8.5 Flashcards
Why are rates of deforestation rising in some places?
1) Poverty - population growth and poverty means more small scale subsistence farmers
2) Foreign debt - huge market for goods from rainforests so its an easy way for poor countries to make money
3) Economic development - road and rail projects open up areas of the rainforest to logging, mining and farming
Why are rates of deforestation decreasing in some areas?
Government policies - eg. Costa Rican gov has invested in ecotourism and pays landowners to reforest areas.
International condemnation - puts pressure on companies by naming and shaming those involved in deforestation. Many companies have pledged zero-deforestation
Monitoring systems - monitor forest through satellite data. This means authorities can act more quickly to stop illegal logging
What is the REDD scheme?
Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation is a scheme that aims to reward forest owners in poorer countries for keeping forests instead of cutting them down
What is the CITES scheme?
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is an agreement to tightly control trade in wild animals and plants globally
What are the economic challenges of sustainable forest management?
1) Benefits are only long term which doesn’t help poorer countries
2) Sustainable forestry is usually more expensive so difficult to persuade countries/companies to do it
3) Funding usually comes from government departments and NGO’s but they could stop it if they change their minds
What are the environmental challenges of sustainable forest management?
1) Replanted trees may not resemble natural forest
2) Trees replanted for logging are slow growing so companies don’t want to wait that long and instead cut more natural forest down
3) Selective logging can still damage trees surrounding the target trees
What are the social challenges of sustainable forest management?
1) Provides fewer jobs
2) Sustainable forestry is unlikely to support enough resources of increasing demand
What alternative livelihoods might be a better option to protect the tropical rainforest?
1) Ecotourism - minimises environmental damage, benefits local people with jobs, makes money
2) Sustainable farming - protects soil so land remains productive so no meed to clear new land every few years
What ways can sustainable farming be used?
Agro-forestry - trees and crops planted at same time to help each other grow (protection)
Green manure - plants add nutrients to soil to keep fertility
Crop rotation - crops moved with each year in a cycle to allow previous space time to regrow
What are the advantages of REDD scheme?
Deals with climate change and direct impacts of deforestation
Biodiversity is protected through forest protection
Everyone benefits from reducing emissions, its relatively cheap.
What are disadvantages of REDD scheme?
Deforestation may continue in other area
Unclear on why replacing trees with only one species (palm oil) is allowed
May affect local communities who rely on income from agriculture and mining
What are the advantages of CITES?
Trade of endangered species is controlled globally
Raises awareness of threats to biodiversity through education
What are the disadvantages of CITES?
Doesn’t protect the species’ habitats
Some rules are unclear eg. Trade of ivory
Not all countries are members - some promote trade of materials from endangered species
