Stewardship In The Amazon Rainforest

In recent years, Earth’s issues have become increasingly politicized, publicized, and economically important. When you examine how the environment affects us and how we affect it, it’s easy to see that overpopulation is one of earths most pressing environmental issues.

Deforestation poses an alarming threat to Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, and it has been a serious concern for over 40 years. For thousands of years, the abundant, valuable resources in the Amazon were familiar only to the indigenous people of the region. In the 1500’s, before European colonization of Brazil, there were an estimated six to nine million individuals part of different cultures that made up a rich Amazonian society (“History”). Surrounded by the luxuriant rainforest and its natural resources, these indigenous tribes were able to thrive by utilizing the resources without destroying their habitat. After European emigration, the government of Brazil exploited the value of the Amazon’s resources in the twentieth century. In the 1970’s, the Brazilian government discovered the “untapped source of boundless potential” hiding in the Amazon and began using incentives to persuade settlers to develop its resources (Casey). Once economists realized the importance of the resources found within the rainforest, European pioneers set out to transform the Amazon into their home. By endorsing colonization, the government could not only boost the country’s economy, but also gain control over Brazil’s vast territory. The government supported migration to the rainforest and campaigned for the construction of infrastructure (“History”). In concurrence, the development of roads such as the Trans-Amazonian Highway, a 2,000 mile road built in 1972, granted people and machinery entrance to

However, due to more people searching for plots there is greater pressure on the amount of available land. The logging industry is responsible for a relatively small level of deforestation, accounting for 3% in Brazil. Consequently, all these activity contribute together to the rapid loss of what is left of the rainforest and a large proportion of the world’s biodiversity. All of the resources that the rainforest provides could be lost in the next 40 years.

Deforestation is defined as: “the clearing of virgin forests, or intentional destruction or removal of trees and other vegetation for agricultural, commercial, housing, or firewood use without replanting and without allowing time for the forest to regenerate itself” (SCRIBD). Deforestation has been a problem in Latin America since the early 1900s and the severity of the dilemma is increasing rapidly. Deforestation not only has consequences for the environment, but also, the indigenous people and the national economy. The logging industry in Latin America is often exploited by multinational companies that are not properly regulated. The land that has provided a home and cultivated indigenous development for centuries is being dissipated rapidly. Due to an exponentially growing global population, there is an increased demand for low priced goods--like timber, crops, and meat. Many Latin American countries value revenue from selling these goods over the health of their local ecosystems. The crisis of deforestation and habitat loss is shifting from a local to global problem. As deforestation continues, global warming escalates worldwide, impacting every country and person. About 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions come from tropical deforestation, which is more than from all the world’s cars, trucks and buses combined (Schwartzman). Puerto Rico and Brazil provide contrasting examples of the impact of deforestation. Puerto Rico had an economic and environmental shift

The tropical rainforest is home to a great variety of plants, trees, flowers, animals, birds, insects, and reptiles. Due to the great variety, there are groups that are interested in the tropical rainforest like rubber tapers, farmers, cattle ranchers, and loggers. the issue is that there are so many different things that each group want to do with the Amazon rainforest and no one knows who should have the rainforest. The rubber tappers have lived in the Amazon rainforest for many generations and they collect the sap from rubber trees that grow in the Amazon rainforest. Cattle ranchers already own a small part of the Amazon rainforest. The loggers want the wood from the trees to make buildings such as hospitals and important office buildings.

Indigenous rights in Brazil have been very vague throughout the years and were difficult to obtain since many indigenous tribes were seen as an inferior class. There are around 900,000 indigenous people with a total of 240 tribes in Brazil in contrast to the 11 million indigenous people that lived there before the European colonist arrived. It was predicted that 90% died in the first years from diseases that they were not exposed to, such as the flu and smallpox, and the rest who survived the diseases were enslaved. Brazil has one third of the world’s rainforest and half of the amazon forest, but with the expansion of neoliberal policies deforestation has become a serious problem. According to Brazilian authorities, the rubber and cattle industries are responsible for 80% of the deforestation (COHA). This has evidently affected many indigenous communities that lived in the Amazon forest, displacing them from their lands and exploiting them for hard labor. By the 1950s, many predicted that the indigenous population in Brazil would disappear, but they have been able to recover by becoming active in the movement against neoliberal policies and their rights as human.

Picture this. A beautiful tropical forest, with lush plant life and a huge variety of animals. The forest is huge, covering 40% of South America, Including 60% of Brazil, 13% of Peru, 10% of Colombia, and various parts of other countries, including Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It is a little over half the size of the United States. This gorgeous example of natural beauty is called the Amazon Rain Forest. The resources of the Amazon Rain Forest should be developed, but they should be developed sustainably. The Amazon Rain Forest should be developed because it is full of resources, as well as many medicinal plants. It could really boost the economy of South America, mainly Brazil, if used well.

