What is happening in the Amazon?
Y11 Geography
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Introduction
• The size of the Amazon is 1.7 billion acres or 5, 500, 000
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km^2.
1.4 billion acres of that is rainforest.
The Amazon covers most of the Amazon Basin of South
America. This area has nine nations territory belonging to it,
the majority of it is in Brazil and the rest is in Peru, Colombia,
Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Suriname, Guyana and French
Guyana.
Over half of the world’s surviving rainforest is within the
Amazon.
The river is made up of over 1,100 tributaries, 17 of them are
longer than 1000 miles.
The basin is drained by the Amazon River, which has the
world’s largest river discharge, is the second longest river in
the world after the Nile.
Thanks to Amelia, Cameron, Jordan and Lucia
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Causes of rainforest destruction in
the Amazon
• There were a number
of useful graphs
showing the reasons –
I suggest you learn the
order of the top 4 or 5
and the % of just the
top 2. What are they?
1. Other = fires, mining,
roads, dams
2. Logging leads to
degradation rather than
deforestation – one degraded,
cattle ranchers move in and
finish the job (and get the
blame!)
3. Share of deforested land
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converted to cattle.
Causes of rainforest destruction in
the Amazon
• What pattern can you see here?
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A few more thoughts
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The main causes of deforestation in the Amazon are,
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Cattle ranching (65-70%).
Small-scale agriculture (20-25%). Farmers feel the need to move land due the short fertility lifetime
of the soil, causing more land to be cleared each move, Weed invasion doesn’t help either.
Smaller causes such as Large-scale agriculture and logging, together, only take up 7-13% of
deforestation
Summary over time:
Loggers clear huge swathes of forest for roads, farms and ranches. Between 1970 and
2008, a total area of 724,587km2 had been destroyed in the forest. Deforestation for these
reasons is increasing over the years, with a 34% increase between 1992 and 1996. The
average deforestation speed between 2000 and 2005 was calculated to be 18% faster than
the previous five years.
The mean annual deforestation rate from 2000-2005 is 18% higher than 1995-2000.
According to statistics, 22,392 kilometers of this beautiful rainforest is destroyed each year.
Sections so large are destroyed at one time, that patches can be seen from outer space.
Major problems:
Ebony is an expensive great quality piece of wood which comes from the Amazon; this is
why so many people come to the Amazon to set up illegal businesses for high profit. They
have 15 ton machines that have 8 foot cutting discs, so it’s much easier for them to clear
the whole forest for them, then looking for the selected trees. The huge machines they use
can chop down over 200 species of trees, and cut them down into chips half the size of a
matchbox, in minutes. In Brazil and Indonesia, around 80-90% of logging is deemed illegal
Thanks to Cameron, Callum, Lucia, Jordan, Holly and Becky
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A few more thoughts
• Infrastructure building is also responsible for 3% of total Amazon
deforestation. The main problem is the lack of sustainable management
and good planning in the Amazon. The Trans-Amazonian Highway had
its purpose for connecting far places of land as well as to open new areas
for farms. Lack of sustainable management showed its full face and
deforestation took place, with available roads, forest areas become
available for clearing.
• Mining - gold, iron, ore and copper are found in the Amazon, and large
areas of the forest have to be cut down in order to get the minerals. ,
• ‘Slash and burn’ - The term slash and burn is a form of shifting cultivation
in rainforests. Native tribes, such as the Kyapo, use this system. It
consists of clearing some land, burning it, cultivating it and using it for
farming purposes. Once they have finished with the land, they usually
abandon it and select another area. This technique leaves the soil in poor
condition, making it hard for anything to grow there in the future.
• Fuel – Many tree’s are cut down and used to make charcoal and fire
wood. Local communities use these to cook and warm their homes.
Thanks to Cameron, Callum, Lucia, Jordan, Holly and Becky
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Impacts
Thanks to Callum,
Cameron & Holly
• Impacts of deforestation, are the occurrences that happen because of
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deforestation
The effects of deforestation can cause change in the water cycle and the air.
Trees balance out the amount of water attempting to reach the forest floor,
preventing the death of rich soil, flooding and drowning of trees. The air also isn’t
as fresh without photosynthesis.
The Amazon is home to hundreds of different species of plants and animals. They
also supply natural medicines. Preservation of this beautiful rainforest is vital.
Biodiversity – Around 90% of all earths life forms can be found in tropical
rainforests such as the Amazon. Deforestation kills plant life, and can destroy
animal habitats.
Leaching is when a portion of the forest is stripped of its trees, leaving the soil
bare for weathering. The soil will be washed of its nutrients which will cripple the
structure of the soil. This can become a great threat for desertification.
