Deforestation, defined as the clearing of a forest or trees where the land is thereafter converted to a non-forest use, is a serious issue throughout the world. For several decades, it has continued at an alarming rate. There is great concern for its impact on the environment, wildlife and global climate. Human activity and economic development often leads to the clearing of forests, with extreme consequences inevitably following. This paper discusses the causes effects and attempted solutions of deforestation in Brazil.
Although deforestation is most prominent in developing nations, it is common throughout Brazil. Brazil once had the highest deforestation rate in the world, and as of 2005 still has the largest area of forest removed annually. ("World Deforestation Rates") Most deforestation occurs in the Amazon Rainforest, the largest rainforest in the world. It is about the size of continental United States. ("Deforestation: Brazil") Still, the Amazon is vanishing at a disturbing rate. An area the size of New Jersey disappears each year. ("Why Are Rainforests Being Destroyed") In the next few minutes, the time it takes to read this paper, many more acres will be destroyed. If the current rate of deforestation continues, it is predicted that more than 50 percent of the Amazon could disappear by 2030. (Corps) This means the diverse wildlife whose habitat is the Amazon could be driven to extinction. Not only plants and animals depend on the Brazilian Amazon. The 17 million people who live in there rely on the land for their livelihood. (Rohter)
Deforestation has been an issue in Brazil since the 1960s. When the Brazilian government built the Trans-Amazonian highway, hundreds of thousands of people moved to the Amazon. ("The Trans-Amazonian Highway") Many were farmers who used a technique known as "slash and burn". The cut down and burned all of the trees so that they had arid farmable land. When the crops would die, they would slash and burn new land all over again. This method continues to be used today. Over the last five months of 2007, 1,250 square miles, an area larger than Rhode Island, was cleared. ("Deforestation: Brazil") Recent data for satellites shows that not only is deforestation on the rise once again, but it is moving into new areas. On September 30, 2009, Brazil announced that the rate of deforestation more than tripled in the last year. The increases can be tied to the rise in the commodity prices of beef and soy, two of the Amazon's most profitable crops. As farmers and ranchers receive more money for their products, they are more likely to develop their businesses, meaning more clearing of land. Studies have shown a direct link between economic growth and increased deforestation in Brazil.
Many different aspects are responsible for deforestation in Brazil. In the past 100 years about 20% of the original forest has been destroyed by cattle ranchers, farmers, and loggers who cut down trees or burn them. The remaining forest is threatened by Brazilian urbanization and government plans to build roads, dams and railways.
The major cause of deforestation is cattle ranching, which accounted for about 65 percent of deforestation of the Amazon from 2000-2005. This has held true since the 1970s. Thirty-eight percent of deforestation in the Amazon from 1966 to 1975 was attributed to large-scale cattle ranching. Nonetheless, the situation may be much worse today. Those who rely on cattle ranching to survive need plenty of land, putting the land at a high demand. Workers are hired to burn down large portions of the forest and plant them with pasture grasses. Most of the land that is taken over does not belong to them. The laws that require the ranchers to leave 80 percent of their land forested are often ignored. Europe's processed meat imports from Brazil rose from 40 percent in 1990 to 74 percent in 2001. In 2003, 80 percent of the beef exports from Brazil came from the Amazon. Today, Brazil is the world's largest exporter of beef. These statistics show how much cattle ranching has grown, and how most of the ranches are on cleared land of the Amazon.
