Analysis Of Unit Four Project: Deforestation In The Amazon

Nathan Updike
English 101
Unit Four Project: Deforestation in the Amazon The Amazon Jungle is the world’s largest tropical rainforest. It is nearly 6 million square kilometers in size and houses the widest variety of plant and animal life than any other place on the planet. It also is home to the second largest river on Earth, the Amazon River. The jungle is mostly in Brazil, but it also spreads to eight neighboring countries in South America; Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guyana. (Webmaster, “Amazon Jungle facts and history in brief”) There are believed to be around 6,000 different species of trees just in the Brazilian region of the Amazon. (Browder 247) Because of the mass amounts of plant
The truth of this though is that we as humans are trying to industrialize and develop the Amazon more and more every day for our own purposes. We are deforesting the forest; also known as deforestation. Since 1980 more than 580,000 square kilometers (224,000 square miles) of the Amazon forest has been destroyed due to deforestation. (Butler, “Deforestation in the Amazon”) Deforestation has been a largely debated issue around the world for years, but most of the talk of deforestation involves the Amazon. Both sides of this issue have to be looked at before one can truly make an informed decision about whether or not this is a good direction to take for Brazil. The biggest reason for deforestation in the Amazon is the clearing of rainforest lands for cattle pastures. Today, Brazil is the world 's largest exporter and producer of beef. (Butler, “Deforestation in the Amazon”) So raising cattle is understandably a big deal for Brazil. A developing country like Brazil is always looking for new ways to advance and to generate more and more income for their country. It is only logical for them to want to keep expanding their beef production to better develop their country. This leads them to look to the
By tradition, wild lands and unsettled lands in the rainforest are free to those who clear the forest and till the soil. The government encourages poor farmers to settle on lands in the jungle. If one of these people is to stay on a single piece of land for more than five years, they then gain ownership of the land and the right to sell it. (Butler, “Deforestation in the Amazon”) The only problem is that none of these people can stay in one place for that long because they are so deprived and have to keep providing for their families. They also need to keep moving because the soil is bad almost everywhere in the Amazon, causing them relocate in search of new fresh soil to plant their crops. These farmers usually follow the logging companies down the roads and then turn what they left behind in to their