Interdisciplinary Minor in Global Sustainability
Senior Seminar (Instructor: Peter A. Bowler)
University of California, Irvine, March 2002
Tropical Rainforest
Destruction
“In the minute that it takes you to read this page, a piece of tropical rainforest the size of 10 city blocks will vanish forever” (Lewis, 1990, pg 40). Rainforests around the world are being destroyed at such rates, three hundred and sixty-five days a year.
The rainforests are “home to over half of all living things [and]…cover less than 7 percent of the land surface of the globe” (Lewis, 1990, pg 14).
This paper analyzes tropical rainforest destruction from many different perspectives because there are several contributing factors to the destruction of rainforests. Topics addressed in this paper include: an introduction to rainforests, causes and examples of rainforest destruction around the world, results of rainforest destruction and solutions to rainforest destruction. At the end of this paper there is an appendix to aid the reader in understanding the concepts presented.
Rainforests are an asset to the entire world. The destruction of rainforests worldwide is a problem because it eliminates habitat for wild life and depletes the earth of vital environmental services.
“Environmental services are what nature provides for human beings at no charge. Conservationists point out that people take these services for granted, so they are undervalued, exploited, and disappearing…We rely on forests for wood, medications, and food…on plants to pump oxygen into the atmosphere and absorb carbon dioxide; on wildlife to keep pests in check and distribute seeds and pollinate plants that provide us with food and other goods…If we put a price tag on these services, we might be more disposed to protecting earth’s other living inhabitants” (Jukofsky,2002, pg 223-224)
In addition to environmental services, rainforests have what some would call an intrinsic value. Rainforests are valuable for their own sake and not just for the value that humans can extract from nature.
What is rainforest
destruction?
When rainforests are destroyed, they are robbed of their capability to sustain plant and animal life. The plants and trees of the forests can be burnt or cut down, resulting in partial or entire devastation of the rainforest that once existed. When rainforest destruction occurs, the flora is damaged or completely gone and the animals that once lived in that area leave because their habitat is degraded or torn down.
“Most tropical rainforests fit into one of three basic types, each defined by the amount of precipitation: a tropical dry forest, a tropical moist forest, or a true tropical rainforest. ” (Gay,2001, pg 1). Tropical rainforests receive more rain and have warmer temperatures than either tropical moist forests or tropical dry forests. “Rainforest temperatures average 80 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. These conditions have made tropical forests the most diversely populated places on Earth in terms of plant and animal life” (Lewis,1990, pg 15).
Although this paper does not concentrate on one type of tropical rainforest, it does address the factors that threaten tropical rainforests and their survival.
“The fossil record suggests that many now distant regions of rainforest once formed continuous forest belts in periods when climates were warmer and moister. In the early Cenozoic, 55 million years ago, the equatorial forests seem to have formed an almost continuous belt from Africa, through Europe and Southeast Asia, to Insulindia”
(Gallant,1991). However, the range of rainforests that exists today is diminishing.
Currently, rainforests are distributed around the world in between the latitudes of thirty degrees north and south of the equator. They are predominantly in South America, Africa, and oceanic islands. (See diagram 1 in appendix).
Rainforests are being “wiped out at the shocking rate of 35.2 million acres a year…If this pace continues, most of the rainforests will be gone before the end of the century”(Lewis,1990, pg 10) Rainforest destruction rates differ from one country to another, however it is clear that rainforest loss occurs on a world wide basis.
If rainforests are not sustainably managed there will be fewer forests for humans to draw upon. (See diagram 2 for statistics about rates of rainforest destruction worldwide).
Humans have devised many techniques to destroy rainforests. Chain saws and bulldozers are used as efficient ways to destroy many acres of rainforest at a time. Bulldozers are often used to clear land in order to prepare it for slashing and burning.
Slash and burn agriculture:
One of the most widely used methods to destroy rainforests is using slash and burn agriculture. With this type of agriculture, all of the trees and plants in the selected area are uprooted or cut down. The downed trees and flora are then burnt, so that all of the nutrients in the plants are turned into ash, which is mixed with soil. After all of the vegetation has been burnt and the ashes have been incorporated into the soil, people plant crops. The area of land that has been cleared in this manner is only viable for a few years. Once all of the nutrients have been leached from the soil, the area is abandoned and a new area of rainforest is selected to undergo the same process.
