Sustainability in the Amazon

746 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on deforestation in brazil

A main concern with introducing sustainable practices is the cost; will be more expensive? Reduced-impact logging was found to be 12% cheaper than past conventional logging practices (Conservation 2011). The Brazilian government has established several national forests, known as FLONAs, in the Amazon Basin. A private logging company called Treviso carried out the timber extraction on the International Tropical Timber Organization’s (ITTO) project (Bacha 2007). This project took place in Flona Tapajos. The project in the Tapajos was designed to collect information about the profitability of and impact on local residents from RIL (Bacha 2007). The idea of reduced-impact logging practices has been met with resistance, as many people who benefit from harvesting timber from the Amazon questioned whether it would still be profitable. The Brazilian government wanted to show its support by introducing RIL sites, so split the Flona Tapajos into nine zones, one of which would be an RIL operation from 1999-2003 (Bacha 2007). To evaluate the profitability of this project, the average cost of the RIL operation was estimated, and included pre-harvesting activities, the costs of labor and machinery during the harvesting, and other general expenses such as wages, roads planning, and mapping (Bacha 2007).
At the end of the four-year period, it was found that the total costs and revenue from this RIL operation ended up being “more profitable than the most profitable cattle project studied in the Amazon River Basin,” (Bacha 2007). From a purely monetary standpoint, the RIL enterprise proved that a sustainable operation could be profitable, and even be more profitable than an agricultural practice, while still complying with Brazilian environmental ...

... middle of paper ...

...auch, S. (2006). Industrial development on logging frontiers in the Brazilian Amazon. International Journal of Sustainable Development, 9(3), 277-296.

Pyne, Solana (2010, October 20). Brazil offers up land for logging. Global Post. Retrieved from http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/brazil/101019/logging-amazon-rainforest?page=0,0

Serrao, E.S., Nepstad, D., & Walker, R. (1996). Upland agriculture and forestry development in the Amazon: sustainability, criticality and resilience. Ecological Economics, 18(1), 3-13.

Thurston, H. W., & Burness, H. (2006). Promoting sustainable logging in Brazil’s national forests: Tax revenue for an indemnity fund. Forest Policy & Economics, 9(1), 50-62. doi:10.1016/j.forpol.2005.02.003

Wallace, Scott. Farming the Amazon. National Geographic. Retrieved from http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/last-of-amazon/

Show More
Related

  • Toulmin Analysis of Daniel Pinchbeck's Breaking Open the Head

    1840 Words  | 4 Pages

    Wright, David, Heather LaRocca, and Grant DeJongh. "Global Problems." The Amazonian Rainforest: Forest to Farmland? The University of Michigan, 2007. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

    Read More

  • Reforestation In The Tropical Rainforest

    1245 Words  | 3 Pages

    The efforts required by reforestation may not initially be cost effective, but it will result in not only the survivability of the environment, but of the country’s economy. Widespread awareness of these ideas will help fight against the natural human tendency towards instant gratification and short-term goals. Different methods of logging can be utilized to allow the rainforests to survive and regrow naturally and at a sustainable

    Read More

  • Deforestation In Costa Rica Essay

    653 Words  | 2 Pages

    Deforestation in Costa Rica is done for many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is for economical gain. Costa Rica is a third world country so money for the government is tight. “Wood is very easy to extract and tends to have a very high value”(PersonalColby). And because most of Costa Rica is a dense rainforest, the use of the wood for money is being used. The deforestation of Costa Rica affects the rest of the world because with the removal of the forests also comes the destruction of the ways we regain oxygen after exhaling carbon dioxide. “The resource of wood is know as a renewable and nonrenewable resource” (fao). This is because the tree is a plant and another one can grow, but not at the speed in which humans right now use the wood. “It takes within 65 years for a small region of a rainforest to regenerate”(rainforestmaker).

    Read More

  • Deforestation In The Amazon Rainforest

    958 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Amazon Rain Forest Is in Danger of Being Destroyed" by Devadas Vittal. Rain Forests. HaiSong Harvey, Ed. At Issue Series. Greenhaven Press, 2002. Reprinted from Devadas Vittal, Introduction: What Is the Amazon Rainforest? Internet: http://www.homepages.go.com/homepages/d/v/i/dvittal/amazon/intro.html, November 1999, by permission of the author. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Viewpoints&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010021212&mode=view

    Read More

  • Rainforests In The Amazon Rainforest

    1334 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many rainforests in the world but one of the biggest one is the Amazon rainforest, which is located in the northern half of South America and lies in the countries of Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia. The Amazon also lies in between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. The size of the Amazon resembles the size of the United States from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. Since this rain forest lies next to the Equator, the climate is warm and humid. The average temperature is in between sixty-eight to ninety- three degrees. The Amazon has two seasons but each one is six months each. They are classified as the wet season and the dry season. The wet season occurs between December to May and the dry season occurs between June to November. The average rainfall is fifty to two hundred and sixty inches per year. The forest floor only gets up to two to five percent of sunlight since the canopy blocks the sunlight from getting to the forest floor. The Amazon rain forest got the nickname, the world’s pharmacy, because many medicines have been found in the tree bark, the tree’s leaves, and other parts of the trees.

