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Case Study: Amazon Rainforest                       
Tropical forests are being destroyed at an ever-increasing rate. Estimates of the extent and rate of loss vary, but it appears that nearly half of the world's tropical forests already have been lost, and the remainder will all but disappear in the next two to three decades. The loss is incalculable. These forests provide habitat for an estimated half of the world's plant and animal species, provide water and fuel for much of the world's population, and influence regional and global climate. Commercial logging, clearance for agriculture, ranching, and fuel gathering are all responsible for the destruction. Solutions include the development of alternative fuelwood supplies through fuelwood plantations, the regulation of logging, and a consensus as to the value of forest conservation over commercial development.

The tropical rainforest of the Amazon Basin is the largest area of tropical rainforest in the world. If you look at the map to your right, you will realise that it is owned by many countries. Different countries exploit the forest for different uses and we shall go into these causes now.

Housing

One of the major purposes for the clearing of the forest is for housing. These happens in countries where the population is growing rapidly, e.g. Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In addition, more houses are built in deforested areas to resettle people from crowded and heavily urbanised and densely populated cities in Brazil such as Rio De Janerio and Sao Paulo. The picture on your right is Manaus in Brazil and it shows forest land being cleared for housing.

Agriculture

Extensive areas of the tropical rainforest have been cleared to grow pasture for cattle rearing and to cultivate crops for subsistence and commercial agriculture.

Cattle ranching is an important source of farming activity in many Amazonian countries like Brazil, Colombia and Peru just to name a few. The export to beef to developed countries such as USA, Canada and Japan is extremely profitable and brings in valuable revenue to poor South American countries. As a result, the Amazonian governments encourage cattle ranching by offering financial aid and tax rebates to cattle ranchers. This has resulted in extensive areas of the tropical rainforest being burnt and cut down so that grass and pasture can be grown for cattle.

In Colombia, Bolivia, Surinam and French Guiana, shifting cultivators clear the the rainforest to grow crops like maize and potatoes to feed their families.

In Brazil, peasants are given plots of land to clear for subsistence farming. The government hopes that they will grow food and become self sufficient.

The tropical rainforest has also been cleared in Ecuador, Peru and Brazil for plantation agriculture. Crops such as sugar cane, bananas and coffee are grown for sale.

Transport

The building of roads and the 3300 km east - west Transamazonia Highway have resulted in the extensive deforestation of the Brazilian part of the Amazon rainforest. The building of the highway has also made much of the interior of the tropical rainforest of the Amazon Basin more accessible to people. As a result, more areas of the rainforest have been cleared and developed for other land uses.

Natural Resources

The tropical rainforest of the Amazon Basin offers many valuable natural resources such as timber, mineral ores and oil. Extensive deforestation has resulted when these natural resources are extracted.

Timber

The rising demand in Japan, Germany, France, Italy and the USA and Canada for hardwoods has contributed to the extensive damage. In addition, the use of modern, efficient equipment such as chain-saws, bulldozers, trucks and tractors means that large areas of rainforest can be cleared rapidly in a fairly short time.

Mineral Ores

There are large deposits of gold, bauxite,, iron ore, tin ore and diamonds in the Amazon Basin. In order to extract these minerals, large areas of the forest have been cleared. For instance, about one-sixth of Brazil's tropical rainforest (900,000 km²) has been leared to mine the high quality iron ore found there.

Oil

Oil is being extracted from the Ecuador's tropical rainforest. More then 10,000 km² of the tropical rainforest have been cleared for this purpose as well as to build roads and refiniries for processing the crude oil.

South America and the Amazon Basin and rainforest

Manaus is Brazil being deforested to build houses.

Coffee Beans being dried and collected in Brazil

Cattle Ranching in the Lower Amazon Floodplains

The Transamazonian Highway in Brazil

Mineral Ore being extracted from the Amazon