G2-A Jonas Zheng Case Study - Deforestation in Amazon

Case Study - Deforestation in the Amazon

Tropical rainforests, which cover 6~7% of the earth’s surface, contain over half of all the plant and
animal species in the world, while the Amazon accounts for 54% of all rainforests remaining with
its 59% located in Brazil (Diagram.1,2).

Diagram.1 - Share of primary tropical rainforest cover in 2020 Diagram.2 - Amazon tree cover

Facts and Statistics of Deforestation

Home to an incredible 390 billion trees, the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest is one of the earth’s
frontline defences against climate breakdown and home to 34 million forest peoples (Fig.1).
However, in recent years, deforestation of Amazon surges to record high (Fig.2). Deforestation,
literally, is the action of clearing a wide area of trees. Between 1960 and 1990, most of the
deforestation occurred globally, with an increasing trend every decade; Brazil, surprisingly, still
has the highest annual rate of deforestation today. The global rate of rainforest destruction is 2.4
acres per second, equivalent to two U.S. football fields. If we calculate this rate annually, about 78
million acres of rainforests are destroyed, much larger than Poland. On average, 137 species
become extinct every day; or 50,000 each year (Diagram.3).

Fig.1 - The Amazon Rainforest Fig.2 - Amazon Deforestation

Diagram.3 - the rate of Brazilian

Amazon deforestation increased
over a decade, reaching the peak
in 2020.

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G2-A Jonas Zheng Case Study - Deforestation in Amazon

Causes of Deforestation in the Amazon

1) Unlimited farming. For most of human history, deforestation in the Amazon was primarily the
product of subsistence farmers who cut down trees to produce crops for their families and
local consumption. Hardwood trees take many years to grow so can be difficult to replace.
2) An increasing proportion of deforestation was driven by industrial activities and large-scale
agriculture in the later part of the 20th century, e.g.: the building of new transport systems.
3) By the 2000s more than 45% of forest clearing in the Amazon was for cattle-ranching. The
Bolsonaro administration scrambled to loosen environmental protections, empowering ranchers
and loggers to increase the pace of development in the forest.
4) Amazon mining. In the Carajas Mineral Province, Brazil, maybe the world’s largest copper
reserve (iron ore, manganese and gold are already found there), wood from surrounding forest is
cut for charcoal to fuel pig iron plants, resulting in annual deforestation of 6,100 km.
5) Amazon logging. It is intimately linked with road construction and migrant movements.
Logging gives access to rainforests, where fuel wood, game and building materials are
available.
6) Oil and gas extraction (the Camisea Project). Opening up corridors for the pipeline alters
draining patterns, affects movement of species, interrupts seed dispersal and natural forest
regeneration, destroys habitat and negatively impacts the landscape.
7) The Baron Rio Branco programme. The colonisation plan revises an elaborate infrastructure
scheme first proposed in 1953 which includes constructing a major hydroelectric plant, building
a bridge across this narrow stretch of the Amazon and extending a major highway all the way to
the Suriname border, which will bring land invasions and looting of minerals and wood.

Fig.3 - Ranching in the Amazon Fig.4 - Gas extraction in the Amazon

Diagram.4 - an overview of
the factors of deforestation
in the Amazon with
respective solutions.

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G2-A Jonas Zheng Case Study - Deforestation in Amazon

