Amazon deforestation Flashcards
Negative Impacts Economic
- Many areas being deforested for econ gain and growth of industries
- Illegal deforestation often economically motivated e.g. illegal logging and selling of native wood
- Local workers exploited + paid poorly
- 98 Billion USD has been invested into deforestation of amazon by int. companies since 2015
- Early cattle ranches made massive profits from tax rebates- could make profit without selling any cattle
Positive Impacts - Economic
+ Beef, Soybean + timber primary exports in Brazil + huge source of revenue for the country
+ In 2018 Brazil exported 28 billion worth of metals
+ Beef industry worth about 6.5 Billion
+ Soybeans 97% food for stock 3% to humans and largest export earning 23 billion
+ Timber industry accounts for 2.5% of GNP and earns 2.3 billion in exports
Social impacts negative
- Amazon, home to more than 20 mill ppl and 100 different Indg. Groups many of which are being displaced
- Nearly 400 indg groups under threat from being displaced
Social impacts - Yanomami Indians
- Yanomami Indians= specific Indg group that has been entirely separated from the rest of the world
o Threat could be exposed to diseases, malaria + flu – could be wiped out b/c immune system x exposed before + pop of about 100
o Gold miners dangerously close-loss of livelihood
o Indg groups have had to make makeshift houses as have been pushed ou
Social impacts - settlers
o Often face life of poverty, violence, unemployment
o There isn’t the services that are available in the cities
o Deforestation= increased malaria / in one region 4% loss of forest =48% increase in malaria cases
o Many cattle and soya farmers exploited by big int. European companies – worked hard, paid poorly, and have minimal rights – human rights issue
+ Gov is trying to limit deforestation and protect Indigenous populations
Social Impacts - positive
Gov is trying to limit deforestation and protect Indigenous populations
+ New job opp
+ Famring growth opp
Environmental Impacts - negative
- 40,000 species of plants, 1300 varieties of birds, + millions of insects whose ecosystems are damaged by deforestation
- For animals habitat destruction, predation, and decreased food animals putting them at risk of extinction
- For animals like jaguars, birds, monkeys, + frogs TR only place they can survive and reproduce
o Black Spider monkey- at risk + play essential role in ecosystem and seed dispersal – enviro is able to grow and thrive/ they are especially vulnerable to forest fragmentation - Already 26 species extinct
- Air quality deteriorating
- Climate affected- warmer and drier conditions – loss o moisture
- Impact water levels + supply
Global Forest Watch 2.0 - Background Info
- Online platform launched in 2014
- Developed by World Resources Institute (and Google, University of Maryland + the UNEP + United Nations environment program)
GFW 2.0 Reasons for implementation
- To protect the worlds forest and identify where both legal and illegal deforestation is occurring inorder to better manage it and evaluate wether current forest management laws have been effectively enforced and are being followed
GFW 2.0 - What are its main features
- Has facilitated the online reporting of forest extent + the enforcement of existing forest management regulation
- Facilitated the online reporting of forest extent + the enforcement of existing forest management regulations
- Provides aerial images of the global distribution of forests in near real-time for public views
- Enables the monitoring of forests, enables alerts to be posted + facilitates responsive action
GFW 2.0 - operate
- Cloud compulsory + open software is used rapidly to process + send large volumes of satellited date, using GNSS coordinates
- Smartphones can download maps + satellite images + upload GNSS locations and places
GFW 2.0 -Strengths
- Platform brings together data from satellite with internet technologies
- Allows anyone to access data in near real- time
GFW 2.0 -Weaknesses
- Conflicting data in 2020 GFW recorded as significant 12% increase in deforestation from 2019 while Global Forest Research Assessment another prominent group announced ‘deforestation continues globally if at a slower pace’
- Difficult to define what counts as a forest + what doesn’t
Local Response- Cacauway Chocolate factory (background info)
- Sustainable farming and chocolate making
- Medicihandia, Para State, Brazil
Organisation Responsible for Implementation - Helia Maura resp. for running Trans Amazonica Agro-industrial Cooperation which launched Cacauway
- implemented 2010
