Why has the Brazilian government allowed deforestation?
Brazils government has allowed deforestation because of the rapidly growing population and an increasing demand for natural resources. However It’s main reason is because it needs money and needs to pay its debt. The natural resources from the forest produce many raw materials example gold, copper, bauxite and useful plants, which help, cure many diseases. These raw materials could be sold to Europe or the U.S in order to make money. The Brazilian government has attempted to resettle the country’s landless people there fore have carried out these procedures. The reasons why Brazil have gone ahead and exploited the rainforest is because they are desperate to pay off their debt that is estimated to be about 200 billion dollars therefore are put in a really awkward situation in deciding what to do. In 1990 many plans have been made for a wide range of development’s that would affect 60% of the Amazon rainforest. However only law protected 4% of the rainforest. Because of these developments an area the size of Belgium was wiped out.
The benefits of deforestation
These developments benefit Brazil a lot as it brings a large income which help’s to pay off debts as well as to help increase facilities in Brazil. It also has created jobs. So that’s why the Brazilian government has gone ahead with the developments. Using the sources in places: pages 28-29 and key geography book: pages 38-43
The disadvantages of these development’s is that part’s of the rain forest have been destroyed, and so have some of the Amerindians who settle in the rain forest. A few of the aspects that affect the Amerindians is that a lot of them have been killed and some have even turned to suicide as a result of the developments. One person said that we were not respected and treated as animals, cattle ranchers would beat us severely because we’d refused to move out our land. It was as if no one cared about our traditions and way of life.
The developments affect us globally as half of the oxygen we breathe comes from the Amazon rainforest, so if we go ahead with deforestation the next generation is going to suffer a lot. Many Amerindians claim the rainforest to be theirs as their ancestor’s used to live in the rainforest. Over half of the medicines used by us come’s from a rainforest. So by cutting the rainforest down it may affect many people’s lives as a result.
This is a picture of a part of the Amazon rainforest, which has been affected, by deforestation.
Sustainable development is sensible development. Sustainable development would bring out an improvement in living conditions for people. However it should not harm or destroy the environment. It uses but doesn’t waste resources, it improves but doesn’t threaten ways of life. In some parts of Brazil sustainable development helps people live their lives today and ensures that their future stays undamaged. Sustainable development needs a lot of planning and needs the co-operation of people and nations to make Brazil a more sustainable country. Many countries from all parts of the world have shown a greater concern for the damaging effects of industrial growth. Commercial logging is one example of an industry, and if it were sustainabl’y developed many of these results would have been prevented. However there is no evidence that the Brazilian government believes in sustainable development as a policy.
- Soil wouldn’t have lost’ its fertility.
- Vegetation would still grow, if only a reasonable size of land was cleared.
- New trees would have replaced trees that have been cut.
- Wild life wouldn’t have been destroyed.
- Government regulations would have been followed.
- Loggers want only 5% of the trees, and to obtain them they have to damage or destroy 65% of the remaining ones.
- Soil’s left without tree cover is quickly washed away, which leaves insufficient soil for new plants.
With many countries participating in helping Brazil become a more sustainable country it will look after the rainforest very well, for everyone to know what sustainable development is all about, in and out of Brazil can make the Brazilian government pressurised and behave quickly in a more sustainable way.
Conclusion
‘Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is a major global environmental issue, that only the Brazilian government can solve’
I agree with this hypothesis because the Brazilian government can solve deforestation, which is taking place in the Amazon rainforest. This can be done by sustainable development as it limit’s the amount of resources been cut down and doesn’t allow a lot of resources going to waste. The Brazilian government has to manage the rainforest sustainabley other wise global warming is going to take place, which means less rainfall and possibly parts of the world becoming desert’s. If the Brazilian government creates more national parks and forest reserves it would help it to manage the rain forest in a sustainable way. The Brazilian government should only give grants to transnational companies on the conditions that they replant. The Brazilian government could reduce international trade in such endangered hardwoods as mahogany. They could also limit the mass burning of trees to reduce global warming, and climate change. With these points that I have put across, the Brazilian government could make a difference.
By Mohamed Al-Hamiyda
The developments that have been taking place in Brazil are: Mining, New roads, Ranching, PowerStation’s, logging and nature preserves. .
Huge deposits of iron ore, gold, copper and bauxite have been discovered in the Amazon rainforest. Mining companies have felled trees and built roads to reach these deposits and used them for profits. Power stations: with an unlimited water supply and an ideal river, hydro electric power stations have been built to make cheap and plentiful energy for allsorts of uses. These stations provide a lot of cheap energy for industries and transport. More than 125 new HEP stations are to be built in the next 15 years, which is a major improvement. Many new roads have been built deep into the rainforest, these roads help transport timber, cattle and crops to markets which helps improve the Brazilian way of life. The Trans-Amazonian is the longest. It stretches 5300 KM across Brazil from East to West.People from parts of Brazil have settled along these roads. Multi-national companies have bought large areas of the rainforest, the beef from the cattle ranches has largely gone to fast food chains in the U.S and Europe to make into burgers. Ranching makes money as farmers sell their beef to the U.S and Europe. However these companies have burnt down the forest and replaced it with grass for cattle ranching. This has reduced the soils quality. Over 5o million acres of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has been preserved by the Brazilian government, so no devolvement could take place within these areas and they will stay as natural as they were.
