Discuss the politics involved in deforestation.

By kapil Ramburn

10MC

Deforestation is the clearance of forest land. Today it’s mainly taking place in the LEDCS that have tropical rainforest. According to key geography book 2 pg38 a reliable source dated from 2001 which the notes are good, the rapid clearance on recent years was made deforestation a key global issue. Some estimates suggest that one-fifth of the Amazon forest was cleared between 1960 and 1990. But why do they cut down the forest? From the key geography book 2 the source on page 38 says by the rapid growing population the demand of wood started to go high. The government in Brazil had to resettle some of the many landless people. (This source was reliable because I trust the book, also it is recent as it was published in 2001 and the notes I have used were really good as it was clearly explained)

The trans-national companies like Coca Cola, ford, BMW, etc… come to Brazil and some wished to come to extract raw materials and have support from the government. And local people need more land on which to grow crops. These developments were allowed to be done by the government so that they get money from the development and from the cash crops. (Source from Brazil 2000 video it is recent as it was made in 2000) From all these major development the government had to put policy, they have to save 50M Acres as environmental reserves. They changed 50 million acres of Amazon region into government property. Before the land was legalised it was controlled illegally. The cutting down trees in the illegal areas were replanted and turned into national parks. These quotes come from source c in the source book which was adapted from a Brazilian newspaper, march 2002 which was recent and very reliable as it came from a the country itself which means it must be true. The government allowed deforestation to take place because they need the money to repay their debt. They allowed development like hydro electric PowerStation to be built and roads to get to mining sites and factories. The government encourages the local people to grow crops on the cleared areas of the forest. The one big reason is that as Brazil is in need of money the government allows the logging of trees to continue. And unfortunately when large trees are felled they often pull down many nearby trees with them. (Source found in key geography book 2, page 39, and the source is reliable as it comes from people who log the trees in the forest).

Out of all these development the government, local people and the investors benefits from deforestation. Like the investors of big international companies they benefit from cheap labour, cheap raw materials and cheap land placement. And also the local people benefits from land the government give so that they grow to sell and use for themselves. The government of Brazil benefits from the money that the factories and local people are gaining through tax. And also the MEDCS benefits from the cheap wood from the Amazon rainforest. (Source found in Brazil 2000 and key geography book2 as it is recent 2000, ...

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There are many consequences of deforestation; one of them is loss of wildlife. (Source found in key geography book 2 page 40 the source is useful as I trust the book as I have used it before). It is written “many birds, insect, reptile and other animal rely upon trees for food or shelter. They die or are forced to move away if their habitats is destroyed.” And also loss of medicines “over half of our modern medicines come from the rainforest, these includes painkillers and quinine (used to treat malaria). Recently one plant, periwinkle has proved successful to treating child leukaemia. Perhaps the rainforest may hold cures for cancer and aids if there are cleared, we will never know”. From these quotes I can tell you the flora and fauna of the Amazon are in danger of extinction and something should be done. As many trees have been cut, it is very hard to grow on the cleared area as the good fertile soil has been eroded. Soil erosion occurs when the trees have been cut as they are the ones keeping the good soil together. The roots of the trees hold and bind the soil together. The branches and trunk of the tree break the wind so that it stops the wind from carrying the soil away. Deforestation also destroys the land of the native Amazonian. By destroying the lands of the native they also lose their hunting ground and the place where they live. Which are making them scarcer day by day. Also greenhouse effect, it occurs when a large amount of CO2 and other gases traps the energy from the sun the earth hotter. Which is very dangerous as sea level may rise as the ice poles melts. This occurs because the trees can’t process all the CO2 into oxygen (Source found in source booklet, source A. this source is reliable as it is recent, 2002 and it comes from a Brazilian newspaper.)

The Brazilian government are trying to solve the problem by passing policies, by turning 50 million acres of Amazon forest into national parks and forests. They passed laws that every tree cut down, two trees are replanted. They also turned illegal land into government property so that the cutting down of trees can be controlled carefully. And also the government resettle the landless people. (Source found in Brazil 2000 video and key geography book 2).

The Brazilian government is finding it difficult to manage national and international agreement in sustainable way because after the forest is cleared the soil loses its fertility quickly and is unable to support new vegetation. Other reasons are government policies are rarely followed and logging companies rarely replace the felled trees with new ones. According to key geography book 2 the government tried to use tax on hardwood product, limit the numbers of tree felled and leave enough trees to let the forest recover. But the problem is that it is really hard to keep to the target (source found in key geography book2 2)

From all this research I have made my decision on the hypothesis, ‘deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is a major global environmental issue, which only the Brazilian government can solve’. After a long decision I have made my choice that the Brazilian government won’t be able to solve the problem but every one in the world. Like MEDCS could help by decreasing their debt and buying the Amazonian woods for more money so that they have money to pay the companies that cut down trees to replant the trees fell. And also the MEDCS could help them in the sustainable industries by helping the government to organise and plan the industry well so that they would solve the problem of difforestation.

Bibliography:

Key geography book2

Source book

Brazil 2000 video.