This type of agriculture is problematic because “The huge number of farmers who have descended upon the rainforests have placed too much pressure on the land. Not enough time is being given to cleared patches for the forest to regenerate. This ‘slash-and-burn’ farming has replaced traditional, sustainable… cultivation in most tropical forests” (Lewis,1990, pg 60). This is very unfortunate because ‘slash-and-burn’ agriculture is responsible for the ruin of fifty acres of rainforest every hour” (Gallant,1991, pg 4).
Fires:
During 1997 several fires broke out worldwide and as a result, “More fires were recorded in that year than at any time in history- millions of hectares of forest were destroyed…” (Gay,2001, pg 32).
In
addition to fires that occur naturally, farmers and native peoples use fire as
a tool to clear land for agriculture.
Cattle ranchers also use fire to clear the land for their cattle, “The conversion of the rainforest into
grazing for cattle is a genuine ecological catastrophe. The replacement of the rainforest’s intricate
structure by the much simpler structure of pastureland is an intrinsically
negative process of biological simplification” (Camarasa,2000, pg 292).
Food:
Rainforests are very bountiful, not only do they provide habitat for both humans and animals but they are also a rich source of food.
“[Thousands] of products we have come to depend on are all derived from plants and trees that grow in the tropics…Tropical forests are a veritable cornucopia. Rice, coffee, tea, chocolate, lemons, oranges, bananas, and pineapples are among the dozens of tropical foods that have found their way into domestic cuisine” (Lewis,1990, pg 27).
As a result of the forest’s richness, people turn to the land and plant agricultural plots in order to utilize the rich nutrients and minerals that the land offers. Thus, “agriculture is the most common cause of deforestation throughout the tropics. As human populations grow, more people are forced to clear forested land to plant the food they need to survive” (Jukofsky,2002, pg 217).
Wood:
Wood is one of the many natural resources that humans are able to extract from forests,
“Timber is the economically most
important product from the rainforest, and has a value on the world market
estimated at 7,000 million U.S. dollars a year. The problem is that timber exploitation is performed as though it
were a mineral resource to be mined, that is to say, extraction without
replacement” (Camarasa,2000, pg 283).
As a result of its high demand, tropical hardwoods are being extracted from the rain forests at an unsustainable rate. Unsustainable extraction of wood does not have to occur,
“Natural forests, if sustainably managed, can produce timber in economically important quantities without being exhausted in the short or medium term… however, less than 1% of the world’s forests are managed for sustainable timber production” (Camarasa,2000, pg 283).
Fuel Wood:
Just as consumers use wood from rainforests, native peoples also rely on the wood that rainforests provide, “In Madagascar, for example, primitive agricultural systems still predominate, and the pressure of the rural population is the main factor causing rapid destruction of the remaining rainforests” (Camarasa,2000, pg 288).
Wood for fuel purposes is necessary because many people use it to survive. “Fuel wood provides 5 percent of the energy consumed by people worldwide each year. Wood provides nearly 60 percent of all the energy used in Africa, 15 percent in Latin America, and 11 percent in Asia” (Jukofsky,2002, pg 227). As a result of its vital role in meeting the energy needs of people around the world, it is crucial that fuel wood be used at a more sustainable rate, so that there will be enough for people in the future.
Indigenous people’s use of the
rainforest as a food source:
Indigenous people can obtain many different types of rood from rainforests,
“almost every plant form found in the rainforest is a possible good source for the indigenous peoples under certain conditions. Fungi, ferns, tubers, leaves and fruit are all collected, whether as basic foodstuffs…or as emergency foodstuffs in times of hardship” (Camarasa,2000, pg 194).
In addition, “Wild plants continue to be the most important source leafy vegetables in many tropical areas where…shifting agriculture is practiced. At least 1, 650 rainforest plants contain about as much protein in their leaves as the seeds of leguminous plants, and are also an important source of vitamins” (Camarasa,2000, pg 196). Thus, the food that the rainforest provides for the people who depend on it is quite comparable to the food that is agriculturally grown. The destruction of plants in the rainforest deprives people of a rich source of protein and vitamins.
