Brazilian Amazon Rainforest: The Lungs of the World

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Ancient Brazilian Amazon                                             

Wildlife is plentiful and uninterrupted 

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 Deforestation in Present Day

Fires and deforestation very common in Brazil
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Amazonian THROWBACK

            The largest rain forest in the world now, the Amazon Rainforest, otherwise known as Amazonia, was likely formed approximately 55 million years ago during the Ecocene Era. The forest finally formed to be the Amazonia seen on maps today after the last glacial period, mostly due to erosion, lowered sea levels, and sedimentation. The first human inhabitants of the forest came approximately 11,200 years ago in small tribes, which lived separately in the forest, but commonly practiced rituals and intersected socially often.

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            Now, in the present, only a fifth of the ancient forests exist on this planet, while two-thirds of Brazil’s ancient Amazon forest exists. Brazil holds approximately 60% of the forest, home to over 500 mammals, 300 reptile species, another 175 lizards, 30 million insects, and a third of the world’s bird species.  The Amazon Rainforest also is known as the “lungs of the world” as it produces about 20% of the world’s oxygen. Brazil is a country of great interest because as the graph shows to the left, it is singlehandedly the largest contributor to deforestation in the Amazon forest. 

We LOVE Brazil's Amazonia....right?

            Let’s just say a recent study concluded 100-200 football fields of Brazil’s Amazon will have been killed off from the beginning to end of this paper (a 2-page article). 

            But seriously…

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            Overall, the human impact on the Amazonian Forest in Brazil is okay at the moment but is rapidly increasing, wiping the Amazonian forest out faster and faster. In other words, if we take a look at the past, the human impact gets lower the further back we go. In fact, there was very little human impact until the second half of the twentieth century, when massive campaigning of Amazonian colonization was initiated by the Brazilian government, ranging from new road creation and establishment of new cities within the forest to benefits being given for migration to the forest. As of 1970, only 2.5% of the forest’s surface (4,005,082 km²) had been lost due to humans. Since then, 15% of the surface (590,000 km²) within Brazilian lines has been lost, a cumulative patch larger than the country of France!

            As mentioned previously, deforestation is the reason for Brazil’s massive environmental footprint. Deforestation has five major factors behind it: cattle pasture, subsistence agriculture, commercial agriculture, infrastructure improvements, and logging.  The pie chart to the right shows that by far cattle ranching contributes the most to deforestation in the Brazilian Amazonia, although the other effects are still somewhat significant. 

Dr. Bek's Diagnosis 

           The high demand of pastureland for cattle mixed with a mere two-decade increase of tropical wood (12% to 90%) leaves a very bleak future for the Brazilian Amazonia. As mentioned previously, the status of Amazonia in Brazil is rapidly declining. In fact, if manipulation of the forest remains as it is now, at least 50% of the remaining forest is estimated to remain by 2050. 

            Finally, there is very poor law and policy enforcement on the government’s part. Although there are already certain policies and agencies in place to slow deforestation, they are essentially ineffective. For example, the Brazilian Environmental Protection Agency, otherwise known as IBAMA, is heavily underfunded (in 2003, only $9.5 million was given to protect the entire rain forest). There is also very little motivation on the citizens’ behalf, mainly due to the fact that IBAMA was only able to carry through with 6.5% of the fine imposed on its lawbreakers. Another reason behind this lack of motivation is the ineffectiveness of environmental activists’ in attempting to stop the 80% of Amazonian logging that is illegal. 

Alright, so here's what we've got to do!

            There is a notable correlation between Brazilian deforestation and the country’s economic status due to the fact that bad economic times mean the government couldn’t sponsor and fund highway or colonization projects (such as the Trans-Amazonian Highway that eventually opened a vast majority of the forest to commercial interests) nor could they give tax breaks to subsidies and forest workers. In other words, bad economic times lead to less deforestation while economic prominence increased deforestation. From this, it is important to note that responsibility in environmental protection will slowly but surely begin to shift from the government to shareholders. While the government could begin to enforce its policies and perhaps even force land users of the Amazon to be more efficient with the technology used (which leaves a giant environmental footprint behind), funding and awareness will be the most important thing to stop. The more the world runs out of  resources, the more it turns to the Amazon Rainforest. Environmental agencies must be more funded and effective to not only stop the wrongdoers within the forest but to also change the mindset of the pessimistic civilians’ opinion of each individual contribution. Finally, it is important to note that increased and more efficient productivity on current land patches, new land policies, and sustainable development (such as the end of subsidies in the forest) will help concentrate and maximize the use of already deforested land instead of spreading out the destruction and only partially using land.

 Reference List

"Amazon Rainforest." Blue Planet Biomes. 2003. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. <http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/amazon.htm>.

"The Amazon Rainforest: History." Greenpeace UK. Greenpeace. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/forests/the-amazon-rainforest-history>.

"Amazon Rainforest History." Save the Amazon Rainforest | Amazon River - Rainforest Animals. Amazon Rainforest. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. <http://www.amazon-rainforest.org/amazon-history.html>.

Barrionuevo, Alexei. "Brazil Rainforest Analysis Sets Off Political Debate." NY Times, 25 May 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2011. <http://www.agriculturedefensecoalition.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/37F_2008_Tree_Declines_NYTimes_May_25_2008_Brazil_Rainforest_Deforestation.pdf>.

"Rainforests of Brazil—An Environmental Status Report." Rainforests. MongaBay, 5 Feb. 2006. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. <http://rainforests.mongabay.com/20brazil.htm>.

"Saving the Amazon." Mongabay.com. MongaBay. Web. 20 Nov. 2011. <http://www.mongabay.com/saving_brazils_forests.html>.

Wallace, Scott. "Amazon Rain Forest, Deforestation, Forest Conservation - National Geographic Magazine." Environment Facts, Environment Science, Global Warming, Natural Disasters, Ecosystems, Green Living - National Geographic. National Geographic. Web. 28 Nov. 2011. <http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/last-of-amazon/>.