6.4 Causes Of Deforestation

Question 1

What is clear felling

Answer 1

When vast areas of TRF are cleared in one go

Question 2

What are 8 causes of deforestation in the TRF

Answer 2

• logging
• road building
• commercial farming: cattle
• commercial farming: crops
• illegal trade in wildlife
• mineral extraction
• energy development
• settlement and population growth

Question 3

Explain logging as a cause of deforestation

Answer 3

• Timber companies are more interested in mahogany or teak for furniture (selective)
• there is a high demand for hardwood for expensive furniture

Question 4

Explain road building as a cause of deforestation

Answer 4

• roads are needed to transport goods
• it means cutting great swathes of forest
• gives easy access to exploiters
• eg Trans-Amazon highway is 4000km long and has opened remote parts of the forest

Question 5

Explain commercial cattle farming as a cause of deforestation

Answer 5

• cattle farming responsible for 80% of TRF destruction
• quality of the pasture declines quickly and the farmers move on
• Western style diet means high demand for meat

Question 6

Explain commercial crop farming as a cause of deforestation

Answer 6

• bananas, palm oil, sugar cane, pineapple, tea and coffee are gown
• soil will not sustain crops for long
• soybean production has doubled in the last 20 years

Question 7

Explain how illegal trade in wildlife causes problems in the TRF

Answer 7

• hunting, preaching and trafficking are big business
• examples of hunted animals: jaguar and golden lion tamarin
• loss of these species upsets the natural balance

Question 8

Explain how mineral extraction causes deforestation

Answer 8

• 50,000 hectares are used for gold mining – the area is clear felled for this to take place
• Gold is found beneath the rainforest.

Question 9

Explain how energy development causes deforestation in the TRF

Answer 9

• Dams are built along rivers to generate hydroelectric power (HEP)
• forest is flooded and the submerged trees rot
• this leads to the water becoming acidic and
  the HEP turbines are corroded
• project is short-lived

Question 10

Explain how settlement and population growth lead to deforestation in the TRF

Answer 10

Workers need homes and services so areas are cleared for settlements

Question 11

Evaluation: is deforestation of the TRF sustainable?

Answer 11

• the benefits of the economic development are at a huge cost to the environment
• deforestation only leads to short term development and is not sustainable
• illegal trade is not sustainable bc it could result in the endangerment or extinction of species
• clearing of the land for cattle farming is unsustainable because it does not allow the land to regenerate
• mineral extraction leads to the introduction of diseases to the local indigenous population from the gold miners themselves