Medicines/pharmaceuticals:
Not only do forests provide food but they are also a valuable source of medicinal plants,
“Tropical forests contain…vital medications for heart disease and cancer-fighting properties; Pharmacologists have identified 3,000 plants as having cancer-fighting properties; 70 percent of them grow in the rainforest” (Lewis,1990, pg 9).
In addition to being able to fight cancer and heart disease, plants from rainforests are a significant source for prescription medications. The following quote demonstrates this, “The tropical forest is a fantastic medicine cabinet…One-fourth of all prescription drugs sold in the United States contain plant-derived compounds…of the thousands of tropical plants, fewer than 1 percent have been studied for their possible uses”
(Lewis, 1990, pg 29). Not only is forestland being used for the plants that can be extracted from it but forests are also being cut down so that the land can be used for farming.
Farming:
In order for farmers to be able to use forestland for farming and agriculture, the forest must first be cut down to make room to plant crops. An example of this is the Amazon, which “is being slashed and burned to make way for cattle and farms” (Lewis,1990, pg 9). This use of land has a negative impact on the rainforests because so much is being converted to monoculture plots of land. “Small-scale farming is another major cause of tropical deforestation. In fact, small-scale farmers clear about half the total rainforest lost each year” (Lewis,1990, pg 56). Farming has a negative impact on the rainforest’s ability to survive. However, ranching is also detrimental.
Ranching:
Cattle ranching has multiple negative effects to both the environment and the people living in it. For example, cattle ranching “intensifies deforestation by forcing peasant farmers into the rainforest to seek new land to farm when they are evicted by ranchers who want to convert their farmland to pasture”(Lewis,1990, pg 42).
Cattle ranching is also negative because it “causes the land to decline in quality as the soil becomes depleted of nutrients. In fact, land cleared from rainforests generally supports cattle for only three to seven years before it deteriorates beyond recovery” (Lewis, 1990, pg 42). Just as the farmers do, the ranchers use the land until all the nutrients are gone. This makes it difficult for new flora to grow back.
One of the factors that allows cattle ranching to destroy rainforests is that “rainforest ranchers have relied on government subsidies and international loans, which make cattle ranching artificially profitable…Rainforest governments have also supported cattle ranching with land giveaways, tax breaks, and free technical assistance. Without this support, rainforest ranching would lose much of its appeal” (Lewis,1990, pg 43).
With such assistance and support from the government, cattle ranchers have no incentive to give up such a profitable business.
Poverty and economic debt:
When people are not able to forge a living from the rainforest by farming, cattle ranching, or by other means they are forced into poverty. “To obtain a subsistence-level existence, rural populations are forced to ‘mine’ the forest; they remove forest products or clear forest for agriculture faster than the resource can renew itself ” (Lewis,1990, pg 63). In their desperation to live, poor people have no choice but to turn to the forests for survival. In doing so, they destroy the natural sources on which they so desperately depend.
With poverty comes debt. When poor people or countries do not have enough money to improve their way of life on their own, they turn to other sources to provide the capital necessary to improve their way of life. However by doing so, the countries put themselves in debt. “The $1.3 trillion of accumulated debt owed by developing countries has… led to unsustainable development priorities. The need to generate export earnings to pay foreign debt is a problem faced by nearly all developing countries…”
(Lewis,1990, pg 67).
It is not a surprise that developing countries want to improve their way of life. In order to do so,
“developing countries borrow money to develop their resources and improve their general standard of living. To pay off the debt that accumulates from that borrowing, countries are forced to pursue rapid and often destructive growth…Frequently, the justification for economic expansion into the forests is based on gaining short-term profits to fund the debt and doesn’t take into account the long-term ecological impact of forest clearing” (Lewis,1990, pg 41).
It is unfortunate that countries
are in a position in which they depend on the destruction of their natural
resources in order to pay back debts.
The countries want to improve their standard of living but they are
destroying valuable natural resources in the process.
Population growth:
“There are those who play down the seriousness of world population growth…what they fail to realize is that population growth must be regarded as a global problem” (Gallant,1991, pg 23-24). The growing number of people on Earth is worldwide problem, “populations continue to grow at an uncontrolled rate in most Third World nations. These nations are the custodians of the world’s tropical rain forests, and they look on their forests as the most immediate and most promising source of desperately needed income” (Gallant,1991, pg 26).
