View
217
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
8/4/2019 Conservation: What is It and How Does It Impact Rain Forests?
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/conservation-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-impact-rain-forests 1/6
CONSERVATION: WHAT IS IT AND
HOW DOES IT IMPACT
RAINFORESTS?
Carbon Central Network Pty Ltd. | http://carboncentralnetwork.com/
8/4/2019 Conservation: What is It and How Does It Impact Rain Forests?
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/conservation-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-impact-rain-forests 2/6
http://carboncentralnetwork.com/
Conservation is one of the primary buzzwords in the environmental
movement. However, what does conservation really mean in the sense of
environmental protection?
In short, conservation means the human inclination to defend any or all
individual species, habitats, ecosystems, biodiversity, and landscapes. All
these hierarchical levels of existence are intertwined and related. Minor
disruptions at any level can affect the larger scope of the environment as a
whole.
Conservation is about humans adopting a land ethic and a sense of
responsibility and stewardship towards the Earth to promote sustainability.
Healthy and stable environmental systems are self-regulating and
sustainable, where biological functions of life, death, and rebirth occur
unimpeded.
Conservation and protection efforts to maintain and stabilise the world‟s
rainforests and other ecosystems are a constant struggle. There is a very thin
line between conservation, protection, and economics. According to
Jacqueline Vaughn Switzer, American conservation in the early 1900s was
considered “planned and efficient progress” and in Europe, it was
“sustainable exploitation.”
Preservation efforts attempt to prevent all access and usage of natural
resources in a given area. It is a completely different philosophy than
conservation, which promotes renewal and sustainable uses.
In the global environmental community, the world‟s rainforests are at the
forefront of conservation and protection issues. There are many threats and
8/4/2019 Conservation: What is It and How Does It Impact Rain Forests?
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/conservation-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-impact-rain-forests 3/6
http://carboncentralnetwork.com/
forces working to disrupt the ecological balance of the rainforests.
THREATS TO RAINFORESTS
The rainforests, which in the past were often described as „jungles,‟ are at
constant risk. One of the greatest threats to the rainforests is “slash and
burn” agricultural practices, which destroy millions of hectares of rainforest
per year. Trees are cut down and burned to clear land for relatively short-
term agriculture production.
Relatively very small amounts of nutrients are in the rainforest soils
compared to soils in eastern United States deciduous forests. Most of the
rainforest nutrients are sequestered in the flora (plants), not in the soils.
As a result, slash and burn agricultural practices are viable for only a few
growing seasons before the soils are completely depleted of nutrients.
Subsequently, enormous amounts of synthetic fertilisers must be used to
maintain soil fertility.
Synthetic fertilisers are relatively expensive for slash and burn soil
restoration. So, rather than maintain soil fertility with the addition of
synthetic fertilisers and natural organic materials, yet another area is cleared
for agricultural purposes. Subsequently, each slash and burn area is
testament to poor rainforest and agricultural conservation practices.
Another major threat to rainforests is the logging industry and its harvesting
practices. Many exotic and valuable tree species grow in the rainforests.
Some logging practices can be very destructive and do not promote
sustainability.
8/4/2019 Conservation: What is It and How Does It Impact Rain Forests?
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/conservation-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-impact-rain-forests 4/6
http://carboncentralnetwork.com/
Timber companies selectively harvest many exotic tree species, which include
“mahogany, sapele, teak, meranti, greenheart and ramin” (Rainforest
Timber). These high-value trees are in great demand for many uses such as
flooring and furniture.
Selective harvesting leaves a wake of damaged trees and access roads, which
also contributes to rainforest destruction and loss. Sustainable silviculture
(sustainable tree farming) is not usually practiced to replenish the harvested
and damaged trees.
All too often, the immediate monetary payout is chosen over long-term
sustainability, viability, and the overall importance of rainforests in the
ecological network.
IMPORTANCE OF RAINFORESTS
The rainforests of the world are ecologically and environmentally
important for several reasons.
1. The plants produce large volumes of oxygen
2. The plants absorb, sequester, and utilise carbon dioxide
3. Rainforests contain the greatest amount of biological diversity on
Earth.
4. It is predicted that that there are many undiscovered species in the
rainforests.
5. It is predicted that many undiscovered medical breakthroughs are
hidden within the rainforests, in the form of currently unknown plant
8/4/2019 Conservation: What is It and How Does It Impact Rain Forests?
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/conservation-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-impact-rain-forests 5/6
http://carboncentralnetwork.com/
chemicals.
These attributes are necessary for a healthy planet and population. The
destruction and loss of the rainforest ecosystems will have severely adverse
effects on the entire Earth.
WORLD ECOSYSTEMS AT RISK
While the rainforests remain the greatest ecological concern, many other
ecosystems are at risk as well. Conservation, protection, preservation, and
economic forces clash to have superiority in addressing and obtaining their
personal, organisational, and industrial interests.
Sound environmental policy and management practices strive for a situationwhere all stakeholders benefit equally in the decision-making processes. Win-
win environmental scenarios are very difficult to negotiate, implement,
enforce, and sustain.
Strategic environmental management attempts to unite environmental
protection and economic growth in corporate philosophies. Strategic
management addresses social issues, labour relations, technologies,
consumer demand, materials, resources, and business competition.
All these factors are related to economics in the rainforests and other
ecosystems where resources are obtained.
ECONOMICS
The rainforests contain vast amounts of wealth in various global markets,
such as the timber industry, agriculture, and both legal and illegal plant,
animal, and bird exports.
8/4/2019 Conservation: What is It and How Does It Impact Rain Forests?
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/conservation-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-impact-rain-forests 6/6
http://carboncentralnetwork.com/
It is difficult to explain to subsistence farmers and poachers, who are trying
to provide for their families, that the rainforests are a vital link in the global
ecology that needs to be conserved and protected.
Conservationists and environmentalists are viewed as unwanted outsiders
who have no right to proclaim how subsistence farmers should conduct their
operations and earn their livelihoods.
Some countries, however, are developing sustainable economic plans for the
rainforest within their borders.
For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo has the largest tract of
tropical forest in Africa. The government is developing a sustainable model
for conservation and economic development. The plan includes logging zones,
community involvement in decision-making processes, and “capacity
building” (organisation and conservation management practices).
A BALANCING ACT
Many rainforest stakeholders including, indigenous people, subsistence
farmers, loggers, developers, conservationists, environmentalists, scientists,
and local, national, and international governments all have ideas and/or
solutions how the world‟s rainforests should be conserved, protected, used,
or exploited.
Conservation, protection, and economic growth are a precarious balancing
act. It will be difficult to have a situation where every stakeholder wins. In
the end, there will be winners and losers.
Recommended