Protecting the Amazon

Geography: KS3, topic 15.2.5

Sustainable Management of the Amazon Rainforest

Any attempts at sustainable forestry in the Amazon rainforest have come under threat with President Jair Bolsonaro leading Brazil.

Selective logging involves only cutting down a certain species of tree or trees of a certain age. For example, in the Brazilian Amazon, only very old trees may be logged.
Selective logging preserves the structure of the rainforest. This reduces soil erosion as there are still trees in the area, with their roots binding the soil and their leaves/canopy protecting the vegetation below.

Organisations like the Amazon Team work with indigenous people and local people in Colombia, Suriname, and Brazil, helping to protect the rainforest, whilst training local people in skills like growing tea, starches, and cacay trees.
Local people are trained up in skills that can help them earn more money, whilst they learn to farm and grow this produce in a way that is sustainable for the Amazon rainforest.

Biosphere reserves are protected areas for conservation.
The biggest protected area in the Amazon is the Central Amazon Conservation Complex (CACC). This area is in Brazil and spans six million hectares. In this area, felling trees and hunting animals & fish is limited.
In Brazil, the IBAMA government environmental agency and the FUNAI government indigenous protection agency are tasked with protecting the Amazon rainforest and its inhabitants.

Ecotourism is tourism that has minimal impact on the environment and that helps support local communities.
Eco-tourism, like the hotel Hix Island House in Puerto Rico could become a major source of income in the future for countries and local people. It also educates tourists and people internationally about their personal impact on the environment.
Manaus in Brazil is a hotspot for eco-tourism and Juma Lodge is a famous eco-hotel.
Guests usually pay high prices and only visit in small quantities to help to limit their impact on the Amazon rainforest.

Because monitoring the entire Amazon is very difficult (the area is huge and covers 9 countries), logging businesses can pay for the rights to log a certain area, conditional on meeting certain standards. This is called a system of 'concessions'.
Mahogany is the most valuable tree grown in the Amazon.
Like the Fairtrade stamp, the Forest Stewardship Council's stamp of approval shows customers whether their wood products were obtained sustainably. Consumer awareness campaigns and standards aim to help consumers make better decisions.

Bolsonaro was elected on a platform aimed to improve the Brazilian economy by using the country's natural resources and mineral wealth.