RAINFORESTS &
DEFORESTATION
Africa’s rainforests are disappearing.
Original forest areas
http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/deforestation.html
2005
U.S. forest
destruction
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/deforest/deforest.html
http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/deforestation.html
Why does it matter that forests worldwide
are being cut down?
And why are rainforests
particularly important?
http://www.developmentforafrica.org/news.shtml
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6195/6046708884_099df96ef3.jpg
 HABITAT LOSS:
Loss of rainforest
means animals are
becoming endangered.
golden cat
http://www.animalinfo.org/image/pan_pani2%2018.jpg
western gorilla
African water shrew
http://quizlet.com/1994211/tenrecs-flash-cards/
chimpanzee
http://www.animalinfo.org/image/G%20g%20gori2%20jpg%2029.jpg
bee eater
http://www.worldbirder.com/photonew/xpages/photo.asp?PhotoID=4776
leopard
http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/4094-12246
http://planetbirds.blogspot.com/2011/05/great-blue-turaco.html
http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0425-hance_camposarceiz_blake.html
Rainforests are home to 50 to
70% of all life forms on Earth.
gray parrot
great blue turaco
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/africangrey
okapi
forest elephant
gorilla
http://www.okapiconservation.org/conservation-program/okapi-ambassadors/
http://www.joerl.se/uganda/index.html
 MEDICAL IMPACT:
Tropical rainforests are the best
places for scientists to find
plants that can be used to make
medicines.
37% of all medicines
prescribed in the US
have active ingredients
that come from
rainforest plants.
For example, of the approximately
3,000 plants found to have cancerfighting properties, 70% of them were
found in the rainforest.
(Reported by The National Cancer Institute)
Pharmacy companies
send scientists to
rainforests to collect
plant specimens and
then pay scientists big
bucks $$$ to research
ways to use them as
medicines.
So as rainforest is
destroyed, we lose
plants – every day –
that could be used
to discover new
medicines.
 WEATHER IMPACT:
The tropical
rainforests are like
giant "heat pumps"
that sends heat
and moisture from
the tropics into the
colder high
latitudes – making
it warmer &
sending rain.
http://ecksteineagles.org/6b-ss/2009/12/16/africa-map/
Original forest areas
http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/deforestation.html
2005
Rain forests help produce rainfall in nearby
countries. Destruction of rainforests in West
African countries may have caused actually
two decades of drought in other parts
of Africa.
Drought hurts
farming, and
that meant
many people
starved.
-- National Geographic,
“Deforestation &
Desertification”
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/deforestatio
n/effect.html
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2005/05/24/science/24clim.1.html
So if it’s such a big problem, why
do they keep cutting it down?
1. Farming
These African mountains used to be covered with forests.
Now they are covered with small farm plots.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Deforestation/deforestation_update3.php
Cleared rainforest soil is not
great for farming. So families
clear more and more land to try
and grow enough.
http://openheartorphanage.cfsites.org/custom.php?pageid=42211
http://smallfarmersjournal.com/congo-farm-project-from-starvation-to-sustainability
What helps?
• Make natural
fertilizer so small
farms grow more.
• Teach irrigation
with water
conservation.
This Congo farmer uses
mulch to keep the hot sun
from drying out the soil.
Compost is free – made
from food trash – and helps
crops grow.
http://healingtraumaindrcongo.blogspot.com/2010/03/mumosho-part-i.html
2. Wood for fuel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Selling_fuelwood.jpeg
Families that cook over an open fire
burn about 15 pounds of wood/day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/5709553430/
http://www.endingextremepoverty.org/2008/12/page/2/
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2010/01/31/fuel_project_counters_gorilla_threat/
“Bio bricks” made
from recycled
paper & other
trash burn better
and cleaner than
wood.
What helps?
• Make better fuel
sources.
• Use simple
ovens (instead
of open fires).
• Create firewood
“farms.”
Simple, small,
clay ovens
hold heat
better &
conserve fuel.
http://charcoalproject.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/kivu-stove-3.jpg
“Firewood farms plant cheap trees
that grow fast. When these are used
for firewood, forest trees are
preserved.
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4127/4997788178_910f6334a6_z.jpg
3. Logging
Legal and illegal
logging destroys
large areas of
Congo
rainforest.
http://news.mongabay.com/2005/1205-congo.html
Most of the
wood is sold in
Europe.
http://earthhopenetwork.net/Illegal_Loggers_Mutilating_Congolese_Forests.htm
http://www.forestsmonitor.org/fr/capacity_building_congo
What helps?
• Enforce logging
laws. (Stop illegal
logging.)
• Get international
buyers to buy only
“certified” wood.
Authorities check to make
sure the logging company
is only cutting trees old
enough to be legally cut.
http://www.prlog.org/10505431-fsc-and-rainforest-alliance-certified-logos.jpg
Deforestation slowing – some.
http://www.cleanbiz.asia/sites/default/files/Annual_change_in_rainforest_area_1990-2010_on_background.jpg
There’s one major “issue” I haven’t mentioned that makes
things difficult in the Dem. Republic of the Congo. Listen for
that issue in this 9 minute video. (And why do you suppose I
didn’t mention it?)
Jiko Stoves.mp4
(9:15)