Amazon

Question 1

Amazon background info

Answer 1

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
- World’s largest rainforest (more than half of the total remaining rainforests in the world)
- 1/5th of the world’s fresh water runs through forest
- Rainforest = roughly the size of the USA
- More species of animals/plants than anywhere in the world
- Roughly 20% deforested
- 4.1 million sqkms
- Majority of basin = Brazil (extends to Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia)
- 3.4 million sq kms are/were tropical rainforest

Question 2

Economic Impacts of Deforesation in the Brazillian Amazon

Answer 2

• Due to degradation of land, need to continually move to new land
• ↑ agriculture exports (e.g. beef) from clearing land for raising cattle
• Early cattle ranches made profits form govt. subsidies + rebates
• Beef, soy and timber industry greatly benefit and are major contributors to Brazil’s GDP
  o Beef= $8 billion USD p/year NOV 2023
  o Soy= $53.2 bill USD p/year NOV 2023
  o Timber= $3.6 bill USD p/year NOV 2023

Question 3

Social Impacts of deforestaiton in the Brazilian Amazon

Answer 3

• 350 + indigenous tribes depend on the rainforest + resources and many tribes have become extinct due to deforestation + its side effects
  o E.G. Yanomami Tribe
• Loss of food sources, soil erosion, water contamination, exposure to disease
• Indigenous land is often invaded by loggers + farmers, and tribes will sell their land to avoid the conflict
• Settlers face poverty, violence and unemployment
• ↑ in malaria: 4% forest loss → 48% ↑ in malaria cases in one region
• Increase employment. Increase efforts to preserve indigenous tribes and culture, increased international awareness of deforestation

Question 4

Environmental impacts of deforestation in the Brazillian Amazon

Answer 4

•  biodiversity
• X emitting heat further up in atmosphere
• ↓ CO2 absorption Habitat destruction: ↓ available food + ↑ predation → ↑ in endangerment/ extinction of species
  o E.g. the Black Spider Monkey= significantly under threat and plays an essential role in the ecosystem (seed dispersal
• Over 26 species have become extinct
• Burning → ↓ air quality in states such as Rodonia and Motto Grasso
• Warmer + drier conditions. Areas with ↓d cover by <70% → warmer by 0.44˚
• Change in conditions → ↑ drought + fire
• 50% of water in Amazon is held by plants + trees → ↓ moisture
• Plants X adapted to fire + will die when burnt
• ↓ in forest cover → erosion w less canopy to hold soil + ↑ exposure to sun + rain → ↓ in infiltration rates → water washed away into ocean.
• Soil fertility ↓ → becomes degraded and unproductive → need to clear more land
• Brazil = ~4 billion tonnes of CO2 p/year from burning forests = 5th largest contributor to global GHGs (12th overall without burning)
• ↑ chance of dry conditions + extreme situation= drying → fires → desertification

Question 5

Local Response to Deforestation in the Brazilian Amaon

Answer 5

Cacauway Chocolate Factory
Location: Medicilandia, Para State, Brazil
Date of implementation: 2010
Aims:
- Preserve biodiversity by replanting deforested areas with cacao in the shade of the canopy + returning local production to its sustainable roots
- In 2009, the state instituted a registry of agricultural land, by 2015 62% of agricultural land had been registered

Question 6

National Response to Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

Answer 6

Reduced Impact Logging
Location: Brazil
Aims: “planned and carefully controlled harvest of timber in a way that minimizes impacts on forest stands and on soil”
Strengths:
- Large costs upfront + for staff training
- Earlier re-entry + more sustainable future harvest of higher quality wood
- Higher future yields and sustainable productivity
- ↓ waste + breakage → financial benefits
- ↓ cost of damages (e.g. soil disturbance)
- ↑ price of timber due to sustainability
- NGOs, environmental law enforcers, managers of protected areas, and the Brazilian govt are all involved + encouraging the response.
Weaknesses:
- RIL is more expensive than conventional logging in the long term
- Lack of education and awareness regarding forest management
- Lack of trained personnel/equipment
- Lack of incentives
- Illegal practices make cheap wood readily available
- Low yields
- Only 3% of deforestation= wood logging → X address major contributor (agriculture)
- Long term benefits ignored + X taken on board by businesses due to lack of short-term benefits

Question 7

Global Response to Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

Answer 7

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD)
Organisations involved: UNFCCC, Costa Rica + PNG govts, Coalition for Rainforest Nations, FOA UNDP UNEP
Date of implementation: 2005, 2007= REDD+
Reasons for implementation: ↓ GHG emissions
Aims:
- Creating financial value for carbon stored in trees
- ↓ deforestation in developing countries w help from industrial countries
- ↑ environmental outcomes while providing for the needs of the people
- Make forests more valuable standing than deforested
Main features of response:
- Wealthy countries providing money to give forest value + ↓ emissions/↑ afforestation + management
Strengths:
- Low costs + providing value for intact forests
- Large amounts of support from nations = 60 official partner countries + 30 developed nations implementing national REDD strategies
- High no. of benefits- forest conservation, sustainable economic development, biodiversity preservation, funding for communities + locals, opportunities to develop sustainability
- Poverty ↓ in communities
Weaknesses:
- Potential for leakage and movement of unsustainable practices to other parts of the forest
- Reliance on compliance w safeguards
- Lack permanence + additionality
- Potential for greenwashing
- Lack of frameworks for monitoring, measurement, reporting and verification

Question 8

Geospatial Technology in response to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

Answer 8

Global Forest Watch 2.0:
- launched in 2014
- utilises remote sensing technology to provide aerial images of forest distribution in near real-time for public viewing
- Members of the public are then able to report any changes is forest distribution that go against forest management regulations. Monitoring of forests + alerts to be posted + facilitates responsive action
- Implemented by the World Resources Institute (And Google, University of Maryland, and UNEP)
- Can be used on smartphones
- Cloud computing + open-source software is used to rapidly process, interpret and send large volumes of satellite data, using GNSS coordinates
- Available to private individuals/public and businesses to allow them to see where their products come from