Office of the President of Brasil

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Office of the President of Brasil

• Amazon Rainforest
• Fact File

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Threats to the Amazon Rainforest
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• By the end of this classa part of the Amazon the
  size of 600 football fields will be lost to
  deforestation.
• How does that happen?

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Deforestation

• Deforestation has cost Brazil about 20 of its
  rainforest.

• Deforestation occurs to get the Amazons timber
  (wood), land for farming, land for ranching, the
  resources underground, and land to live on.

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Commercial Farming

• Before someone can farm on rainforest land they
  must clear the land with slash-and-burn
• Cut all the trees down
• Burn the underbrush and tree stumps
• Burned ground creates fertile soil that is good
  for agriculture.

Brazil is the second LARGEST producer of soybeans
in the world. Soy beans are used to make
products like your lunch hamburgers! This
land cleared for agriculture is not very fertile
and lasts only 2-3 years and farmers have to move
to other land and slash-and-burn.
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Ranching

• Brazil produces over 10 million tons of beef! (1
  ton 2,000 pounds)

• Ranchers clear-cut the forest so their cattle
  have land to graze on grass.
• For every quarter-pound hamburger eaten in the
  U.S. 55 square feet of the rainforest was cleared.

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Human Settlement

• Commercial farming and timber companies built
  roads into the rainforest to get to their land.
• Soon after people followed in search of their own
  land to start homes and small farms. Many grow
  into cities.
• With increased urbanization comes air and water
  pollution and, of course, more deforestation.

13.5 million Brazilians live in the Amazon
rainforest, 70 in urban areas.
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Mining
The Amazon rainforest has a hidden wealth of
natural mineral resources underneath
it. Recently mining has taken off in search
of - iron ore - gold - oil - diamonds
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Whats It All Worth?

• Economic Boost
• Beef Ranching 4 billion
• Soy Agriculture 9 billion
• Timber 3.22 billion
• Mining (gold, iron) 44.8 billion
• 61.02 billion AND GROWING

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Whats Gone?

• Since 1991 the size of the area deforested in the
  Amazon equals nearly the size of Texas.

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Whats At Risk?

• Lost of indigenous peoples traditional way of
  life
• Global warming through less trees
• Loss of unique species of plants, animals,
  insects, reptiles, etc
• Air and water pollution through the region
• Destruction of an irreplaceable place on this
  planet