Another significant cause of deforestation in Brazil is subsistence/commercial farming. Because the Amazon covers 1.6 million square miles of Brazil, nearly 60 percent of the country, there is little land for farming. Subsistence farming is the growth of crops predominantly for consumption by the farm family rather than for sale. Driven by the government, poor farmers were encouraged to convert forest areas into farms. They often used fire for clearing the land. This continued until the government made an effort to educate the subsistence farmers on how to get the most out of their land. Still, subsistence farming accounted for roughly 20-25 percent of deforestation from 2000-2005. On the other hand, commercial farming, the production of crops for sale, accounted for 5-10 percent. One of the most prevalent crops of commercial farming in Brazil is soybeans. Many acres of the Amazon rainforests have been cut down in order to grow soy plants. Soybeans are typically exported to China and Europe, while a portion of the soybeans are used as cattle feed. Soybeans have a high demand in many countries, putting the forests where they are found at risk. When the rate of deforestation rose by 40 percent from August 2002 to July 2003, it was largely attributed to the change in the European and Chinese markets for soybeans. Brazil has recently overtaken the U.S. as the largest exporter of soy in the world.
Logging, mining, and other commercial activities of Brazil are responsible for much of the forest loss. Although it is regulated by the government, logging contributed to about three percent of deforestation from 2000 to 2005. Most logging is done illegally, outside of the designated zones set aside for logging. Logging is economically, as wood is one of the major exports of Brazil. Loggers either chop down the trees for wood and burn them and use the charcoal for paper, etc.
Economic development and urbanization have greatly contributed to deforestation. The construction of roads, dams, and railways has led to extensive clearing of the Amazon. Brazil's flourishing industry is bad news for the rain forest. With more people living along Brazil's coast, many trees are cut down to make room for new cities and farms. Experts believe urban population growth was a major cause of deforestation from 2000 to 2005.
There have been many dramatic effects on the world from deforestation in Brazil. Many plants and animals are becoming endangered due to the loss of their natural habitat, the rainforest. The Amazon is home to the most species of animals and plants in the world, supporting at least 10 percent of the world's known species. Over 40,000 plant, 3,000 fish, and hundreds of reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and bird species rely on the forest for their survival. There have already been several cases of species unique to the Amazon becoming endangered because of their habitat being destroyed. The golden lion tamarin, for an example, came so close to extinction that the numbers of them in the wild were double digits.
In Brazil alone there are over 40,000 species of plants, roughly one fourth of the species found on the planet. Among these are numerous exotic plants and flowers, many of which are used in medicine. Over half of the 150 most-commonly used medicines were developed from living organisms, often found in the Amazon. There is a good chance many new drugs may remain undiscovered, yet they may never be discovered. There also may be as many as 250 species of trees growing in one acre. However, due to extensive deforestation, these unique species are in danger of becoming extinct.
The deforestation of tropical forest accounts for about one fourth of the carbon dioxide, released into the atmosphere, around one to two billion tons each year. Carbon dioxide, a "greenhouse gas" is a gas that keeps heat in the atmosphere. With more greenhouse gases released, climate change is increased. One of the methods for clearing forests is by starting a fire. Forest fires reduce the capacity of forests to absorb carbon dioxide from the air and they also release more carbon into the air. The Amazon is the planet's largest absorber of carbon dioxide. With more forests being destroyed every day, Brazilian researchers estimate that temperatures in the Amazon region will rise by two to three degrees by 2050. This change would result in lower rainfall, and could turn 30 to 60 percent of the Amazon into savanna-grassland with only scattered trees. Also due to global warming, the drought in the Amazonian region of Brazil is getting increasingly severe. With the world's largest river running low, many communities who rely on river-based transportation are cut off. Diseases are rising as stagnant water makes a great breeding ground. Experts attribute all of these incidents as consequences of deforestation.
The removal of forest greatly affects the lives of the indigenous people who live in the forests. For centuries they had lived in isolation with the rainforest being their home and fundamental source for food and shelter. An indigenous rights group this week released stunning new photos of a supposedly isolated Amazonian tribe, saying illegal loggers operating near Brazil's remote eastern border with Peru are threatening their survival. When Portuguese explorers first arrived in Brazil in 1500, it was estimated that there were between three and five million Natives in the Amazon. However, today there are only around 350,000. Regardless of the recently slowed deforestation rates, it has been reported that 39 tribes still live in the densest parts of the forest.