    Read More

  • Cattle Ranching in the Brazilian Amazon

    2240 Words  | 5 Pages

    Hijjar, Reem, David G. McGrath, Robert A. Kozak, and John L. Innes. "Framing Community Forestry Challenges with a Broader Lens: Case Studies from the Brazilian Amazon." Journal of Environmental Management 92 (2011): 2159-169. ScienceDirect. 06 May 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.

    Read More

  • Possible Solutions of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon

    2778 Words  | 6 Pages

    ... laws, eradicate corruption and try to strictly secure whole Amazon with strict punishments for criminals. To be capable to do this, there must be vast advertisement program, which may interest a lot of people. There are limitations in research such as real condition and a number of indigenous people, because it is estimated that about 50 indigenous tribes are totally isolated from civilization and there are limitations in research in real condition of food and raw materials in supply chain of large companies. This is because any shoe, portion of beef or timber materials that we purchase every day can be illegally exported from Brazil and there must be strict control of global organizations. In addition, there are recommendations of subsequent surveys in improving agriculture and finding more sustainable nutrients which would allow using lands for longer period.

    Read More

  • Sustainability in Indonesia´s Rainforest

    2489 Words  | 5 Pages

    The concept of ‘Just Sustainability’ incorporates not only environmental sustainability but also a need to strive towards social justice and equity. According to Agyeman sustainability is “the need to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, while living within the limits of supporting ecosystems.” (Agyeman et al. 2003 as cited in Agyeman 2005: 43) Both the desire for sustainability and development can be cause for many social justice and human equity issues, but in order to fulfil the idea of ‘Just Sustainability,’ all of these things need to be taken into account. (Agyeman 2005: 43) An example of how social justice and equity needs to be addressed alongside a sustainability plan for the environment is the deforestation of rainforests in Indonesia.

    Read More

  • Destruction of the Amazon Rainforest

    1772 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...e reformed to produce more efficient and less harmful means of using resources in the Amazon while also producing new industries to help stimulate these developing countries’ economies.

    Read More

  • Great Apes Essay

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    The devastating effects of hunting are made worse by logging companies that “provide the physical and social infrastructure for this anarchic exploitation. They supply the roads, workers, and ammunition to carry out this growing un-policed commercial enterprise. In the case of the Brazilian Amazon, the building of major roads for loggers to enter inaccessible regions has caused major forest loss, which directly threatens primate populations.

    Read More

  • Congo Basin Rainforest

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    Illegal logging has been a growing problem in rainforests such as the Congo Basin. People go there to illegally find profit everyday. This, in turn, leads to rapid deforestation. Preventing illegal logging in the Congo Basin needs to be the first action firmly put into place in the long line of strategies that would help conserve this mighty forest. Putting this action into effect will allow residents of the forest to obtain resources easier, allow agencies to use methods of tree removal that will lessen the impact on the forest, and finally will save animals in the area that are already endangered.

    Read More

  • Deforestation Benefits

    1419 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tropical forests provide important renewable resources that can contribute significantly to national economic growth on a continuing basis. Forests products like fruits and timber play a crucial role in the economy of developing countries. Deforestation by means such as logging and cattle ranching is also economically profitable and lucrative. The forest produce generates more than $120 billion, in reported income in the late 2000s, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation. Hence this shows that there are indeed benefits that rainforest can bring to the human

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay: Should The Government Have A Wildfire?

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    ”(United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization). The government needs to take action and make illegal logging have a stricter punishment against it because this is causing severe deforestation problems in Brazil and the Amazon is getting alot smaller each

    Read More

  • Climate Change In The Amazon Rainforest

    732 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Amazon Rainforest is the world's largest tropical rainforest that we have today on our planet. It covers a wide range expanding almost entirely across from East to West of South America. It is most famous for its broad biodiversity and includes the famous Amazon River that is home to rare and diverse species. Today, the Amazon Rainforest is under threat of complete deforestation and has greatly lost more than half of its tropical rainforest due to cattle ranching, soy bean farming, sugar cane plantations, palm oil and biofuel agriculture. The indigenous people are doing their best to fight against the government to protect their land and conserve the rainforest but without capital finance, it is seeming to be an impossible project.

    Read More

  • Impact of Deforestation on the Earth

    1391 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fearnside, Philip M. "Deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia: History, Rates, and Consequences." Conservation Biology 19.3 (2005): 680-688. Print.

    Read More

More about Sustainability in the Amazon

Open Document