The Amazon Rainforest

• The Amazon Rainforest is located in South America going through several countries like Brazil, Peru and Ecuador. The rainforest has experienced deforestation in order for companies to manufacture and sell furniture to offer vehicles an alternative route
• sustainable forest management


  a way of using a rainforest that allow current generations to make a living from the forest without damaging the forest or future generations
• debt reduction


  Countries are relieved of some of their debt in return for

  protecting their rainforests.
• ecotourism


  Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the

  environment, sustains the well-being of the local people,

  involves education. It is usually carried out in small groups and

  has minimal impact on the local ecosystem.
• conservation


  The protection of valuable resources, such as trees, minerals,

  wildlife, water and others.
• selective logging


  The cutting out of trees that are mature or inferior to

  encourage the growth of the remaining trees in a forest or

  wood.
• selective logging


  loggers only choose wood that is highly valued eg. mahogany
• selective logging positives


  more sustainable - plants and trees can survive and helps the forest to recover over time
• selective logging negatives


  works by choosing trees that are more valuable and other trees can be damaged in the process. This is because a felled tree can damage other trees as it falls to the ground once felled. Loggers have to access the wood so they also have to clear some forest to make room for machinery
• ecotourism positives

  • small scale - not much impact on environment
• ecotourism negatives

  • too many people visit the rainforest - may increase deforestation as the forest is cleared to make space for expansion of holiday complexes
• THE INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER AGREEMENT POSITIVES

  • useful - provide a guarantee that the wood was grown sustainably
  • protects workers which means they earn a fair wage
• INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER AGREEMENT NEGATIVES

  only 71 countries agreed to sign the agreement and more support is needed
• CONSERVATION SWAPS POSITIVES + NEGATIVES

  • produce minor debt reduction and is more profitable for the country that has made the loan to continue as normal
  • some countries don't have the systems to protect the rainforests so the money doesn't always get spent correctly
  • has positive global effects and helped protect the atmosphere
• Causes of deforestation 


  • Commercial farming - where poor farmers occupy plots of the forest to grow food to feed themselves and their families. They clear forest and then burn it, hence the name slash and burn. They grow crops until the soil is exhausted and then move on. This contributes to deforestation but not as much as commercial farming (Farming to sell produce for a profit to retailers or food processing companies).
• Causes of deforestation 


  • Logging – This involves cutting down trees for sale as timber or pulp
• Causes of deforestation 


  Road building - trees are also clear for roads.
• Causes of deforestation 


  Mineral extraction - forests are also cleared to make way for huge mines.
• Causes of deforestation 


  • Mineral extraction
  • Logging
  • Road building
  • Commercial farming
• Impacts of deforestation 


  • Loss of biodiversity
  • Climate change
  • Soil erosion - the soils of the Amazon forest are not fertile and are quickly exhausted once the forest is cleared. The farmers now artificially fertilise the soil when in the past the nutrient cycle would have done this naturally. In addition, the lack of forest cover means that soils are exposed to the rainfall. This washes huge amounts of soil into rivers in the process of soil erosion.