There is nothing like the Amazon rainforest. In terms of its size and diversity there are no other place on earth like it. Inhabited by one in ten known species, half the planet’s tropical forests stretching over 40% of South America. There is a clear link between the Amazon’s health and the world’s health, because the massive amounts of carbon in the rainforest help stabilize the global climate. The deforestation of the rainforest that is happening can have catastrophic consequences on a global level. This article will discuss this link between the rainforest and global climate change and offer suggestions to help the crisis we are facing.
In the 20th century Brazil faced a rapidly growing population, and part of the population settled and cleared large parts of the Amazon to create farmlands and obtain lumber. Over 4 million square km of rainforest covered Brazil in 1970, however by 2016 that number had decreased by almost 1 million square km. Although the pace of rainforest loss has declined due to international pressure and government action, the last ten years there have been massive amounts of fires in the Amazon, which was encouraged by the former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro during his time in power and who is a strong supporter of tree clearing.
The consequences of tree clearing in the Amazon are huge. The carbon dioxide the millions of trees and plants in the Amazon absorbs and store plays a large part in the cooling of the planet. The deforestation of 20% of the Amazon the last 50 years has changed the average temperature drastically and dramatically changed rainfall patterns. The temperature will rise 2-3 degrees by 2050 and more frequent and longer dry months will lead to widespread drying.
The largest actors in the situation is the Brazilian government, and during the former President Jair Bolsonaro's government, Brazil saw its highest loss of rainforest in a decade. He opened the rainforest to industry, letting in loggers and miners do as they pleased to supply the global demand. The agriculture business represents almost a quarter of the country’s GDP, and has considerable political power and leverage, and they found an ally in Bolsonaro.
The push into the Amazon is also because of demand from abroad. Brazil exports millions of tons of soy, especially to China, and billions of dollars’ worth of beef to the global market. Many blame Bolsonaro for the increase in deforestation with his view of the rainforest as a resource to be exploited. Scientists are warning that the increase in deforestation is bringing the Amazon to a tipping point, fearing the rainforest will turn into a savanna. The main topic that needs to be addressed to help the situation in the rainforest is plain and simple: deforestation.
Proposed Solutions
Addressing deforestation is the most important point when we’re talking about the Amazon rainforest. The obvious solution is working to end deforestation and helping to restore lost forest to help the climate situation. The reason for deforestation in the Amazon is agribusiness, which are large corporations in agriculture. If these corporations have the power to destroy the rainforest, it also has the power to save it. They can make policies to hold suppliers accountable for their production of wood, beef and soy. They must make sure suppliers are following through on these “zero-deforestation” promises. The companies should instead use recycled materials in production, with assurances that all the materials follow environmental standards.
Another way is to increase productivity and usability of the current deforested land to lessen future deforestation. This means more productive usage of farms, pastures and plantations to diminish the need to clear more forest. To do this more improved technology needs to be used to yield more crops and then make the farmland more effectively used. Furthermore, when it comes to pastures, using alternative technologies such as non-tilling farming might increase productivity.
Developing a new policy for conservation might be the best way to sustain and help the rainforest. In practice this means sustainable development, or in other words meeting human development goals while also providing natural resources based on what the economy needs. It is estimated that more land was under cultivation in the Amazon when Columbus arrived than is cultivated today. These forms of agriculture are possible while still considering sustainable development for the rainforest. We can learn and incorporate indigenous methods of agriculture to increase productivity and sustain the forest better, while avoiding the destruction of it.
Furthermore, there is a desperate need for a new form of forestry that doesn’t look at the rainforest only existing to serve our demands and never run out. Many tropical countries in Latin America have good forestry laws, however they lack the capacity to enforce them. This gives the loggers free reign to cut trees freely because there’s much to gain, but not much to lose. Illegal logging is also a large problem in the countries that poorly protect the forest, with a World Bank estimate of 10-15 billion annually generated. This is hurting the government as this industry is tax free money that could otherwise be used to enforce the forestry laws better. Certain actions can be taken, like restricting trade of certain tree species and
government ending the subsidies to the logging industry to reflect the true costs of harvesting. Lastly, to minimize environmental damage to the forests, introducing a reduced impact logging policy would help the soil and forest stands. Rather than focus on short term profit, the industry should focus on maintaining the rainforests health
Since much of the Brazilian Amazon essentially is an open access resource, there is little incentive to use it in a sustainable matter. When the land is no longer viable for a farmer, they simply just move on to another land by burning the forest and establish cattle on the land. These practices should be restricted by law. However, the environmental agency that’s supposed to maintain these laws in Brazil is criminally underfunded. The agency estimates that 80% of the logging in the Amazon is illegal, however it doesn’t have the funding or the authority to act on it. So, they will need more resources. Any way we look at it, there needs to be a response from the international community putting pressure on the Brazilian government to create and uphold sustainable laws to stop deforestation and still make it economically viable for farmers. If we hope for a healthy future for ourselves and future generations, action needs to be taken to save the rainforest.
Counterarguments
An argument on the other side of the debate is that deforestation in the Amazon leads to long-term development. However, it seems that deforestation leads to rapid development short term, but long term the development staggers even behind national averages when loggers move on to the next spot. Also looking at the argument, it’s mostly looking at human development and quality of life, not the environmental argument. Foresting and burning the Amazon to make way for cattle and soy farms is not profitable in the long run and big companies start moving elsewhere. What’s needed is to make the resources in the rainforest more profitable alive rather than dead.
It’s also a question and debate about states sovereignty. As the Amazon rainforest is located inside different states’ borders, these areas are naturally the countries properties, and based on the Westphalian system no other state should intervene. However, the paradox here is that the Amazon rainforest is something that has value to the whole world, not just Latin American countries. It should not be owned by just some states, but every country on earth should have a say in what happens to the rainforest.
Looking at the economic argument, this industry in the Amazon very important because it gives jobs to thousands of farmers, miners, loggers etc. Furthermore, it’s one of the largest industries, especially in Brazil where it generates billions of dollars each year. However, the destruction of the rainforest would change all that. Scientists in Brazil estimated the cost of the dieback scenario, in which 20 to 25 percent of the rainforest were to be lost. The estimates were between 957 billion to 3.59 trillion dollars. Efforts to stop this from happening were significantly less. Finding alternative ways of profiting of the Amazon without hurting it is extremely important.
Conclusion
In this article, the importance of the Amazon rainforest to the world climate and the consequences of deforestation have been covered. The modern history and human usage of the Amazon, specifically looking at deforestation, have also been examined. Furthermore, it has been argued that the main goal should be to end or at least control deforestation to help lessen the climate crisis, and examples of possible conservation methods to more effectively use the deforested land have been given. Additionally, the problems that countries are facing with enforcing rainforest laws and the need for the international community to do more to pressure governments to uphold sustainable laws have been discussed. Finally, some of the arguments made in the assignment have been defended by looking at arguments on the other side of the debate.
Bibliography
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Sandy, Matt. 5/12/19, “The Amazon is completely lawless: The Rainforest after Bolsonaro’s first year”, retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/world/americas/amazon-fires-bolsonaro-photos.html
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