As a result of increasing populations and people’s dependency on the rainforests for their livelihood, much rainforest is being cleared each year. Increasing populations only add pressure to the rainforest’s ability to survive without being negatively impacted by the people who depend on it for a living. (See diagram three in appendix for population growth data).
Examples
of rainforest destruction around the world
Rainforest destruction occurs on a worldwide basis. This section takes a look at tropical forests in the United States and the ways in which humans are negatively impacting them. “U.S. tropical forests are found on four groups of islands: Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa…Today, the biggest threats are land development, urbanization and intensive recreational development” (Lewis,1990, pg 72).
Hawaii:
Hawaii’s richness of species is described as follows, “no other place on Earth…has a higher percentage of endemic plant and animal species [than Hawaii]…Almost 100 percent of Hawaii’s invertebrate species and nearly 90 percent of its birds and flowering plants are endemic” (Lewis,1990,pg 73).
Humans have managed to negatively impact Hawaii’s forests and the species that live in them. As a result, “human encroachment has turned Hawaii into the endangered-species capital of the United States” (Lewis,1990, pg 74).
However, hope for the preservation of Hawaii’s natural beauty and riches should not be given up, “Hawaii’s four national parks…provide excellent opportunities to save what is left of the state’s biological diversity. Because of their level of endemism is high- the four parks include examples of 76 native natural communities, 42 percent of all those found in Hawaii” (Lewis,1990, pg 78). Thus, the national parks are a good opportunity to save rainforests and other vital habitat from being overexploited and destroyed by the impacts of humans.
Puerto
Rico:
Most of Puerto Rico’s forests have “been cleared for agriculture, housing, and other development” (Lewis,1990, pg 79). The result of such actions
in Puerto Rico “has placed hundreds of native species in danger of extinction. Most of the remaining virgin forest is contained in the Caribbean National Forest”
(Lewis,1990, pg 80).
Other contributing factors to rainforest destruction in Puerto Rico include the “construction of communication facilities atop the highest peaks in the Central Cordillera [which] has disturbed the cloud forest ecosystem. Today at least two endemic plant species, the elfin tree fern and Cook’s holly, have been pushed to the brink of extinction” (Lewis,1990, pg 82).
In order to counteract the various factors that contribute to rainforest destruction in Puerto Rico, the commonwealth should be encouraged “to establish nature centers at representative regions of the island within its forest system in order to draw attention to the importance of the island’s native tropical forests” (Lewis,1990, pg 83).
The
U.S. Virgin Islands:
Rainforest destruction in the U.S. Virgin Islands has made it difficult for the forests to grow back. This is because “the islands were largely deforested in past centuries when plantations grew sugar, cotton, and other crops and raised cattle. Some of the forests grew back in the twentieth century, but now the construction of homes and resort developments threatens both forested hills and coastal areas” (Lewis,1990, pgs 83-84). The prospect for development and construction now threatens the small amount of forest that has been able to grow back from prior exploitation.
A way to alleviate the negative effects that humans have had on the rainforests is to, “create a territorial park system for numerous native habitats of wet and dry tropical forests and other biologically, scenically, and recreationally important lands” (Lewis,1990,pg 85).
American
Samoa:
The American Samoa is rich with rainforests because it “supports five distinct types of rainforest that stretch from sea to mountaintop: coastal, lowland, montane, ridge, and cloud” (Lewis,1990, pg 85).
A way to ensure that those forests are able to survive in the future is to engage in
“Proper management and additional conservation efforts in…designated areas [which] will help ensure the continued survival of the rainforests of American Samoa. We must act quickly if we are to protect these natural treasures and stop the loss of biological diversity” (Cockburn,1989, pg 86).
The preservation of the United
State’s tropical forests can serve as an example to other countries. “The preservation of…our tropical forests in
Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, can illustrate the
importance of long-term ecological values over short-term economic gain”
(Lewis,1990, pg 11-12).
Amazon:
“Brazil’s Amazonia contains half of the world’s tropical rainforests”(Gallant,1991,pg 20). Thus, it is an invaluable asset to the world. Once the Amazonian rainforest is destroyed it “probably would not regrow. Cutting the entire forest would severely alter the climate in the Amazon Basin, causing temperatures to rise and precipitation levels to fall- a shift that would severely hinder development of new rain forest…A complete and rapid destruction of the Amazon tropical forest could be irreversible” (Gallant,1991, pg 22).
