmers advance to a new area in a couple of years when the soil can no longer support agriculture, since less than 10% of rainforest soil is suitable for sustained agriculture. These landless peasants then follow logging roads deeper into the rainforest. “Logging roads lead to 90% of the destruction caused by slash-and-burn farmers” (Rosenhek, p. 2, par. 8, n.d.). Directly and indirectly, commercial logging is the largest cause of rainforest deforestation. Typical logging practices are often clear-cutting, since it is more profitable. Selective logging can be as damaging to the rainforest as clear-cutting. Selective logging, practiced properly, only harvests one or two trees from an area at a time. Selective logging can be destructive because large areas of rainforests are destroyed to remove those selected trees. When the selected tree is felled, it tears down with it vines and climbers often connect to other trees that are then felled because of the connecting vines. Heavy machinery causes massive amounts of damage by compacting soil when building roads to retrieve those select trees. Logged rainforest areas are totally cleared by large-scale agriculture operations (Rosenhek, n.d.). Large-scale commercial agriculture activities are starting to play an increasingly significant role in deforestation of rainforests. Commercial agriculture ventures include; industrial-scale cattle ranching, soy bean production, and palm tree plantations for world markets (Przyborski, 2010). The frail nature of the rainforest soil and the destructiveness of present-day agriculture operations result in cash crops being able to be produced only for a couple of years in each area. Yet state and government policies continue to encourage economic development of agriculture ventures. A number of solutions for deforestation of the rainforest have been implemented by the government. The problem the solutions the governments have offered are based on economics and are not fully enforced. In 1985, The Tropical Forest Action Plan (TFAP) was launched as an international attempt to stop deforestation. This sustainability solution has many flaws. The TFAP operates on the basis that the way to save rainforests is to give them an economical value for a motive to save them. It does this by promoting the rainforest timber industry. This program also tends to focus on overpopulation and poverty as the cause of deforestation but does not take up the problem of landlessness (Rosenhek, n.d.). Another strategy is sustained yield forestry. This is a myth, since there are few if not no examples of sustainable rainforest timber operations in the world. The Biodiversity Action Program is being pursued by World Bank. This plan fails to confront the underlying causes of biodiversity loss. The Biodiversity program supports monocultures and supports reserves. The creation of reserves can be used as an excuse to exploit unprotected land. Also, as a tool to conserving biodiversity, reserves are insufficient since it is not known how large a reserve is needed to ensure long term survival of any species in the rainforest (Rosenhek, n.d.). Developing a sustainability solution for rainforest deforestation is a daunting task. When developing a sustainability plan for any environmental problem, the first step should always be research. Education and research would be a big part of stopping the destruction of the rainforest. More research should be done on identifying species before they are extinct. Research should also include finding other services the rainforest can provide besides logging. Education to teach local populations about the importance of the rainforests and renewable resources the forest can provide will require local government and societal support. If the government does not support the education plan and the citizens do not attend, no education will be possible. This phase should begin immediately and should be continues until sustainability is reached. The next step should be a revision of the policies for development aid. This step will require government and global support since that is the base of the development aid. This step would make drastic revisions to the policies of the agencies that currently support and finance the projects which are causing rainforest deforestation. The moneys from these agencies should be used to fund projects to protect and regenerate the rainforests instead of projects that support economic development of the forests. This step should also begin immediately and should be continuous until the goal is reached. Restricting logging practices in the rainforest, should be the next step at the three month mark. This will require local government and global support. The local government will need to pass stricter guidelines and laws about logging and require timber labeling. It will be difficult to convince the government of this step, since their economies are largely based on deforestation of rainforests. This stage will require the research on renewable resource from the rainforest. Global support will be in the form of all people, of all countries refusing to buy products that are made from wood that is not labeled as environmentally sound by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). This step would require the government to broadcast mass public service announcements on the radio and television. The difficulty with this step is the consumer. The FSC has had remarkable success in their operations. If there is support and demand for FSC certified timber, the demand for timber from environmentally unsound logging practice will diminish. The problem of landlessness should be addressed during the third month of the plan also. Redistribution of land will require government, both locally and internationally, to intervene. The local government would be forced to stop giving subsidiary payments for commercial agriculture projects that cannot support themselves without the aid of the government. International governments can help by reducing their demand for cash crops grown in rainforest areas. The problem to be addressed in this step is, once again, the local government’s economics being based on cash crops. If the local government recognized the rights of the indigenous people, the rightful owners of the rainforests, most of this issue would be solved. Hopefully, at the nine month mark, all other steps in the plan will have been completed and the next step should occur. Even if all other steps are not showing an improvement, protection or regeneration of the forest should begin. New and larger sanctuaries should be set up to protect more of the rainforest. Where the soil has been compacted will lead to the problems in regeneration of the forest. The environmental issue of rainforest obliteration is recognized as one of the greatest environmental threats of all-time. Rainforests provide climate stabilization, regulation of water cycles, and house over half the species on earth. The continuous loss of the rainforest will have incalculable repercussions. In order to form a sustainability plan, it is necessary to identify the causes of rainforest deforestation and the effects that rainforest deforestation have on the environment. References Kinnon, S. (2008). Ruining the Rainforest. Alive: Canadian Journal of Health & Nutrition, Issue 311 p 180-186 Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail'vid=3&hid=7&sid=78b5e130-19c3-40c6-9be4-ebdedff32569%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=awh&AN=34284584 on March 16, 2010. ISSN 0228-586X Przyborski, P. (2010). Tropical Deforestation. NASA Earth Observatory. Retrieved from http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/deforestationupdate3.php on March 14, 2010. Rosenhek, R. (n.d.). Solutions to the Problem of Rainforest Destruction. Dharma Gaia Trust. Retrieved from http;//www.rainforestinfo.org.au/background/solution.htm on March 13, 2010. Rosenhek, R. (n.d.). The Causes of Rainforest Destruction. Dharma Gaia Trust. Retrieved from http;//www.rainforestinfo.org.au/background/causes.htm on March 15, 2010 Taylor, L. (2005).Rainforest Facts. Rain tree. Retrieved from http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm on March 1, 2010