Deforestation Mitigation Strategies
Tropical rainforests cover approximately thirty percent of the earth’s land area, around 2.5 million square miles, the size of the lower 48 states, despite the fact 80,000 acres (32,000) hectares are destroyed per day for economic reasons. Tropical rainforests are biodiversity hotspots. Rainforests are carbon sinks absorbing about half the carbon dioxide humans release into the atmosphere. Continued deforestation will affect the entire world with the ecological ramifications of species extinction, loss of carbon sinks, and loss of renewable resources. Deforestation reduces the availability of renewable resources like medicinal plants, timber, nuts and fruit, and indigenous game. Over time, loss of
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The Brosimum Alicastrum Plan.
The Brosimum Alicastrum is a large rainforest tree native to tropical regions and known as the Maya Nut tree. The tree grows to 130 feet, grows naturally in rainforest soils, can produce an average of 400 pounds of 100% organic nuts a year and have more vital nutrients than foods grown on farmed soils. Other than being one of the largest and fastest growing trees of the rainforest it produces a fruit high in protein, calcium, fiber, iron and vitamins A, E, C, and B. The nut can be prepared to taste like chocolate, coffee, or even mashed potatoes (The Equilibrium Fund, 2010). If dried and ground into flour can be used to make cakes, cookies, cereal. The leaves of the trees are high in nutrients that can be used for cattle fodder (Cable News Network, 2009).
The nut was used in the ancient Mayan culture as food stable with special cultivated orchards designed specifically for this tree. Over the centuries this nut was forgotten. People living in the in the areas where the Maya Nut tree now flourishes, don’t know about the fruit itself. Environmentally, this is the ideal tree to use for reforestation; fast growing, producing food, creating an earning income for the individual farmer while protecting watersheds, preventing erosion, helping with carbon
Human activity can negatively impact on the environment in different ways, which can lead to consequences which are not only bad for the environmental area affected, but humans too. Activities such as causing radiation leaks with nuclear meltdowns and dumping waste are just some examples of how humans can worsen their own environment.
The affect of environmental issues occur everyday and in particular deforestation is becoming a highly ranked subject. From animals to the human race, the alacrity of trees that are cut down affects every individual in a variety of ways. Not only do people need to help the planet but they need to help themselves and further generations to come, such as children and grandchildren because these natural resources that are being taken away from society are as well shaping the future. For comprehensible reasons, forests use to make up the world, until man made creatures started to destroy and destruct the most important supply to human kind which are trees. Trees are crucial to every living entity for the reason of providing oxygen to all.
If soybean production were undertaken in Tambopata, the crops would be raised under World Wildlife Federation and the Nature Conservancy’s guidelines of “Forest Friendly Soy” (Schnoecker, 2007). This means that at least eighty percent of farmers land must be preserved as forest to make up for the twenty percent farmed. The World Wildlife Federation recently awarded Paraguay with the “Leaders for a Living Planet” award in recognition of their “Zero Deforestation Law,” which prohibits the conversion of forested to agricultural
Today, the total percentage of forest cover of the earth is approximately thirty percent (“Deforestation”). That is about nine percent of the world’s total surface. The largest rainforest is the Amazon River Basin, located in South America. The Amazon is home to many species of animals, insects, plants and trees. Many of the trees and plants in the Amazon produce about twenty percent of the oxygen on earth, and absorb carbon. However, the Amazon is decreasing in size every day due to the ongoing deforestation of the land. Deforestation is when the forest of the land are cleared or destroyed, in order to be used for other actions (“Deforestation”). The Amazon is twenty percent less than it was about forty years ago (Wallace). In just about
Deforestation is the clearing of a forest and/or cutting down of trees for human benefits such as agriculture, wood exports, etc. Deforestation is the cause of numerous environmental impacts such as habitat loss, flooding and soil erosion. It can also cause climate change, by reducing the amount of rainfall and changing the amount of sunlight reflected from Earth’s surface and increases the risk of forest . Tree growth is important for biodiversity because they absorb carbon dioxide which is a harmful greenhouse gas . However, since deforestation reduces natural carbon sinks, it disrupts the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air causing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air to increase. This poses a serious
Three to six billion trees are cut down each and every year! Deforestation is a huge problem in the rainforests. Because these forests are home to much of the Earth’s species of life. Covering 30 percent of our land forests provide homes, protection, and oxygen for humans and other wildlife in the forests. There are 7.125 billion people that count on the benefits provided by the forest, which is: food, clothing, traditional medicine and shelter. If something isn 't done soon to reduce our carbon footprint, we will not have forests of any type to soak up the carbon dioxide(CO2) in the atmosphere.
