Reforestation Essay Research Paper During the past

Reforestation Essay, Research Paper

During the past several decades, changes in the global climatic pattern have become evident and have attracted much attention from both the lay public and the professional environmental organizations. Deforestation is one of the main reasons for these observed changes. One of the reason that is causing the disappearing of the Amazon rainforest is commercial logging, which is the single largest problem. Other problems that also contribute to the disappearing of the Amazon forests include: road construction, cattle ranching, and pulp mill are all-important factors to be considered. The Amazons rainforest is the world’s largest rain forest existing today, which represents 54 percent of the total rainforests left on the planet. If Amazonia was a country, it would be the ninth largest country in the world. The Amazon is very important to the human race because it is a major contributor to the maintenance of global climatic patterns. Consider these points: A single pond in Brazil can contain more variety of fish than are found in all of Europe’s rivers. A twenty-five acre of rainforest in Borneo may contain over seven hundred species of trees, which is the number equal to the entire number of trees in North America; the single rainforest in Peru had more bird species than the entire United States. Most unbelievable fact is that one single tree in Peru had forty-three different species of ants, which is the approximate total of entire ant species in the British Isles. The Amazon rainforest is of great significance to the rest of the world. For decades, the Amazon suffered from continual deforestation. It is estimated that, as of 1997, 52 million ha of Amazon rainforest has been cut down. According to scientific estimation, if such rate of destruction in Amazon is not controlled, nearly 80 to 90 percent of tropical rainforest ecosystems will be destroyed by the year 2020 (Taylor Leslie, Herbal Secrets of the Rainforest. Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA). In less than 50 years, more than half of the world’s tropical rainforest will be cut down for industrial uses. The rate of the destruction of rainforest is increasing, especially after the year 1997. As Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud, head of its forest program ” 1997 will be remembered as the year the world caught fire.” Unbelievably, over 200,000 acres of rainforest is been cut or burned each day. This means that over 150 acres is disappearing in every minute. Can the industries afford to stop the logging in the Amazon rainforest due to the necessity in economics. While it is generally recognized that reforestation programs in the Amazon region are essential to the global climate, economic problems are preventing or delaying the initiation of these programs. Cattle ranching are the primary reason for deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. When the demand in Western world for meat increases, more rainforest lands are been destroyed and turn into farmland for animals. There are estimated 220 million of cattle, 20 million goats, 60 million pigs and 700 million chickens, just in the South America alone to meet world’s demand. The cattle ranching program is continue to move southward into the center of the South American Rainforest. Large acres of lands in the Amazon rainforest are been cut and burn then seed it with grass for cattle and other farm pets to eat. The cattle ranching in the Amazon rainforest had caused a total of 500,000 acres of rainforest. There have been attempts to ban or prohibit the cutting down of forests for cattle ranching. These lands are been burnt down and replant with grasses for farm animals. The rainforest is destroyed for the income and profits it contents. People like Chico Mendes, born in 1944 and became an educated rubber tapper at age 9, attempts to stop the forest been cut down for cattle ranching. But people who are poor have difficulty winning legal battle for their land against the wealthy land speculators and ranchers. Chico knew that he had to protect the rainforest for the future for the rubber tappers. To protect the rainforest one must understand how to use the natural resource in Amazon forest without abusing it. Later on, Chico had organized the tappers into a group, and together they go and try to confront the cattle ranchers that the protection of the rainforest is needed, otherwise the forest will devastated very soon. He had gained international support for his hard work on environmental protection. Later on, Chico Mendes was assassinated just after the Brazilian government established the first extractive reserve. Chico Mendes was an environment protection hero, whom had influenced many Brazilian in Amazon to stand up for them and to preserve the forest from destroying. As of 1991, Brazil’s national debt was well over US$130 billion, the highest national debt of any developing nation. (Financial Post, Weekly edition, Tue 16 Jul 91, page 10. Editorial.) Another statistic shows that between December 1989 and December 1995 there had a total increase by 38.15%. During that time, US$159.005 billion is the foreign debt. As a result of this economic problem, the government can’t stop the cattle ranching program because they must pay back their own debts. Not only does the cattle ranching in Amazon rainforest contributes to the destruction of the rainforest, but also the commercial logging within South America. While logging is another main reason of devastation of the Amazon fores