Nathan Torres

Professor Laszlo Mariahazy

Geography 180
25 October 2015
Rainforests
Rainforests can be found on every continent except for Antarctica. The two major types
of rainforests are temperate rainforests and tropical rainforests. Temperate rainforests are
described as being cool with lots of rain, while tropical rainforests are described as being warm
and wet with lots of rain as well. Rainforests can be found all over the world however "countries
with significant deforestation include Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, the Democratic Republic of
Congo and other parts of Africa, and parts of Eastern Europe." It is said that "some 46-58
thousand square miles of forest are lost each year-equivalent to 36 football fields every minute."
In other words, the rainforest is being greatly diminished. The reason for deforesting rainforests
are logging, mining and industrial development, agriculture, and tourism. Logging is considered
to be "the biggest single agent of tropical deforestation." Logging is when "companies cut down
mature trees that have been selected for their timber." This timber is then traded for a profit.
Often, a large part of the rainforest is destroyed in order to remove a few logs. The machinery
used to deforest these trees can cause a lot of damage. The heavy machinery also compacts the
soil making it harder for the trees to grow back. "Removing a felled tree from the forest causes
even further destruction, especially when it is carried out carelessly. It is believed that in many
South East Asian countries between 45-74% of trees remaining after logging have been
substantially damaged or destroyed." Logging also helps the building of roads which are used by
the farmers in order to access different areas of the rainforest. These farmers then use a slash and

burn technique, which is when farmers "cut down and burn land for cultivation, and then, when
the plot becomes infertile, the farmers move to a new fresh plot and do the same again." They do
this in order to grow food for their families. Mining and industrial development is another
reason for the deforestation of rainforests. "Mining and industrial development lead to direct
forest loss due to the clearing of land to establish projects." Due to this, many of the indigenous
people are moved. Mining also causes water, air, and land pollution which is also very harmful
to the environment and to the indigenous people. Agriculture also plays a huge part in the
deforestation of the rainforest. Shifted cultivators are the people who play a major role in
agriculture of the rainforest. Shifted cultivators are the "people who have moved into rainforest
areas and established small-scale farming operations. These are the landless peasants who have
followed roads into already damaged rainforest areas. The additional damage they are causing is
extensive... they are blamed for 60% of tropical forest loss." Although they are blamed for
deforestation, many believe they are the scapegoats, and that the real culprits of deforestation are
slash-and burn farmers. Tourism also plays a part in the deforestation of the rainforest. "Often,
national parks are advertised to tourists before adequate management plans have been developed
and implemented...Government see tourism as an easy way to make money, and therefore
tourism is encouraged whilst strict management strategies are given far less government
support." Some tourism, such as ecotourism, also known as environmentally friendly tourism,
helps the tourists learn more about the environment. However, many of the companies and
resorts that run these tours are often using the environment for profit. In the rainforests, they are
clearing it for roads and waterways and also causing pollution. However they need to do this in
order for the tourists. The companies often do these things before having a plan in order to get
the money as quick as possible. An example of this can be seen with "The Wet Tropics

Management Authority which oversees the surrounding World Heritage Area is promoting
tourism to the area before any management plans have been formulated, before any effective
waste management strategy has been devised and before any ecofriendly power alternatives have
been fully explored." Logging, mining and industrial development, agriculture, and tourism are
some of the biggest reasons for the deforestation of the rainforests.
Everyday, we are losing a portion of the rainforests. It is said that "rainforests once
covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the
last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years, (as of December 21st,
2012)." With every passing second, more and more rainforests are being destroyed due to its
value, "one and one-half acres of rainforest are lost every second with tragic consequences for
both developing and industrial countries." We are slowly losing the rainforests due to the dollar
value associated with the rainforests. The ways the rainforest is being used to make a profit is
through cattle ranching, logging, agriculture, mining, oil companies, and dams. Many rainforests
primarily in Central and South America are being burnt down in order to make room for cattle
farming. This cattle farming is then used to supply North America, China, and Russia with cheap
beef. It is estimated that "for each pound of beef produced, 200 square feet of rainforest is
destroyed." In order for cattle farming, the slash and burn technique needs to be used and "it is
believed to account for 50% of rainforest destruction." When using the slash and burn technique,
"the land cannot be used for long: the soil is of poor quality and, without the forest, quickly
becomes very dry...the grass often dies after only a few years and the land becomes a crusty
desert." Due to this, when the cattle farmers are done with one part of the rainforest, they move
on to another part and destroy that part of the rainforest in order for new cattle pastures. This
endless cycle of destroying is one of the reasons for the deforestation of the rainforests. The

second largest cause is logging. Many timber companies cut down the trees in the rainforest
such as mahogany and teak and then sell them to countries. These countries in turn make
furniture and other items out of the wood. The smaller trees in the rainforest can be used for
production of charcoal. This destroys the rainforest and "vast areas of rainforest are cut in one
go (clear felling) and the most valuable trees are selected for timber, leaving the others for wood
chipping." In order for the trees to be cut, they need to create roads. The roads are also a
problem within themselves and lead to further deforestation. Agriculture is another reason for
the deforestation of the rainforest. We get many of our fruits and cereals from the rainforest. In
order to obtain these fruits and cereals however, the forests are cut down and plantations take
their place. Within these plantations, many products are grown such as "bananas, palm oil,
pineapple, sugar cane, tea, and coffee." Just like cattle farming, the soil used for these crops does
not last long, so in a short time, the farmers need to move on and deforest more of the rainforest
in order to create new plantations. Another way to make profit from the rainforest that deforests
it as well is mining. In the grounds below the rainforest, many minerals and metals can be found
such as "diamonds, oil, aluminum, copper, and gold." In order to extract these minerals and
metals, the rainforests have to be removed and poisonous chemicals need to be used. An
example is "mercury, which is used to separate gold from the soil and debris with which it is
mixed." Although these chemicals are effective at removing the minerals from the soil, it often
gets into rivers and pollutes the water. Water which people and animals live on. Oil companies
also make a profit on the rainforest however at a cost to the well being of the rainforest. Oil
companies are constantly searching for oil deposits in the rainforest. In order to do this, large
roads are built throughout the rainforest which means destruction of trees. These large roads
then help build oil pipelines in order to extract the oils in the rainforest. Once the oil pipelines

