PEOPLE AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT

Managing Rain Forests

• More than 13 percent of the Amazon rain forest has been destroyed for roads, settlements, and mining.

• Deforestation threatens the lifestyles of indigenous people and risks the extinction of many species of plants and animals that grow or live nowhere else.

• Latin American rain forests are gradually disappearing.

Causes of Deforestation

• The most direct causes of deforestation include:– logging– the conversion of forested lands for

agriculture – cattle-raising – urbanization– mining and oil exploitation– acid rain and fire

Managing Rain Forests (cont.)

• Brazil and other rain forest countries are working to provide for the needs of their populations–living space and natural resources–without further destroying the rain forest.

• As the rain forest is depleted, there are fewer trees to absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is increasingly trapping more heat in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.

• Farms and Ranches Versus Forests Slash-and-burn farming–clearing land by cutting and burning vegetation–results in depleted soil that can be used for only a year or two.

• Farmers and ranchers then move on and clear more land.

Managing Rain Forests (cont.)

• Brazil has set aside about 10 percent of its Amazon rain forest for national forests or parks in which logging is banned.

• Citizens in Costa Rica are working to conserve their forests, as well.

• Reforestation, along with new farming, mining, and logging methods can protect the forests.

• Planting for the Future Commercial logging operations also destroy the rain forest.

Managing Rain Forests (cont.)