Click me
Transcribed

Degradation of the Brazilian Rainforest

DEGRADATION OF THE BRAZILIANO AINFOREST Brazil's size (the 5th largest country in the world and the largest in Latin America), large population, and high levels of economic growth and urbaniza- tion make Brazil a priority country for U.S. environmental cooperation. Amazon'rainforest birds account for at least one third of the world's bird species, the toucan being the most popular icon. AMAZON RAINFOREST FACTS: The Amazonian Rainforest covers over a billion acres, en- compassing areas in and the Eastern Andean region of Ec- uador and Peru. If Amazonia were a country, it would be the ninth largest in the world. In Brazil alone, European colonists have destroyed more than 90 indigenous tribes since the 1900's. More than half of the world's estimated ten million species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical forest. CAUSES OF DEFORESTATION LARGE-SCALE DAGRICULTURE 5-10% CATTLE RANCHING 65-70% OTHER 1-2% Rainforest land convert- ed to cattle operations yields the land owner $60 per acre and if timber is harvested, the land is worth $400 per acre. LOGGING 2-3% Cattle ranching cuts down the forest for grazing pas- tures and does not replen- ish, logging does have a reforestation program. SMALL-SCALE AGRICULTURE 20-25% THE LACY ACT OF 2008 On May 22, 2008 the U.S. Lacy Act, the world's first ban on trading illegal wood, was passed. 1. Theft of plants 2. Taking plants from an officially protected area, such as a park or reserve 3. Taking plants from other types of officially designated areas that are recognized by a countries laws and regulations 4. Taking plants without, or contrary to the required authorization 5. Failure to pay appropriate royalties, taxes or fees associated with the plants harvest, transport or commerce 6. Laws governing export or trans-shipment, such as a log-export ban MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF THE RAINFOREST An estimated 90% Over a quarter of the medicines we use of Amazon rainforest plants used by Amazon natives have not been studied by modern today have their origins in the rainforests. science. 70% of plants found to have anticancer properties are found only in the rainforest. 3,000 have been identified by the U.S. National Cancer Institute to be active against cancer cells. plants 25% of the active ingredients in today's cancer- fighting drugs come from organisms found only in the rainforest. DEGRADATION IN BRAZIL IS SLOWING The main reason for the decline in logging can be attributed to the establishment of national parks and conservation areas for indigenous peoples to protect their traditonal methods of gathering fruits, natural rubber and other products from the forest. In the course of the last 12 years, the size of protected areas has climbed from 140,000 square kilometers to 320,000. ドオ SOURCES: http://premiumbraziliandecking.com/environmental.html http://www.eia-global.org/lacey/P6.EIA.LaceyReport.pdf http://www.epa.gov/international/regions/lac/brazilhtml http://www.brasil.gov.br/energia-en/environment/environmental-licensing/br_model1?set_language=en http://www.savetheamazon.org/rainforeststats.htm http://www.dw.de/rainforest-degradation-in-brazil-is-slowing/a-16012393 http://www.onthegotours.com/blog/2012/11/top-10-facts-about-the-amazon-rainforest/

Degradation of the Brazilian Rainforest

shared by bhonma on Sep 17
48 views
0 shares
0 comments
The Amazonian Rainforest once covered 14% of the earth’s surface encompassing Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia. Now it is estimated to cover a mere 6% and a vast number of over 137 species of plants and ...

Publisher

Brock Honma

Designer


Source

Unknown. Add a source

Category

Environment
Did you work on this visual? Claim credit!

Get a Quote

Embed Code

For hosted site:

Click the code to copy

For wordpress.com:

Click the code to copy
Customize size