are built, "the oil often rupture, spouting gallons of oil into the surrounding forest, killing
wildlife and contaminating the water supplies of local villages." Dams are another way to make
money off the rainforest while destroying it at the same time. Dams are often built in the
rainforest in order to generate electricity. This often leads to flooding of the rainforest. Dams in
the rainforest do not last long and "often have a short life because the submerged forest gradually
rots, making the reservoir water acidic, which eventually corrodes the dam turbines." The
flooding dams create are often caused by soil, which block the dams and in turn, flood the forest
killing many animals and insects. Logging, agriculture, mining, oil companies, and dams are
some of the ways people make profit over the deforestation of the rainforest.
There are many rainforests throughout the world. Rainforests can be found in Central
America, the Amazon, Africa, Southern Asia, and Australasia. The question is, who is in control
of these rainforests? For example, the Amazon Rainforest, the largest rainforest, who controls it?
It is said that "the Brazilian government possesses the territory where the Amazon Rainforest is
located." This is partly due to the fact that most of the Amazon Rainforest is located within
Brazil. However, the "Treaty of Tordesillas stipulated that lands located in the unexplored region
of the planet near Brazil belonged to the Kingdom of Portugal." People were saying that the
whole Amazon Rainforest did not belong to Brazil because they only have a portion of it in their
country. They stated that they could not have complete ownership over it due to the "Columbus
complex," which is the idea that "the first discoverer of a new, unowned island or continent can
rightfully own the entire area by simply asserting his claim." In other words, Brazil does not
control the whole Amazon Rainforest. So getting back to the question, who owns the
rainforests? The simple answer is the country in which the rainforest is in, should take
ownership of the rainforest and help control it. Now when talking about what organizations and

corporate entities control the rainforest, it can be seen that many logging, mining, and oil
companies control the rainforests. This is due to money. The loggers, miners, and oil companies
exploit the rainforests for money, so one can say that, in reality, it is the big companies who own
the rainforests. The control status is changing, it is said that "if corporations have the power to
destroy the world's forests, they also have the power to help save them...companies can make an
impact by introducing zero deforestation policies and cleaning up their supply chains."
Hopefully, in the near future, corporations can cut back on the deforestation of the rainforests.
With the deforestation of the rainforests come repercussions. With the deforestation of
rainforests, it is mostly effecting the plant, animal, insect, and indigenous people that are living
in the rainforests. It is estimated that "we are losing 137 plant, animal, and insect species every
single day due to rainforest deforestation. That equates to 50,000 species a year. As the
rainforest species disappear, so do many possible cures for life threatening diseases." Many
plants are being destroyed due to deforestation. These plants are important to us because they
are used in prescriptions drugs. Currently, "121 prescription drugs sold worldwide come from
plant-derived sources. While 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest
ingredients, less than 1% of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists." Some
of the plants in the rainforest are also known to fight cancer cells, with "The U.S. national
Cancer Institute identifying 3000 plants that are active against cancer cells...Twenty-five percent
of the active ingredients in today's cancer-fighting drugs come from organisms found only in the
rainforest." Due to the deforestation, many indigenous tribes are also being destroyed. In Brazil,
"European colonists have destroyed more than 90 indigenous tribes since the 1900's." With the
destruction of these tribes, also comes the disappearance of knowledge of the rainforest.
Although there are still some tribes, "most medicine men and shamans remaining in the

rainforests today are 70 years old or more. Each time a rainforest medicine man dies, it is as if a
library has burned down." When a medicine man dies, so does irreplaceable knowledge. With
the deforestation of the rainforests, also comes the environmental damage. For example, the
Amazon Rainforest is often described as being the "Lungs of our Planet, because it provides the
essential environmental worlds service of continuously recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen."
In the Amazon Basin, exists "one-fifth of the world's fresh water," in other words if this water
were to become polluted due to deforestation, a lot of our fresh water would be gone. A lot of
the fruits we eat, come from the tropical rainforest. Some of the fruits are "avocados, coconuts,
figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, etc." With the deforestation of the
rainforest, we would lose the history of these fruits. In efforts to try and stop the deforestation of
the rainforest, many people are speaking out and relying on the power of money. In order to help
the rainforest "we can all use the power of our purchases to put pressure on companies that have
bad environmental practices... By buying recycled or certified wood products, only supporting
brands with zero deforestation policies...we can send a message loud and clear that companies
need to be part of the effort to create a deforestation-free future." In order to stop deforestation,
the government also needs to step in. They need to use laws that help protect the rainforests and
the animals, plants, and people living in them. There are steps being done in order to put a halt
to the massive deforestation of the rainforest. Hopefully, in the near future, our rainforests will
stop being ruined and become a beautiful part of our history once again.
I am against the deforestation of the rainforests. I believe with the amount of damage
these corporations are causing to the animals, people, and plants living in the rainforest, that the
money they are making from it is not worth it. The rainforest is a beautiful part of the world that

was put here on Earth for us people to admire and use with respect, not to tear it down and
exploit for its resources.

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