The Amazon supports many people, who depend on it for their livelihood. In addition to supporting humans, “Brazil’s Amazon Basin has a million animal and plant species, including 1,800 bird species and 2,000 fish species. Of all the tropical rain forest areas, Amazonia is the largest single genetic reservoir” (Gallant,1991, pg 97). The destruction of the Amazon would be devastating to the countless plant and animal species that depend on it for survival.
In determining ways to prevent the destruction of tropical rainforest it is important to identify the causes of destruction. “Most deforestation in the Amazon is not caused by logging, but rather by the expansion of pasture for cattle and…agriculture…Clearance of forest for cattle ranching is unquestionably the most important factor in current deforestation” (Cockburn,1989 pg 231). As was discussed earlier in the paper, cattle ranching is a very profitable business and the Amazon is ripe with rainforests, which cattle ranchers exploit.
Plant and animal extinction:
The detrimental impacts that humans have on the rainforests have effects on the rainforest as well as the many plant and animal species within it, “There is still no complete inventory of the world’s animals or those of the rainforest. The dramatic destruction of the planet’s forests has led to the extinction of many animals and plants species that were never scientifically documented or described.”
(Camarasa,2000, pg 113).
The rate of species extinction is high, “Recent studies estimate that tropical deforestation wipes out 17,000 species of plants and animals per year- species that exist nowhere else. That’s about 48 species made extinct every day, or two an hour” (Lewis,1990, pg 10).
Plant species extinction:
“What makes rainforests so valuable and so biologically intriguing is not what we know about them, but what we don’t” (Lewis,1990, pg 22). Humans have only scratched the surface in terms of discovering and understanding the wealth of flora that exists in the rainforests. “Fewer than 1 percent of tropical forest species have even been studied for their potential usefulness”(Lewis,1990, pg 24).
Humans are obliterating the rainforests at a faster rate than scientists can analyze the plant species that exist there. Rainforests provide “a wide range of useful plant resources that have traditionally satisfied the basic needs of its inhabitants…Much of this plant wealth is still unexplored, but the rainforest’s vast potential as a storehouse of plant biodiversity is now being recognized” (Camarasa,2000, pg 194).
Animal species extinction:
Animals are also being threatened by human’s encroachment into the rainforests. When animals are not threatened by extinction they are able to better survive, this is because, “by being able to draw upon a vast and varied gene pool, species can adapt and reproduce in response to environmental pressures such as changing climatic conditions and disease” (Lewis,1990, pg 36).
Many animals are in fact threatened by the destruction of the rainforests in which they live, as a result, “the planet’s gene pool is suffering huge losses as habitat destruction pushes more and more species over the brink of extinction” (Lewis,1990,pg 37).
Climate change:
Rainforests are important because they effect the weather that we experience. “Rainforests…play an essential role in our weather. Forested areas absorb solar energy, helping to drive the circulation of the atmosphere. The phenomenon affects wind and rainfall patterns worldwide” (Lewis,1990, pg 9).
Forests act as regulators of weather and climate. “Tropical forests play a significant role in the regulation of the climate. The immense expanse of vegetation cycles large quantities of water, thereby influencing global climate as well as local and regional precipitation and temperature” (Lewis,1990, pg 32). Any destruction that humans inflict upon rainforests could in turn affect the weather in a way that would negatively impact humans. An example of a way in which tropical rainforest destruction influences climate is that,
“The ever increasing burning of fossil fuels by factories and the mushrooming world population are at the root of the [global] warming trend. Until…industrial nations began overloading the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, about half remained in the atmosphere and the remaining 50 percent was absorbed by the oceans and forests, especially the tropical forests… ‘it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the destruction of the forests of the world is adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere at a rate comparable to the rate of release for the combustion of fossil fuels’ ” (Gallant,1991,pg 106).
Loss of indigenous cultures:
Modern people’s encroachment upon indigenous cultures has had a detrimental effect on their way of life. “indigenous tribal people are facing increasing pressure as the impact of the ‘modern world’ spreads to the most remote reaches of the rainforests. No tribal community is free from the risk of destruction, either by annihilation or assimilation” (Lewis,1990, pg 26).