What is happening to the Earth? Our home is becoming a barren mass of sorrow. Most people in America are blind to what is going on. Could it be that every individual is just turning a cheek the other way. America is faced with an extremely serious problem, and if it is not acted upon there will be nothing left on Earth. Hopefully it will still be able to thrive after the numerous accounts of human destruction. Deforestation in America is a huge problem with devastating affects to humans. The root causes of this travesty are mainly the ongoing need to increase America's economic growth, and the idea of frontierism. These two aspects of deforestation tie together well. Together they help define the thought process that Americans have
The article explores how the Sulawesian people went from producing the food they needed to survive to planting cacao as a cash crop which they sold to survive (Li, 2014). After reading her article and listening to her lecture, I found that I had a greater appreciation and understanding for the production and availability of the food that I consume.
Land is greatly affected by the meat industry. The percentage of U.S. agricultural land used to produce meat is 56%. The strains on land include topsoil erosion and depletion of forested areas. The percentage of U.S topsoil loss directly associated with livestock raising is 85%. In Mexico 37 million acres of forest have been destroyed since 1987 to provide additional grazing land for cattle. The cattle industry is a driving force behind the destruction of the tropical rainforests. Until 1994, in the Amazon the total deforested area was of 450, 000 square Km. The current rate of species extinction due to destruction of tropical rainforest amounts to one thousand per year. Various species of plants live in the tropical rainforest, which can be used for their medicinal properties. These plants need yet to be discovered. We can not afford to risk their extinction.
Deforestation is one of the most significant issues of our time; considerable measures must be taken to prevent further pillaging of our unique forest resource.
Agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation because as human population grows the need for agricultural products increases. Unfortunately, the land used for cultivation results in the displacement of tree reliant animals such as the orangutan. “Without forests, orangutans cannot survive” (Galdikas). Palm oil is produced from trees grown in large plantations in regions where tropical rainforests once existed. The orangutans’ way of life revolves around the existence of trees, they nest in trees, drink water out of holes, and eat their fruit. Orangutans also
Environmental issues affect every life on this planet from the smallest parasite to the human race. There are many resources that humans and animal needs to survive; some of the most obvious resources come from the forests. Forests make up a large percentage of the globe. The forests have global implications not just on life but on the quality of it. Trees improve the quality of the air that species breath, determine rainfall and replenish the atmosphere. The wood from the forests are used everyday form many useful resources. Moreover, thinning the forests increases the amount of available light, nutrients and water for the remaining trees. Deforestation (forest thinning) is one of the most
Trees not only have the capability of bringing majestic beauty to a landscape, they also have the ability to sustain the livelihood of individuals from the small seeds they provide. Traditionally trees have been felled to make timber, but the Shea tree through the development of seeds has the potential to develop into a major export item. Shea Butter comes from the seeds of the Shea tree which can be used in the manufacture of food items, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. The moisturizing and healing properties of Shea butter have been discovered by western cosmetic industries in recent years, but Shea butter has been in use in African society for centuries. The Shea butter is gathered by women and young children and involves tedious labor
REDD+ leads to increase in both carbon storage and forest conservation. REDD+ mitigation measure includes REDD, plus conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forest, and enhancement of forest carbon stock.
In addition to logging for exportation, rainforest wood stays in developing countries for fuel wood and charcoal. One single steel plant in Brazil making steel for Japanese cars needs millions of tons of wood each year to produce charcoal that can be used in the manufacture of steel. Then there is the paper industry. A pulpwood project in the Brazilian Amazon consists of a Japanese power plant and pulp mill. To set up this single plant operation, 5,600 square miles of Amazon Rainforest was burned to the ground and replanted