Rural

Question 1

Impacts of rural land degradation on the Amazon Rainforest

Answer 1

impacts on people:
- loss of land for indigenous people eg Yanomami Tribe
- loss of the traditional way of life for native tribes
- tribes influenced by new technologies eg, guns, radios and alcohol
- native tribes are forced into reservations for their own protection against new developments by foreign companies. they may be forced out of the rainforest entirely
- tribes dying by ‘western’ diseases due to a lack of immunity eg flu and measles
- farming systems are being altered as there is less land to ‘shift’ to different plots to practise shifting cultivation.
- people who make a living from the rainforest lose their income.

impacts on the environment:
- land clearance for farming, transportation and mining causes deforestation. hardwood trees take many years to grow and they are difficult to replace.
- clearing the rainforest threatens the survival of many rare plant, bird and animal species and could lead to their extinction if their habitat is destroyed.
- fertile but fragile souls that make farming possible are quickly washed away when the trees are cleared.
- if the topsoil is washed away, it can lead to the silting up of rivers, causing flooding.
- loss of vital ingredients for life-saving medicines, many of which still remain undiscovered.
- increased global warming and climate change because there are fewer trees to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- higher world temperatures causes sea level to rise, flooding low-lying places such as the Maldives and Netherlands.
- rainforest areas are turning to deserts due to a devastating break in both the water and nutrient cycles.

Question 2

Management Strategies of rural land degradation in the Amazon Rainforest

Answer 2

• national parks, areas of rainforest purchased by conservation groups or the government so they can be protected from any commercial developments by passing laws which ensure they are conserved. this allows indigenous people to practise shifting cultivation which is less destructive of soil.
• agro-forestry, growing trees and crops at the same time allows farmers’ crops to benefit from the shelter provided by trees. it prevents soil erosion as the roots of the tree hold the soil in place and the crops benefit from the nutrients provided by the humus for dead leaves.
• sustainable forestry schemes, in each area of rainforest, experts can work out how many trees can be cut down without causing irreparable damage to the environment. these trees can then be cut down, as long as the same number of trees are re-planted.
• selective logging, trees are only cut down when they have reached a certain height. this gives young trees an assured life span and the soil is protected. the area of the rainforest should regain full maturity after approximately 30-50 years.
• afforestation, planting more trees to maintain the canopy. this helps to prevent soil erosion as the tree roots bind the soil and hold it in place.
• monitoring, using satellites and photography to take aerial photographs of areas of rainforest to check that any activities taking place are authorised and sustainable. this strategy has reduced deforestation by 60% in Brazil.
  -education, making sure that the companies and people that are involved in the exploitation and management of the rainforest realise the consequences of their actions.
• eco-tourism, using money from tourists to conserve the rainforest for future generations.

Question 3

Effectiveness of management strategies of rural land degradation in the Amazon Rainforest.

Answer 3

• national parks require rangers to monitor the rainforest to ensure there are no illegal activities taking place. however, the rainforest is vast and some activities can be easily missed. this is especially true if the park rangers are corrupt and turn a ‘blind eye’ to activities going on.
• agro-forestry is not practised by every farmer and therefore is ineffective where it does not take place.
• sustainable forestry schemes only work if logging companies are forced to replant more trees than they are reluctant as this eats into their profits.
• selective logging, large machines can damage younger trees in an attempt to only chop down larger trees and selective logging is more costly to logging companies.
• afforestation is usually done by conservation groups and not large logging companies. if logging is done illegally, conservation groups often cannot find the areas to replant. even if enough trees were planted, hardwood grows slowly and the rate of logging is too fast.
• monitoring, this is costly and difficult to enforce. patches of bare land show where logging has occurred, so by then, it is too late as the trees have already been chopped down.
• education, even when people are taught about the damage that they are doing, they often put that aside to make profit.
• eco-tourism, some tourists damage the environment eg erode paths and drop litter - this leads to the destruction of rainforest.