As the trees are cut down, more CO2 will be released into the atmosphere and
reducing O2. This will be a great cause of global warming as the CO2 is adding
up.
Destroyed habitats are a great concern as it can cause a disturbance to the
natural food chain.
Mining is also a problem as it open cast and destroys large areas of vegetation
and pollutes rivers. Mercury is exposed and can be particularly be toxic to the
atmosphere.
Many local tribes have been left without a home and a way of life due to
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deforestation, some have even died
Impacts - B
• One you did not mention was the economic impact
• Economic = money = jobs in this case
• Economic impacts effect income and jobs, as
farming has made a lot of money for the countries in
the rainforest, for example in 2008 Brazil made $6.9
billion from trading cattle. The mining industry
creates lots of jobs for people, for example the
Buenaventura Mining Company in Peru employs
over 3100 people. (Thanks Thomas)
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Managing Rainforests
• There are 4 basic ways of approaching rainforest
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management:
International – for example REDD which was implemented
as a result of Copenhagen in December – well not exactly as
they did not actually agree anything very much there but
under the auspices of REDD some good things are
happening – see later
National approach – some countries are taking decisions to
manage their rainforests sustainably
International NGOs – such as the Rainforest Alliance, Forest
Stewardship Council among others
Small and local – indigenous people with the help of small
enterprises attempt to create sustainable ways to live with
the rainforest.
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In a bit more detail …
• As the whole world is concerned with greenhouse
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gas emissions, and over the recent past
deforestation has proved to have quite an impact
on this.
This has 2 parts to it:
 1. The gases that are released due to deforestation
 2. The greenhouses gases that are not being
sequestered (locked up) by trees that are no longer there.
• For this reason, the whole idea of how the rich
countries can encourage the poor ones to stop
cutting down their trees has crawled unwilling up
the international ‘to do’ list.
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REDD - Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Forest Degradation
in Developing Countries
• The problem of emissions of greenhouse gases as a result of
rainforest destruction was supposed to be part of the Kyoto
discussion in Japan in 1997. But it was put in the ‘too hard’
box because no-one could agree how it might work.
• Nor could they agree how it would be funded.
• It was not until the Montreal round of discussion in 2005 that
the Coalition of Rainforest Nations brought up the
suggestion again.
• Finally firm proposals were agrees at the 2007 Bali round,
and it is at Copenhagen that agreement over its working
should have been fully implemented
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REDD - Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Forest Degradation
in Developing Countries
• Why was the original problem?
• 1. Who gets the money? The governments, the big land owners, the
indigenous people?
• 2. If you are going to pay people to protect rainforests, then they need to
say that they would cut them down if you don’t. What about those people
who don’t want to cut them down – does that mean they get nothing to
protect them?
• 3. Where does the money come from? The rich countries wanted to
‘offset’ their wasteful ways and carry on polluting. Environmentalists say
the HICs need to cut down and pay up to offset their previous harm
• 4. A lot are sceptical that this will really stop deforestation – all that illegal
logging and farming that happened before does not breed confidence
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REDD - Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Forest Degradation
in Developing Countries
• Why is it so important to climate change?
• As much as 25% of the man-made emissions arise from
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rainforest clearance.
How come it is that much?
Trees absorb CO2 and give out 02.
Much of the carbon, combined with water make the sugar,
lignin and are stored up for a very long time – they are a
huge carbon sink.
Once the trees are cut down they no longer do this any
more.
But many of the cut trees are burned – thus releasing their
stored carbon – it is these 2 together than cause the
problems.
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REDD - Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Forest Degradation
in Developing Countries
• The Basics: reforestation and afforestation were part of off-setting from
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the start – but reducing deforestation had been deliberately excluded –
remember the ‘too hard’ box?
However, after 2007, this came under the remit of REDD and was
included. REDD was also charged with monitoring the situation, and with
addressing the social and economic issues that had led to deforestation
in the first place.
Also REDD acknowledges is the biodiversity issue – all those useful
plants and special animals we may loose unless we get a move on.
How is it doing? It was never fully implemented at Copenhagen - but
then nothing much was.
However countries such Norway, Denmark and the UK are already in
discussion with LICs such as Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania
and Papua New Guinea.
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National approach – some countries
are taking decisions to manage
their rainforests sustainably
• Tanzania has since the 1990s
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tried to run a joint
government-local joint
scheme to manage their
forests sustainably.
But hard times financially has
meant that they have not
always managed to do this to
a high standard.
• But now REDD is there to
help, Tanzania has set up a
system to make it possible
for the village communities
to take advantage of the
chance to improve
sustainability and reduce
poverty.
