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Deforestation In South America

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From 1990 to 2005, deforestation, or the removal of trees, was happening at an average rate of 13 million hectares (32.11 million acres) per year (Hope 247). In many ways, deforestation has been the reason for great economic success which turns people on to the idea even more. Deforestation is an essential element in promoting and encouraging developmental growth. Some places around the world may feel obligated to resort to deforestation due to population increases around the world. The concept of deforestation may seem to have a positive impact on society, but many people fail to consider the importance of replanting the trees that were harvested and removed. Deforestation mainly affects North and South America, but because of the Transamazon …show more content…

Throughout history, there have always been two main reason reasons for deforestation. The first reason was for economic gains such as: the need for new and bigger land for cow pastures and crop production, timber manufacturing, and trading goods. The second reason was for social gains such as: increasing population in a specific region or are, the migration of large social groups, and wars (Kranjc 16). In the 1970’s and 1980’s to help with economic gains, people were offered tax incentives, such as tax exemption and grants from the bank. These incentives helped make people more willing to buy and use land for pastures and crop production (Andersen 8). With the introduction of wheat, tobacco, then later soybeans, there became an increasing need for more land. Over time, people started to find that clearing land for cattle pastures were the cheapest and most effective way to buy land (Fearnside …show more content…

The Amazon rainforest was first being cleared for crop and logging production, but after realizing the economic success of cattle ranching, cattle pastures became the leading reason for deforestation. Different sized ranches, mainly large, made up about 70% of the deforestation that was going on in the Amazon. According to the research done by, Philip Fearnside, “all of the profits made from beef cattle have been the only income source that made the deforestation in the Amazon profitable.” Though cattle ranching have made a major impact on the Amazon, the biggest impact of deforestation was caused by the building of the Transamazon Highway in 1970. The goal of this enormous highway was to connect Brazil with its neighboring countries in South America. This highway connects different plantations in Brazil and its neighboring countries by constructing trucking routes that make transporting crops easier. (Fearnside

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