Amazon Rainforest Deforestation

Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, and how it affects its species

The Amazon rainforest houses at least 146 000 of the world’s known species. Flora and fauna included, this accounts for a staggering tenth of all forms of life currently existing on planet earth. It represents over half of the planet’s remaining rainforests, and spans across 5.5 million square kilometres of the South American continent.

The rainforest is also the biggest natural “lung” of the earth, and is responsible for at least 20% of the conversion of carbon dioxide into oxygen all across the globe. The same percentage of the world’s freshwater reserves can be found in the Amazon River basin alone. In addition, one fourth of all western pharmaceuticals are directly derived

It is to be held accountable for around eight tenths of the destruction of the rainforest on the South African continent, and makes up almost 15% of all deforestation worldwide. Removal of the forest to make space to keep animals has been occurring since the early 1960s, where local farmers realised that the agriculture they were trying to sustain was simply unprofitable in the long run due to the poor soil they had to utilise. They implemented the slash-and-burn technique, where all vegetation in an area of land is burned and larger plants are cut down, effectively creating fresh, resourceful soil covered in nutritious ash. Unfortunately this is no sustainable solution in the long run, as the new land is frequently infected by weed and the nutrition in the earth is not replaced naturally like it is in forest-covered

They are focusing on “Reducing the emissions of deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries”, meaning that they are trying to minimize the effects deforestation has on climate change by making the machines responsible for tearing down forests run more efficiently, as well as reducing the rate at which it is happening altogether.

The common idea between the two approaches is to not completely stop deforestation, but rather to slow it down to a point at which it is sustainable again. Every life form on earth is, through one way or another dependent on the Amazon rainforest biome. We as humans are, being the most intelligent species ever to exist on earth, particularly responsible for the well-being of our beloved rainforests.

It is easy to think that as an individual one has extremely limited power over the situation, however through wonderful organisations such as the WWF we are able to stand united to reduce deforestation, and finally boost the sustainability of the earth’s resources by a significant amount. Every small bit counts! Be a smart customer when shopping for anything made of wood, like furniture, as it is often made of trees from the Amazon rainforest. Be aware of where your meat, coffee or shampoo comes from, because if deforestation continues as it is today, you might one day not have the privilege of enjoying it