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NGOs
• The FSC ( Forestry Stewardship Council)
• They certify providers of sustainable wood
• They then certify the produced of goods that
use certified wood
• So that customers in HICs can buy wood
products that come from wood from certified
supplies.
• This encourages sustainable logging that
does not lead to deforestation.
• http://www.fsc.org
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NGOs
• The rainforest alliance also certify goods as
being from sustainable sources, but their
range is far wider.
• They include food such as coffee, cocoa,
chocolate, tea, nuts, fruits and also tourist
venues.
• But they do far more in the field beyond
registering.
• They work with Sustainable Agriculture
Network (SAN) to ensure sustainable
production.
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An example of SAN at work
• Cocoa that is produced as part of an ecosystem with a mix of
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trees around is much less damaging to the environment.
In Ecuador, farmers have learned to properly sort, dry and
ferment the beans using a cooperative processing facility,
which reduces the number of defective and rotten beans,
and also happens to preserve the chocolate's anti-oxidant
properties as well as its potassium content.
Drying their cocoa using solar rather than gas powered
dryers and selling their product through a cooperative, these
farmers have increased their production and lowered their
costs, resulting in better living conditions for their families.
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Small scale developments
• Harvesting products from the native forest rather than
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cutting them down:
It has been estimated that the products from some areas of
rainforest, if regularly harvested give an income of ½ the
value of the wood EVERY YEAR.
Forests products
Fruit market in
Madagascar by R.
Butler
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Agroforestry
• Agroforestry is a form of
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agriculture that seeks to
copy nature more carefully
than large-scale commercial monoculture (i.e.
growing one crop) or cattle ranching.
Rather than clearing the rainforest completely
(clear felling), only the older larger trees are
felled, and shrubs, other food plants (such as
vanilla) and flowers are grown in the clearings.
It is also possible to plant legumes which add
nitrogen to the soil.
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What are the benefits and
advantages of agroforestry?
Soil protection and improvement
Maintenance and retention of soil moisture
Biodiversity balance
Low impact to the environment
Pleasant environment to work
Harvest and income staggered
Reducing the use of defensive chemicals
Production of healthy foods
Environmental services
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An example of it working in Madagascar
• Savoka (or permaculture) gardens are planted on fallow
plots and are planned as "a carefully selected succession of
trees and plants on the fallow land that re-enriches the soil
at the same time as producing a steady stream of food crops
and other useful products." For example, the use of wild
ginger adds phosphorus to soils while leguminous plants
can fix nitrogen that is lost with traditional rice cultivation.
The addition of perennials—crops which continue to
produce for a number of years like citrus, manioc, vanilla,
banana, mango, pepper, cacao, coffee, and rubber—can
help restore nutrients to degraded soils and remain
productive for decades while generating a diversified income
and/or diet. A bonus of such agroforestry techniques is that
they maintain forest systems, soils, and biological diversity
at a far higher level than do conventional agricultural
techniques. As long as such fields are adjacent to secondary
and old-growth forest, many species will continue to thrive.
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Ecotourism
• Rainforest ecotourism involves both environmental
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conservation and sustainable development, which is
a good way to protect the rainforest, and is like a
perfect development strategy for undeveloped areas
of the world.
Tourism itself brings added dollars to an area's
economy, but ecotourism has the added bonus of
travellers who want to take care of the area they're
visiting, through a combination of careful living
methods that do less damage to the environment,
and through bringing money which encourage the
inhabitants to take care the forest is kept pristine.
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Costa Rica: Pacuare Reserve Lodge
• The beautiful and well constructed Lodge overlooks
the beach and a freshwater lagoon which opens on
to the main Tortuguero canal. There is no electricity
— this is the jungle after all!! Light comes form
candles and storm lamps but there is gas for
cooking and refrigeration.
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Costa Rica: Pacuare Reserve
The Pacuare Nature ReserveLodge
was established by the
Endangered Wildlife Trust in
1989 and protects 800 hectares
of lowland tropical rainforest
and six kms. of deserted beach
on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast.
• It is located about 25 kms. north of
Limón and lies between the sea and
the Tortuguero canal.
• The special mission of the reserve
has been to protect the Leatherback
Turtles, which nest along its beach one of the most important nesting
sites in Central America for this
critically endangered species.
• The Reserve is rich in wildlife, and is
home to about 20 species of
mammal and many reptiles.
Monkeys are plentiful and Howler
monkeys regularly provide a dawn
chorus
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Homework
• You have met the issues.
• Our Case study will be the Amazon.
• Having looked at the different ways in
which the rainforest can be managed in
a general sense, you need to research 2
or 3 ideas about examples of these
kinds of activities in the Amazon.
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