Deforestation

Question 1

Define Deforestation

Answer 1

Deforestation involves the complete or partial removal of forest cover or timber harvesting or to make land available for infrastructure or agriculture. It causes the impoverishment or destruction of forest ecosystems, with the removal of trees being caused by natural or human factors – or a combination of both.

Question 2

Define Land Degradation

Answer 2

Forest degradation occurs when forest ecosystems lose their capacity to provide important goods and services to people and nature.

Question 3

Spatial distribution of forests globally

Answer 3

4 Billion Hectares of Forest worldwide
Climate determines their location
Slightly more than half are found in the tropics.
The rest are in temperate regions
Forests are the result of an interconnection over time of biophysical conditions

Question 4

Describe the Spatial Distribution of forests during the LGM

Answer 4

During the last glacial maximum, earth was colder and hence there was less forest.
Rather, grasslands, tundra and deserts were more extensive.
Forests were mainly limited to wetter areas near the Equator.
They did not rise up in altitude.

The distribution of global forest cover during the LGM is linear along and nearby the equator in the regions of South-East Asia, Central Africa and portions of South America. An exception to this pattern is the cluster in North America.

Question 5

Describe the Spatial Distribution of forests during the HCO

Answer 5

Forests expanded and moved pole-wards
Extended in to higher altitudes
Forest covered about 47% of the Earth
This coincided with the first agricultural societies, which lead to it’s own impact on forest cover

The distribution of global forest cover during the HCO is evenly dispersed, with forest cover encompassing approximately 47% of the total land area of the Earth in regions such as Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. There are no exceptions to the pattern.

Question 6

Describe the Spatial Distribution of Deforestation Globally

Answer 6

Presently, forests cover about 31% of global land cover, but was as high as 47% prior to the agricultural revolution.
Cultivated land now occupies about ¼ of the Earth’s land surface.
Some areas are experiencing reforestation, but areas with extreme poverty are experiencing extreme deforestation.
Prior to the twentieth century deforestation was mainly occurring the temperate regions of the world
By the mid twentieth century this had reversed, and the temperate regions had slowed while the tropical new world was experiencing rate of accelerating loss.

Question 7

Outline the Human Activities causing deforestation

Answer 7

Agriculture and logging are the main direct causes of deforestation accounting for approximately 80% of global deforestation

Projects to improve infrastructure, such as mines, dams, transport and rural settlement facilities may lead to forest loss.

Poor management and enforcement of forest protection laws often leads to illegal logging and illegal trade in timber forests.

Wars and civil disruption, throughout history, have also had devastating effects on forests. For example the civil disruption in Rwanda which led to the mass migration of more than 750 000 refugees to a camp near a national park where a large area of protected mountain gorilla habitat was destroyed.

Economic growth is the underlying driver of deforestation and forest degradation. Developing countries use the land and products of their forests as a means of alleviating poverty, because in such regions the imperative of providing food security and a basic income may take precedence over the obligation of protecting forests.

Question 8

Outline the natural processes causing deforestation

Answer 8

Annually natural processes account for less than 2 percent of global forest loss

Natural processes affecting forests include:
Pest invasions, Disease outbreaks, Hurricanes, Cyclones, Typhoons, Storms, Floods, Drought, Landslides, Earthquake, Volcanic eruption, Tsunami

While these natural disturbances can have a devastating impact on forests this usually occurs on a local or regional scale, and the impact tends to be forest degradation rather than loss.
With appropriate management, forests usually recover and regenerate from such disturbances, as they have over millennia.

Furthermore on a global scale, the combined impacts of these factors are dwarfed by the human activities directly causing deforestation, and many factors classified as natural processes may be exacerbated or caused by human activities.

Question 9

Evaluate the effectiveness of a Global response to Deforestation

Answer 9

The global forest watch 2.0 is an online platform launched in 2014, to provide aerial images of the global distribution of forests in near real time for public viewing therefore:

• facilitating the online reporting of forest extent
• The enforcement of existing forest management regulations
• Assisting forest certification organisations to track the chain of custody of timber and authenticate its origin.
• Exposing wrongdoing and enhancing accountability
• Improving government decision making and enforcement
• Helps businesses meet their sustainability commitments

The platform brings together data derived from satellites with internet technologies to access and collet data about forests in a transparent manner on a worldwide scale. The platform rapidly processes, interprets and sends large volumes of satellite data, using GPS coordinates, bu using clusters of servers scattered around the world.

In 2012, United Cacao began deforesting 2,000 hectares (nearly 5,000 acres) of carbon-rich Brazilian rainforest for a commercial cacao plantation. Despite its secluded location deep in the Amazon, NASA satellite images enabled researchers to collect data needed to estimate the resulting carbon emissions.

It was estimated that the patch of forest contained an average of 122 metric tons of carbon per hectare (54.4 tons per acre).

Question 10

Describe the location of Brazil

Answer 10

Brazil is located within the southern hemisphere on the continent of South America bordered by the South Atlantic Ocean and countries of Uruguay, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Peru, Paraguay and Bolivia.

Question 11

Positive environmental impacts due to deforestation

Answer 11

Clearing of forests for dams provides hydroelectricity which is a renewable form of energy

Rates of deforestation decreased from 1.9 mill hectares/year in 2005 to 0.6 mill hectares/yr in 2010 and it has been slowly increasing since 2017.

Question 12

Negative environmental impacts due to deforestation

Answer 12

Climate change

Forests help to mitigate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions

Tropical rainforests hold more than 210 giga tonnes of carbon

Deforestation represents 15% of greenhouse gas emissions

Roughly 20% of the Brazilian Amazon over the past half century has been cleared states most affected are Mato Grosso and Para in the south

Impact on global biodiversity (threatened species e.g. jaguar) and global climatic systems – the Amazon produces 20% of the world’s oxygen (water cycle; carbon sink).

