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Brazil 23.5-23.5 north and south of equator

Cutting down, burning and damaging forests

In 100 years rainforests will be gone

2006, 13100sq km chopped down

Used for intensive agriculture, logging and settlement

Brazil second largest producer of soya after USA for livestock feed

Increasing worldwide demand for soya means soya plantations contributing to loss of 40 hectares of rainforest every minute.

High use of agrichemicals e.g. fertilisers and pesticides.

These chemicals run off into rivers increasing acidity levels.

Threatens survival of plants and fish

Use of heavy machinery loosens soil and increases soil erosion

Animals and plants that are native cannot survive these plantations and so natural ecological balance is disrupted or destroyed.

Commercial logging cutting down trees for timber and pulp

Brazilian government wants to open rainforest to take advantage of its timber wealth.

Logging can occur selectively where only valuable trees e.g. tank, mahogany or selected or by clear cutting where all trees are cut down.

Brazilian government sells logging concessions to raise money to pay off international debt or to develop industry.

Roads are being built across the Amazon rainforest to allow access to logging companies

To construct these large areas of rainforest have to be felled

Trans-Amazonian highway a 5,300km long road built across Brazil from east to west is the longest.

Highway was built to facilitate logging companies but also to encourage settlement away from the coast.

New capital city Brasilia built in 1957-1960 in heart of Amazon rainforest.

Encourage settlement in the region.

Today population 2.3 million

To construct this city large area of forests cleared.

Unlimited water supply and ideal river conditions led to construction of 125 HEP stations.

Over 125 stations have been built in the Rainforest.

E.g. Tucuri Dam which caused over 2,500sq km rainforest to be flooded.

More than 8,000 people lost their homes and thousands of animals were killed

Rainforests disappearing at 40 hectares per minute, having negative effect

Loss of many species of plants is bad as some contain chemicals that could lead to curses for certain diseases e.g. AIDS and cancer

Many common drugs from rainforest e.g. aspirin

Curare- tropical vine- muscle relaxer, anaesthetic

Quiona-cinchona- malaria

Loss of trees leads to global warming

Burning of forest adds to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

Removing forest, destroying carbon sink

Carbon sink thing where carbon dioxide is taken away from the air

Plants act as carbon sinks and they use carbon dioxide from the air

When a forest is cleared, nutrient cycle is destroyed

Remaining soil can be easily washed away by heavy rain

As result of high temperatures, exposed soil is backed in the sun into a hard brick-life surface which cannot support plant growth.

This is called laterite which is useless for farming

Settlers persuaded by the government to leave the cities and settles in these areas find the land that they hoped to work is useless.

Many move back to the cities