According to one source, “approximately 250 million indigenous people live in 70 countries and control 12 to 19 percent of the earth’s land…Because of deforestation, many indigenous cultures and the very lives of indigenous people have been threatened over the past several decades” (Gay,2001, pg 27-28). The fact that deforestation has had such a negative impact on indigenous cultures is unfortunate because
“indigenous peoples are an irreplaceable resource. They can teach us about medicinal and edible plants, farming and irrigation methods, and ways to protect crops from disease and insects” (Lewis,1990, pg 25).
Global warming:
The dynamics of deforestation and its effects on global warming are summarized as follows: “The destruction and burning of tropical rainforests contribute to the buildup of carbon in the atmosphere. The living plant matter in tropical forests stores vast amounts of carbon dioxide that would otherwise remain it the atmosphere and add to the greenhouse effect. When rainforests are cleared…the trees and vegetation are burned or left to decay emit carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere” (Lewis,1990, pg 34).
Tropical deforestation is a concern is because it “contributes up to 30 percent of all the carbon dioxide human beings add to the atmosphere, as well as unknown amounts of methane and nitrous oxide. These gases add to global warming, which threatens agriculture and the quality of life worldwide” (Lewis,1990,pg 32).
Biosphere Reserves:
A biosphere reserve is best described as follows:
“Biosphere reserves have an established core protected area, where no development or activities that would harm biodiversity are permitted; outside that lies an area, called a buffer zone, where some ecologically sustainable development is permitted, such as grazing, tourism, or sustainable logging; and surrounding that lies a broader region where local residents, scientists, and others can work together to develop eco-friendly growth” (Jukofsky,2002, pg 218).
Biosphere reserves prevent deforestation by protecting rainforests that would other wise be exploited. In addition, they have a multi-use component that allows land to be used without destruction or damage to the rain forest.
Sustainable Development:
Sustainable development is defined as: “ ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ ” (Jukofsky,2002, pg 234).
Sustainable development allows the forests to be utilized at a rate that does not threaten the future survival of the forests. “The rainforest cannot be kept apart from the dynamics of the world economy, and this is probably not desirable anyway…the protection of the equatorial rainforest depends on adequate management, that is to say, the application of ecologically rational and socially equitable measures. This is the basis for the concept of sustainable development” (Camarasa,2000, pg 298).
Encourage forest for debt
exchanges (otherwise know as debt-for-nature swaps):
An example of a successful debt-for-nature swap was when “Conservation International bought $650,000 of Bolivia’s debt for $100,000. Then, in exchange for a promise from the debtor country to set aside rainforest as a natural reserve, the group holding the debt agrees to forgive the obligation”(Lewis,1990, pg 68). This swap was a success because it enabled the rainforest to be saved, while eliminating Bolivia’s debt. This was a win-win situation.
International treaties and agreements to preserve
rainforests:
CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) protects some species of plants and animals that have become threatened with extinction due to deforestation. An example is “the Brazilian rosewood…which is on the brink of extinction in the last areas of the Mata Atlantica… The trade and export of this wood has been banned in Brazil since the 1970’s, in accordance with …CITES” (Camarasa,2000, pg 286). CITES can be used as a tool to protect both plants and animals and in the process, the forests they inhabit care also protected.
In addition to CITES, an assessment of rainforests was made and a plan to preserve forests was made,
“The UN Development Programme and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization made an assessment of tropical forests and along with the World Bank and the World Resources Institute developed a Tropical Forestry Action Plan that was implemented in 1985. I t received strong support from at least eighty national governments representing 90 percent of the tropical forest area” (Gay,2001, pg 36).
Another example is a summit that was arranged to protect the climate and biodiversity,
“The Earth Summit, convened in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, representatives of more than 150 national governments attended…During the summit, participants signed documents that included treaties on climate change and biodiversity, a statement of principles on general environmental protection (the ‘Rio Declaration’), and a Statement of Forest Principles, the first global agreement on the importance of forests and policies conserving them” (Gay,2001, pg 37).
The statement of forest principles that was developed at the summit is an illustration of the steps that have been taken to conserve forests world wide.
