Student Article High School Science Journal Author: Liora Jaffe

Deforestation of the rainforest

August 05, 2007

There are two well known rainforests in the world; the African rainforest and the Amazon rainforest. There are, however many others like the one found in Asia. The definition of a rainforest is a dense forest that gets at least 8 feet of rain per year. These forests are home to millions of different species of animals, insects, and plans all of which depend on the delicate ecosystem that can be found in these vast forests. The rainforest is an immense natural resource for everything from medicine to makeup, but in our modern world these forests are being destroyed for capitalistic gain.

      One way the Rainforest is being destroyed is by the harvesting of lumber.   Some of the wood harvested is Mahogany and Teak, both of which are considered to be very valuable. Logging companies cut down huge groves of these kinds of trees, leaving other organisms that relied on the trees to die out. Humans destroy over 150 acres of rainforest each minute for wood. When it rains and there are no trees nor other plants to anchor the soil , earth erodes in places it normally wouldn’t, washing rich top soil, ideal for growing plants, into near by rivers and streams.

      Rainforests are home to thousands of different crops like bananas, coconuts, and citrus fruits. It seems ridiculous that a place that naturally holds so much value for its crops is being cut down or even burned and in place of “cash crops” like coffee. Unfortunately forest being cut down in certain areas is not the only problem with this farming. Pesticides are also used on these crops, which aid in the extinction of some species when you take away their initial food source and permit them from feeding on the new crop. These pesticides, especially the ones used in banana plantations in the Amazon, flow into nearby rivers which have killed thousands of fish living in the water. In the end, this rich soil deteriorates rather quickly because there is nothing keeping it nourished. This land is usually abandoned, leaving barren land where vast numbers of organisms had once lived because it can take up to 60 years for a rainforest to regrow trees.

      Deforestation in these regions is also done in order to clear land to make grazing pastures for cattle. Since the soil is very rich in the rain forest, grass is planted for grazing cattle. The cattle is later sold to places like America where it is then used for meat. This type of deforestation is arguably the worst because it uses none of the natural entities growing in the rainforest and replaces them with grass for cows instead. After approximately five years the soil becomes unusable for grazing and has to be abandoned. This land has little chance of supporting a rain forest life because most of the topsoil has been washed away.

      Only 20% of ancient rainforests exist today. But even though the rainforest is constantly being destroyed on other continents, it affects everyone in the world.  This is because the vast number of plants living in the rainforest help regulating carbon dioxide levels when they do the process of photosynthesis, where carbon dioxide is converted into oxygen. So when the rainforest’s size is vastly reduced the carbon dioxide levels increase which contributes to global warming.

      Many plants can only be found and grown in the rain forests, some of which are the sources of various medicines and other important products. The extent of how valuable our rainforests are has still not truly been discovered; thousands of undiscovered plants and animals that could be hugely beneficial to the rest of the world

      So what can be done to save our rainforests? Purchase foods that are grown in a way that isn’t bad for the environment or organic foods, that don’t use pesticides http://ewg.org provides a list of these types of products. Use recycled products and recycle as often as possible.  

      Sites used:

      http://www.solcomhouse.com/rainforest.html

      http://www.yptenc.org.uk/docs/factsheets/env_facts/rainffacts.html

 
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