The Maylasian Rainforest

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The Malaysian rainforest is located in south East Asia by the South China Sea.  37 million acres of land in Malaysia is covered by rainforest what is around 47% of the overall country. The climate in the rainforest is hot and wet and temperatures can reach up to 32c. This means vegetation grows rapidly all year long. The average rainfall is 2000 – 2506 mm q year but most of that comes in the rainy season what are the months between November and March.  Within the rainforest here are 5 main layers. Within these 5 layers there are different habitats. The first layer is called Emergent’s, birds and insects live here. The main canopy is the second layer birds and monkeys live here. Beneath the main canopy is the under canopy and animals like insects and sloths live here. The 4th layer is known as the shrub layer is a water based level and animals like alligators and piranhas live here. On the ground layer there are buttress roots which support many of the 1000 different species of trees such as teak and rosewood. On the leaves of these tree’s there are drip tips what help shed water and stops disease. But as these trees are chopped down it leaves gaps where the rain comes down and washes away the nutrients but on the other hand falling leaves decay on the ground and form humus what adds nutrients to the soil.                                                                                                                                                                    The land uses in Malaysia are mostly used for farming and they have various techniques of clearing the land. One of the reasons of the clearing the land is because of cattle ranching. Cattle ranching are when transactional companies clear the forest to graze cattle for beef. Over 25% of the forest is cleared for large scale and this is a major problem as most of the trees aren’t used for a good purpose. Even though some of the timbre is wasted the rainforest has lots of iron ore. The Carajas mining project is the world’s biggest iron ore deposit. In the 1960’s help schemes had huge potential for hydroelectric power. The help schemes have power what provides electricity for all towns and for the industries. More than 50% has been cleared in the last 50 years. The rainforest is millions of years old and if it continues to be cleared at the rate what it is then it will be all gone in 40 years. The plants and trees also help the locals as there can be collected for medical uses. One of these is to relieve the symptoms of malaria.                                                                                                                                                            

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There are different effects of the things being done in the Malaysian rainforest. Leaching gives a hard impact on the nutrient cycle because when they remove the trees it leaves the soil bare which means the nutrients are easily washed away. Sustainable development is where we keep the same amount of resources for the next generation. Sustainable development should generate income for communities and respect the cultures and environment. But something I think that is important for it is to use appropriate technology and equipment that doesn’t harm the environment. Local tribes are losing the homes due to deforestation; tribes ...

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