Positive Impacts of Deforestation in the Amazon

1) Jobs for local workers in road building, logging, agriculture, mining and construction.
2) Scientific investigation into the Amazonian plants may provide new food sources and
medicines.
3) Improved transportation – new roads and airports. Better transportation means easier
access to raw materials like minerals and timber.
4) Infrastructure like hospitals and education can be improved from the money gained.
Short
5) Small-scale farming provides food for rainforest communities and the landless poor.
Term
6) It creates more usable space for growth, like a new road system.
Social
7) It gives us the chance to produce more food. Developments in crop technologies have
resulted in huge volumes of farming yields over the last 2 decades, but it is speculated
that this may not be sufficient in the next 2 decades. Fortunately, deforestation can
provide enough space to produce enough food for more than 10 billion people who will
be hungry in the future.
It allows for civilisation and industrialisation. Wide parts of forests around the world are
Long
left unused, which could instead be converted into some more beneficial agricultural
Term
sites, which can help feed hundreds or even thousands of people who are starving.
1) Land for economic growth through agriculture, houses and roads.
2) The generation of income (often valuable foreign currency) for Brazil when wood,
minerals, and other resources are sold. Profits from selling resources can be used to
Short
improve a country’s infrastructure. This helps stimulate many economies, especially
Term
in developing countries.
3) Large-scale farming brings money into the country and provides food and jobs for the
Economical
country’s growing population.
There will be a potential economic boom in Brazil, following the process of deforestation
in the Amazon. Increased employment leads to higher supply of raw materials including
Long
timbers, oils, gases, minerals and so on, stimulating the export while fulfilling demand in
Term
the domestic market. There is likely to be an improved general living standard in Brazil
as a direct consequence of economic growth.

Diagram.5 - Brazil’s
economic growth is
projected to keep
positive, thanks to
the utilization of
the Amazon.

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G2-A Jonas Zheng Case Study - Deforestation in Amazon

Negative Impacts of Deforestation in the Amazon

1) Displacement of people due to loss of farmland, forest resources, etc.
Short 2) Poisoning from oil and mining waste.
Term 3) Conflicts over racial and ethnic groups.
4) Social conflicts and struggles over land and natural resources.
1) Loss of culture (indigenous people’s subsistence living in the rainforest). People who
Social
live in the rainforest depend on the natural environment for food, shelter, materials for
Long cooking, clothing, etc. If the forest is cut down or if their environment becomes
Term polluted from oil extraction and mining, they are forced to move or risk starvation and
sickness.
2) It may hinder the production of future medicines.
1) Fertile soils that make farming possible are quickly washed away when the forest is
Short cleared, which is called soil erosion. If soil ends up in rivers, this can lead to more
Term frequent flooding.
2) Ground, water and air pollution from oil extraction and mining chemicals.
1) New roads divide up parts of the rainforest and can cut off connections between
different biotic and abiotic systems. For example, a road can stop monkeys, such as
the golden lion tamarin living in the Amazon, from travelling to gather food and, in
turn, distributing seeds to re-sow plants in the forest.
2) Loss of animal habitat occurs when trees are cut down. Hence, deforestation can result
in endangering animals and plant life, or even causing them to become extinct.
3) Changes in watershed geomorphology.
Environmental
4) Desertification (dry, hot, arid conditions). Global warming brings about a lot of
Long unfavourable consequences, including drought, which is already affecting many parts of
Term the world. To mention, deforestation encourages higher levels of water consumption for
growing livestock and crops. Instead of having a natural system of moisture recycling
forests provide, water goes to food and livestock production, removing it from the
natural cycle of life.
5) Edge effect can change microclimates (small climates) which affect endemic species
(native species which can only live in specific environmental and habitat conditions).
6) Climate change. Photosynthesis in plants, especially forest trees, filters carbon dioxide
gases out of the air and releases oxygen. Deforestation will allow greenhouse gases to
build up and contributing to global warming.
1) Profits from large-scale farming and selling resources often go back to MEDCs or large
companies and don’t benefit the rainforest communities.
2) Economic uncertainty. It is possible for Brazil to have potential price fluctuations and
high interest rates on outstanding international loans with The World Bank and
Long International Monetary Fund.
Economical
Term 3) It is a limited resource. Regardless of the many monetary benefits we can get from
deforestation at first, these timber profits could go away since there will not be any
additional trees being planted to replace those that are harvested. Livestock and farms
may not be nearly as profitable as a living, considering the thriving forests on a
planetary scale.