Deforestation of the Amazon accounted for 1.5 per cent of the increase in carbon dioxide levels seen since the mid-nineteenth century

More than half of all tree species in Amazon are threatened according to 2015 study e.g. Brazil Nut, Acai Palm

Planned dams will flood vast areas and result in rotting vegetation which will release vast amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas. 7 dams planned for the Tapajós River (Amazon tributary) The government expected Sāo Luiz do Tapajós, the first of these dams, to come online in 2019, however it was suspended in 2017 due to its impact on indigenous communities and river health

70% of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions come from forest clearing; Amazon clearing thought to be responsible for 10% global greenhouse gas emissions

Question 13

Positive economic impacts due to deforestation

Answer 13

Increased large scale production of beef and soy beans contribute to exports so help Brazil’s trade balance
Brazil has 24-25 million hectares devoted to soy beans and is currently the second largest producer in the world.

Brazil is the world’s biggest beef exporter (1/4 of global market). Major markets include Latin America, the European Union, Russia, the Middle East and China.

Earns over $1bill/year.

High % of people in poverty (26% in Brazil live below the poverty line) leads to small farmers clearing land in an effort to improve their livelihoods

Selling of forest products rubber, Brazil nuts and jaguar skins brings wealth

Projects such as hydro dams e.g. Belo Monte provide employment for 1000s during construction

Question 14

Negative economic impacts due to deforestation

Answer 14

Tough penalties for those who clear illegally e.g. rancher in state of Para fined 720,000 reals (US$230,000) and banned from selling cattle after trying to clear this field in 2009.

Potential loss of revenue from other rainforest plants which may provide medicines etc in the future

Small scale selling of forest products such as rubber, Brazil nuts and Jaguar skins threatened by deforestation

Question 15

Positive social impacts due to deforestation

Answer 15

Indigenous people’s rights are preserved in the Brazilian Constitution as well as via international conventions
Native reserves established

Movement of people from poverty stricken areas such as NE to states such as Para and Mato Grosso e.g. town of Altamira now 100 000

Over 20 million people and 70 million cattle now inhabiting the Amazon, about a 600 percent increase in the last 60 years

Question 16

Negative social impacts due to deforestation

Answer 16

Forestry and planned dams will flood the territories of native tribes: impact of “the social organisation, customs, language and traditions” of the indigenous groups was so severe that it amounted to “ethnocide” according to state prosecutor

Tribes such as the Munduruku have mounted an all-out campaign to stop the dams planned for their river (Tapajos). Also the Enawene Nawe tribe in Mato Grosso is fighting to have their land recognised

Mining, a major cause of deforestation, has had health impacts on native tribes. - conflict between ranchers and other small scale farmers and indigenous people
Illegal clearing in many cases – Brazil’s Environment Protection Agency (IBAMA) is understaffed and cannot police the whole forest

Increased contact with outsiders exploiting the rainforest has led to increased disease e.g. tuberculosis for indigenous people such as the Awa tribe (down to 100 members) due to lack of immunity

Increasing food insecurity

In Brazil the poor people are constantly pressured to move from their villages often to remote soy plantations where they have to work under inhumane conditions

Question 17

Evaluate the effectiveness of a National response to deforestation

Answer 17

At the core of the moratorium is a simple idea: that companies wouldn’t buy soy from soy traders who get their supply from farmers who clear the rainforest, use slave labour or threaten Indigenous Lands.

From 2004 to 2005, the rainforest was being destroyed at the second highest rate ever recorded, due in large part to a rising demand for land to grow soy and cattle.

It’s because of this vigilance that even as Brazil’s soy production has gone up dramatically, deforestation for soy has remained low. Since 2006, the amount of land soy occupies in the Amazon region is up 260 percent, but only a bit more than one percent of that soy is being grown in newly deforested areas.

Since 2006, soya complex (bean, meal and oil) exports from Brazil has more than doubled. The price of one tonne of soya has increased by more than 70%

Question 18

Evaluate the effectiveness of a Local response to deforestation

Answer 18

The Surui Forest Carbon Project was launched in 2009 by the Paiter-Surui indigenous people of the Brazilian Amazon, with technical support from Forest Trends’ Communities Initiative and other partners.

Project developers sought to use carbon finance to support sustainable land management within the Paiter-Surui homeland, the Sete de Setembro Indigenous Territory.

The Surui Forest Carbon Project was the first indigenous-led conservation project financed through the sale of carbon offsets. It dramatically reduced deforestation within the territory during its first five years of operation (2009-2014).

The project generated 299,895 carbon offsets certified under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), with each offset representing the equivalent of one metric ton of carbon dioxide kept out of the atmosphere.

The Paiter-Surui used proceeds from offset sales to finance six sustainable community development initiatives that generate income and support traditional practices, such as the harvesting of medicinal plants, the creation of artisanal handicrafts, and other activities that enable indigenous peoples to live off the land while maintaining the forest.

Question 19

Describe how Mato Grosso has been impacted by Deforestation

Answer 19

large scale deforestation began in the 1970s and accelerated in the 1990s when soya plantations and cattle ranches grew rapidly in response to the booming global demand.

The number of cattle ranches doubled in the 1990s, and soya plantations went from 1.2 million hectares in 1991 to 6.2 million hectares in 2010 and 9.4 million in 2016.

Use of spatial technology revealed that the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso had experienced large scale land cover change due to expansion of agriculture. This state became a top agriculture producer particularly for soya beans and beef.

Since the 1980s the Brazilian Space Agency and Nasa have assisted with the production and interpretation of satellite images of the region.

This information was used to monitor land cover change and enforce the environmental laws and the licensing system for rural properties.