Vincent J.
Bunke
Geography Writing Assignment 2
Brazil
June 1, 2009
Brazil’s countryside is blessed with the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world.
Boasting roughly one third of the earth’s remaining rainforests with more than 56,000
identified species of plants, 1,700 species of birds695 amphibians, 578 mammals, and
651 reptiles. ([Link]/[Link]) The majority of forest cover in
Brazil is located in the Amazon Basin, which is a collection of ecosystems and includes
types of vegetation such as rainforests, deciduous forests, seasonal forests, flooded
forests, and savannahs. This area is extremely important to the world due to the amount
of carbon the trees retain as well as the conversion of vast amounts of carbon dioxide into
oxygen. Also, rainforests contain many undiscovered tree species, which could be the
used to develop new medicines.
This land has experienced much degradation due to deforestation. Since 1970, the
area (Amazon Basin) has lost over 600,000 square kilometers of forest. The impetuses
for such degradation stem mostly from economic (“development”) motives. Specifically,
activities causing deforestation include clearing for cattle pasture, colonization (followed
by agriculture), infrastructure improvements, commercial agriculture, and logging. As a
result of these activities, factors such as soil, vegetation, and biodiversity have been
destroyed. The soil is exhausted quickly. Transient farmers clear land in the jungle via
massive conflagrations and use this land for only a year or two, then when the soil is
leached of its nutrients, and they move on, deeper into the forest. Farmers also affect
biodiversity in the Amazon Basin by removing an extremely diverse ecosystem of plants
and animals, and in their place plant one or two species of crops. After the farmers leave,
and the secondary forest begins to sprout, the vegetation in this new forest is usually of
the same species. Cleared land unable to yield cash crops can either go to waste or can
be used for cattle pastureland. Soil can become compacted to a cement-like surface when
the land is used as a pastureland due to the gratuitous weight of hundreds (maybe
thousands) of cows. The logging industry is required by Brazilian law to only cut trees
from designated areas. They are also required to have licenses. However, in practice,
these laws are rarely enforced and illegal logging is not uncommon. Logging companies
cut down vast areas, which results in erosion of up to 40 tons of soil per acre. Trees that
are commercially valuable are usually spread randomly throughout the rain forest;
therefore, many of the trees these companies cut down are of no commercial value!
Many factors drive the degradation of Brazil’s forests, most of which are
economic and political. Government policy in Brazil has had a huge impact on the
proliferation of the deforestation. Taxation policies, government subsidized agriculture,
colonization programs, and even monetary policy have encouraged the devastation of the
Amazon. Taxation and agricultural subsidies artificially increases the value of
pasturelands. When pastureland is portrayed to be more valuable than forested land then
profiteers clear the forest. Forest clearing is seen as a good hedge against inflation. The
devaluation of the real: Brazil’s currency against the dollar (making Brazilian exports
cheaper) creates incentives for cattle ranchers to expand. Infrastructure projects such as
the Trans-Amazonian Highway exacerbate deforestation because it provides access into
the Amazon Basin for people and industry. Commodity prices, especially soybeans and
sugar cane, have influenced deforestation because they entice farmers to produce these
highly profitable resources. Colonization is another factor causing problems in the
Amazon Basin. The government offers incentives for poor people to move from the
cities or countryside to clear once forested lands and do something with it (usually raise
cattle). The squatters earn ownership and a right to sell this land after 5 years.
Agricultural Certification could assist in the reduction of clearing for cattle pasture.
Some efforts have been made to save Brazil’s rainforests. The Brazilian
Constitution, set forth in 1988, allocates about 12% of the country’s total land and 26.4%
of the Amazon Basin to the indigenous Indians of the area. Additionally, the country
plans to add 190,000 square mile of forests to the Amazon Region Protected Areas
(ARPA) during the next 10 years.
The destruction of Brazil’s forests and the Amazon Basin is destroying the
nation’s (and the world’s) environment at an unprecedented rate. I believe that sooner or
later the rest of the world will realize the adverse effects of these careless, gluttonous
practices and rich countries will eventually buy rights to retain the rainforests and the
sweet, sweet oxygen they provide. Brazil is allowing this in order to develop their
economy, but all the money in the world can’t replace the degraded soil, lost species of
plants and animals, and the ecological services that only a healthy rainforest can provide.
All things considered, it will be interesting (in a scary way) to see what happens in the
next 50 years.