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G2-A Jonas Zheng Case Study - Deforestation in Amazon

Management techniques and their respective impacts

Shifting cultivation is a traditional, sustainable method of agriculture that has been
practiced by indigenous tribes for centuries. It occurs in areas of the Amazon
rainforest, Central and West Africa and Indonesia. Along with other aspects of their
culture and traditional way of life, it is under threat from large-scale clearance of
the forests.

How shifting cultivation works:

·A small area of land is cleared and the vegetation burned, providing a source of
nutrients from the ash.
·For a few years the soil remains sufficiently fertile for tribes to grow crops.
·When the soil’s fertility is regenerated, the tribe moves on and clears another
small area of forest.
· The original area is regenerated, as it receives nutrients and seeds from
surrounding vegetation.
·As no lasting damage occurs, this method of agriculture is sustainable.
1) It helps used land to get back all lost nutrients and as long as no
damage occurs therefore, this form of agriculture is one of the
most sustainable methods.
Shifting 2) The land can be easily recycled or regenerated thus; it receives
Cultivation seeds and nutrients from the nearing vegetation or environment.
(‘slash and burn’ 3) Shift farming saves a wide range of resources and provides
agriculture) nutrients because a small area is usually cleared and the burned
Positive
vegetation offers many nutrients
Impact
4) It helps to ensure more productivity and sustainability of
agriculture.
5) In shift farming, it is easy to grow crops after the process of
slash and burn.
6) It is an environmentally friendly mode of farming as it is organic.
7) Shift cultivation is a mode or form of weed control.
8) It also plays a crucial role in pest control.
1) It can easily lead to deforestation because when soil fertility is
exhausted, farmers move on and clear another small area of the
forest.
2) Shift farming can easily cause soil erosion and desertification.
Negative 3) It destroys water sheds.
Impact 4) Shift farming is uneconomical.
5) It easily leads to loss of biodiversity.
6) Water pollution in coastal areas easily occur because of raw
sewage and oil residue.
7) Shifting mode of farming restricts the intensity of land use.

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 G2-A Jonas Zheng Case Study - Deforestation in Amazon

Growing trees and crops at the same time. This lets farmers take advantages of
shelter from the canopy of trees. It prevents soil erosion, and the crops benefit
from the nutrients from the dead organic matter.
·Advantages:
1) Migration: Practicing of agroforestry resulted in increased self-employment
Agro-forestry opportunities through interventions such as nursery raising, mat weaving, basket
making etc. This has resulted in gradual decrease in migration.
2) Nature of occupation: Farmers were involved in hunting and gathering of
minor forest produce in the nearby forests/estates for their livelihood before the
introduction of agroforestry. Now they have stopped these occupations and are
concentrating only in farming.
Trees are only felled when they reach a particular height. This allows young trees
a guaranteed life span – the forest will regain full maturity after around 30~50
years.
·Advantage:
Selective logging is more sustainable than clear-cutting because other trees and
Selective plants do survive in the logging process and over time can allow the forest to
logging recover.
·Disadvantage:
Although single trees are felled because they are valuable, other trees can be
Sustainable
damaged in the process. This is because a felled tree can damage other trees as
Managemen
it falls to the ground once felled. Also, loggers need to access the wood, so
t of the
have to clear come forest to make way for machinery.
Forest
Ensuring that those involved in exploitation and management of the forest
Education
understand the consequences behind their actions.

The opposite of deforestation. If trees are cut down, they are replaced to maintain
the canopy.
·Advantages:
1) Afforestation absorbs the carbon emissions worldwide which are the major
cause of the greenhouse effect.
2) It has also created arid lands and environments by converting areas which were
Afforestation initially barren and had virtually non-existent species into lands filled with
productive resources and rich biodiversity of species.
·Disadvantage:
If not properly managed, afforestation can result in a reduction of local
biodiversity, the modification of particular biomes, the introduction of
non-native and potentially invasive species, reduced stream flow, and lost
revenue from agriculture.

Use of satellite technology and photography to check that any activities taking
Monitoring
place are legal and follow guidelines for sustainability.