Population control in developing
countries:
Increasing population has a negative impact on the rainforest’s ability
to survive because there are too many people exploiting the rainforest and its
resources. “Perhaps one of the most
effective investments that could be made in tropical countries to prevent
deforestation is to fund access to birth control throughout Africa, Asia, and
Latin America” (Lewis,1990,pg 63).
Population growth will result in a slower increase in the amount of
people who will depend on the rainforests to survive.
Ecotourism:
It is important to preserve the rainforests because they can be used to attract wealthy people, who give money to the developing areas in which rainforests occur.
“Carefully controlled tourism may provide essential income for rainforest countries without exerting excessive pressure on the environment. Some projects ensure that the local people benefit from tourism and that profits are used to improve conservation management…It has been shown, especially in Africa, that local people in rural areas are willing to protect wildlife resources that provide a clear economic benefits for their community” (Camarasa,2000, pg 300-301).
Ecotourism has a dual purpose of providing economic benefits while at the same time functioning to conserve rainforests.
Community-Based
Conservation:
In a way, community-based conservation and ecotourism are linked. Both approaches incorporate the preservation of rainforest and land, which has beneficial results for the people involved as well as for the viability of the rainforest.
“Community-based conservation is known as Integrated Conservation and Development Projects…The objective of these projects is to protect and manage ecosystems in ways that involve and benefit residents who live nearby…The theory is that if people have alternative and reliable sources of income…they will no longer need or want to take resources unsustainably” (Jukofsky,2002, pg 220).
Environmental
Education:
Education and conservation go hand in hand. Without the education to know that conservation is crucial, people would not realize how vital it is to their survival to keep the rainforest intact.
“Environmental education and public awareness are key to any successful conservation campaign…Changing human behavior is the only way to improve the global environment-or prevent its collapse. And the way to change human behavior is thorough education….conservationists agree that education and awareness are fundamental building blocks for progress toward sustainable use of the planet’s natural resources” (Jukofsky,2002, pg 223).
Agroforestry:
Agroforestry is another way people can avoid engaging in rainforest destruction. Agroforestry “combines techniques of agriculture and forestry on a single plot of land; a farmer plants trees in the same fields as food crops… Appropriate tree species can shelter food crops and animals from the wind and sun, enrich the soil, prevent erosion, and help the soil retain water” (Lewis,1990,pg 60). Using agroforestry is a much more sustainable practice than conventional farming (slash and burn techniques) because the forest is kept as a resource that can help facilitate the growth of agricultural products.
This paper has demonstrated that deforestation is a worldwide phenomenon. The issue of deforestation is multifaceted because there are several reasons why rainforest is destroyed. These reasons range from the exploitation of the forest for its wood products, to the slash and burn techniques of peasant farmers who are trying to survive.
There are many consequences of rainforest destruction, many negative results come from the loss of such a valuable natural resource. Not only do plants and animals become endangered and extinct, but rainforest destruction has far-reaching effects such as contributing to the global warming phenomena.
However, one should not lose hope. Although deforestation is occurring on a worldwide basis, there are several viable solutions to the destruction of tropical forests. Some of these solutions include population management, global treaties and agreements, the use of agroforestry and community based education and conservation efforts.
Only the combined efforts of nations and its peoples will help make a significant impact on reducing the rate of rainforest destruction occurring. In the past agreements and treaties have been adopted to help protect the world’s rainforests. However, only a concerted effort and global dedication will prevent the complete decimation and destruction of the rainforests upon which the planet so desperately depends.
Literature Cited
1) Alexander Cockburn, S. H. (1989). The Fate of the Forest. New York: Courier International Ltd.
2) Gallant, R. A. (1991). Earth's Vanishing Forests. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
3) Gay, K. (2001). Rainforests of the World (2 ed.). Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, Inc.
4) Institute, W. W. (2000). Vital Signs 2000 (1 ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
5) Josep M. Camarasa, R. F. (2000). Encyclopedia of the Biosphere (Vol. 2). Michigan: The Gale Group.
6) Jukofsky, D. (2002). Encyclopedia of Rainforests. Connecticut: Oryx Press.
7) Lewis, S. (1990). The Rainforest Book. Los Angeles: Living Planet Press.
8) http://www.brsi.msu.edu/rfrc/stats/wri/rank.html
(rainforest website, accessed 2/19/2002).