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A MAJOR THREAT TO THE WORLD'S RAINFOREST BY JOSIE Commercial logging! It is
a major killer of the Amazon rainforest. The logging industry is responsible
for destroying the Amazon Rainforest, an essential ecosystem for species
of birds, mammals, insects and hundreds of pharmaceutical plants needed
for cures for cancer and other serious diseases. And for what? Pulp
and paper, timber for construction, mining operations, and cattle ranches
are just some of the reasons. Companies import tropical hardwood and
are now exhausting and destroying a vast supply of rainforests in slash
and burn operations. How much more can the forest take? Will the blades
and fires ever stop? Who will help? I am hoping that maybe I can. Logging is believed to be
on of the many causes of tropical deforestation. Logging companies have
been cutting down trees that were selected for timber. In defense, they
state that this method allows other trees to regrow naturally and be
ready, once again, for safe logging. However, in order to remove these
few trees, fairly large areas of land are cleared. Heavy machinery must
be brought in to extract the few logs. This causes much disturbance
to the soil because the compaction of the soil decreases the chances
of regenerations of the rainforest. The valuable soil, begins to erode
and the heavy rains, wash it away for the forests into the rivers and
streams. The timber that is cut down is often sent to developing countries for fuel wood, and charcoal. Within Brazil, lie several steel plants that produce steel for Japanese cars. One steel plant requires millions of tons of tropical wood to produce charcoal used in the production of steel.
Besides a steel plant, a
pulpwood project exists. It consists of a Japanese power plant and pulp
mill. 5600 square miles of rainforest need to be burned and replanted
with pulpwood trees in order to support these projects. In the process,
2000 tons of pulpwood is consumed everyday to produce 55 megawatts of
electricity needed to run the plant. The pulp plant has been in operation
since 1978 and makes over 750 tons of pulp for paper every 24 hours. Apart from paper industries,
mining operations are becoming increasingly common. A huge chunk of
land is lost due to the findings of iron ore, gold, semiprecious and
precious stones, natural gas and oil. In addition to the actual mining
operations, more trees are lost to the pollution from the water run-off
that contains wastes like oil, mercury and other pollutants. As the
mercury runs into the rivers and streams, it is carried hundreds of
miles away poisoning numerous animals and sometimes humans. Government development schemes
are a huge factor in deforestation. Either a rich landowner or a banker
can cut down or burn the huge amount of forest, and seed grass for cattle
grazing. In return, they receive millions of dollars worth of government-subsidized
loans, tax credits and write offs. These incentives are the reason why
the government never really make a profit selling cheap beef to the
selected industrialized nations, and have essentially contributed to
the loss of 29 million acres of rainforests. Farmers have been using
a lot of the land for their agricultural purposes. They cut down trees
and use the fertile soil for their crops. After two or three years,
the land is no longer able to produce good crops. The farmers then move
on, cutting down more virgin rainforest and leave the non-fertile land
for cattle ranches. By tradition, unsettled wilderness and rainforest
are free to those who wish to clear the trees for any purpose. Less
than ten percent of the Amazon soil is suitable for agriculture. The
natural rainforest trees store their own nutrients, but with their destruction
necessary nutrients are lost. The solutions to these numerous
problems could be: The rainforest is in dire need of being saved. All the logging operations for timber, steel plants, pulp and wood projects, mining operations need to be controlled and monitored. If they are not, the outcome for many endangered species of animals and birds with the loss of habitat is grim. Certain species of plants we rely on to control diseases could become extinct or rare. Global warming, and the disruption of the carbon dioxide/oxygen cycle are also a serious concern we can’t afford to overlook. On person can’t do mush to solve this huge problem, but by working together people can make a difference. It’s worth a try! Bibliography Title: Money in the Rainforest
http://www.ran.org/info_center/factsheets/04f.html Title: World Forest/ Biodiversity
Campaign News Following the Trail of Illegal Rainforest Wood
http://forest.org/recent/2000/trofrain.htm Title: The Driving of the Rainforest http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm#causes |