Traveling deep into the Amazon rainforest, Napoleon Chagnon, lived amongst the Yanomamӧ tribes that occupied the land on the border of Brazil and Venezuela. In doing so he was able to write an ethnography about his observations and interpretations of the culture and human behaviors of the Yanomamӧ people. From his studies, Chagnon found that the Yanomamӧ have always been one of the most violent culture, who are always living in chronic warfare, often over women, so they can maximize their reproductive success and be honorable in their society. I agree with Chagnon in a sense, but also believe the Yanomamӧ are violent with reason and are less violent than industrialized nations, who have contributed to their increase in violence.

The Amazon Rainforest has an issue that needs to be fixed. The problem that the rainforest has is that the groups continue to cut or burn down trees just so they can grow crops. It needs to stop because it’s hurting The Rubber Tappers. They need the trees to do their job and the government isn’t doing enough to help out. The Rubber Tappers have been living in the rainforest for 100’s of years. The Rubber Tappers came in the 1870’s. As you can see in their way of living does no harm to the rainforest. They make their way of living from the rainforest by harvesting sap from the rubber trees. The Rubber Tappers should have control of the Amazon Rainforest and here are some reasons why. For example, The Rubber Tappers use the resource of the Amazon by

This policy memo addresses the development and expansion of the cattle ranching industry in Brazil, which has contributed to the mass deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon in the last 40 years. It exposes the regional and global consequences to deforestation and provides strategies for the Brazilian government to sustainably manage cattle ranching industries while protecting the future of the Amazon. The rainforest ecosystem is an immense reserve of natural recourses that is far more valuable than the beef produced on Brazilian cattle ranches. Not only does the rainforest create habitat for up to 65% of the world’s biodiversity, but when harvested sustainably, it provides humans with an abundance of spices, foods, oils, medicines

The contemporary issue in the Amazon Region not only affects the indigenous people living there, but has an irreversible global impact. This significant issue relates to engaged citizenship and past indigenous experiences by the way the indigenous peoples stand up for their land rights, become recognized by the government, and show how this issue has an economic effect on the world. According to BBC news, an estimated 333,000 indigenous people live in the Peruvian Amazon. With more than 60% of this region being rainforests, deforestation acts such as illegal logging, illegal mining, agriculture and infrastructure projects are destroying this indigenous land. This land was at risk because of the government’s lack of recognition and enforcement

If we think about it, they are hand in hand. Loggers exporting hardwoods and farmers exporting soybeans have been key attributes to the growth of the Brazilian economy. Americans have also benefited from the “fruits” of this fertile land. Farm equipment seller John Deere has at least five agricultural dealerships along BR-163 and sells their machinery to local farmers. Cargill, a Minnesota-based food company, purchases the soybeans, ships them to Amsterdam, Netherlands, and then produces oil and animal feed to sell to consumers. However, Cargill and Brazil’s other soybean producers have a two-year agreement in place not to buy soybeans grown in deforested areas of the Amazon. This sends a signal worldwide that the environmental impact of deforesting the Amazon is grave (Wallace). The question we all need to ask in this case, why is it just a two-year agreement? Shouldn’t we as a global community be more concerned with the length of the agreement and if it will be extended? I guess we’re going to have to take baby steps with this matter if the Brazilian government is going to be the leader. That brings me back to my opening comments, do they care enough? Obviously, the warming of the environment is a global issue and Brazil needs to take the lead. My suggestion would be to implement a program like the United States Border Patrol, but use it for the Amazon instead. If international

Environmental injustice is an issue everyone just seems to ignore, but in reality this issue as serve as any other type of injustice. Imagine you living in a place where your family as lived for generations, and in that place is where you meet your basic needs, such as: food, water, and shelter. One day without any beforehand warnings that place gets demolished, nothing but sheds of pieces on the ground. Places like the Amazon forest witness such events, animals in the Amazon forest are being forced to adapt in new environment due to massive deforestation that takes place there. Not only is this a negative effect on the animals, but it also contributes a negative effect on the society as a whole. People depend on a vital element called Oxygen,

In the Amazon region of Brazil, regulatory enforcement routinely failed forest conservation efforts to prevent deforestation. A turning point happened in 2005: a combination of unfortunate economic conditions and an organized effort from national institutions produced a noticeable decrease in the destruction of forests. Researchers studied the impact of fines, embargoes on private properties, and confiscating the means of production for deforestation in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. Ultimately, the results of these studies showed that measures to increase methods of collection of fines issued are urgently needed.

in Brazil has been around for centuries and has a very important meaning in the lives of many. Rainforests have decreased in size primarily due to deforestation. “In 2002, the Amazon was approximately 5.4 million square kilometers, which is only 87 percent of the Amazon's original state” (Mongabay 1). Deforestation has a negative effect in Brazil on climate change, animals and their habitats and erosion patterns, which is leading people to campaign for a deforestation free future.