History of Amazonian Deforestation
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Background
Nowhere on earth is the threat of biological impoverishment because of deforestation greater than in the Amazon Basin of South America. The Amazon supports approximately 300 million hectares of tropical forest, the largest single area of tropical forest communities in the world. Estimates of global biodiversity point to the tropics as the source of 50 to 90% of all species on Earth; the richest forests often support over 300 tree species per hectare (hectare = 10,000 square meters), approximately the same number of tree species in all of North America.[1]
In the 15th century, countries of the Old World began to branch out in search of new lands. They wanted to find new land and water routes to increase trade,generate more money, and expand their territories in the process. Portugal, known for its seaworthy vessels, and Spain were among the first to arrive in South America. In 1500, Pedro Alvares Cabral landed in present day Brazil and claimed the territory for Portugal under the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas.[2] As more people arrived from Spain and the Netherlands, to add to the Portuguese settlers, the number of colonies began to grow.
With the growth of more settlements and colonies, came the discoveries wealth of resources the Amazon held. Gold was discovered in the late 17th century and both indigenous people and African slaves were used in the mining process. Sugar cane was the first commercial crop to be grown on the coasts of Brazil and exported to Europe.
A breakthrough discovery by French scientist Charles Marie de La Condamine was the rubber tree, used for centuries by the indigenous people. Amazonian rubber was unique in its quality, yield, and abundance. In 1743, La Condamine smuggled an Amazonian rubber plant back to Europe and a booming industry grew as scientists unveiled rubber’s useful properties. Eventually, Amazonian rubber trees, became over-tapped and trees were stricken with a leaf disease from being so closely planted. The booming rubber cities slowly shut down and interest in Amazonian commerce flagged. The next push for development would not come from the colonizers, but rather from the newly independent Amazonian countries struggling to find resources to fund their own new economies.
The over harvesting of seemingly limitless supplies for immediate profit of the commercial rubber industry set the tone for the next century of Amazon commerce. Globalized trade, fueled by the Industrial Revolution, was more efficient than ever and raw materials for production were sought in increasing amounts. While Brazil and many of the countries that contained the Amazon basin gained their independence in the 19th century, their young and unstable governments made it easier for wealthy foreign investors and companies to try to capitalize on Amazonian resources.[2]
Factors leading to rapid tropical deforestation:
- Historically, deforestation has been caused by the interaction of many factors; these are simplified just to provide an overview.[3]
1. Abundant forest resources
2. The need for peasant farmers to earn a livelihood
3. Brazilian government policies to construct highways, subsidize agriculture, and relocate farmers into the forests
4. The cattle industry's forced manipulation of peasant farmer land rights, and the marginalization of these farmers to the frontier
5. Rapid degradation of pastures due to poor soil quality and the costs of reclamation
6. Oversupplies of beef and timber leading to price deflation and debt with banks in industrialized nations. Large debt, in turn, exacerbates timber exports.
Amazon: 20th century Global Economy
In the 1940s Brazil began a national development program for the Amazon Basin. Then-president Getúlio Vargas suggested that "The Amazon, under the impact of our will and labor, shall cease to be a simple chapter in the history of the world, and made equivalent to other great rivers, shall become a chapter in the history of human civilization.... Everything which has up to now been done in Amazonas, whether in agriculture or extractive industry... must be transformed into rational exploitation".[3] Ironically, Vargas was correct that the Amazon shall cease to be a simple chapter in world history: international debt, rapidly degrading soils, the rapid loss of biodiversity, and the loss of human lives over bitter land disputes all underscore high tensions in this region. The Brazilian government and several other foreign nations, including the Johnson Administration in the US, favored the development of cattle ranching in the Amazon to generate revenue during a period of high world beef prices as well as a means to eliminate world hunger. Road projects, such as the Trans-Amazon Highway, were promoted in 1970 to open up commerce. Subsidies sponsored by SUDAM (Superintendency for the Development of Amazonia) often granted 50% tax exemptions for investments in agriculture and livestock in the Amazon. By 1974, these subsidies had increased to 100%.[4] This would motivate people to relocate in hopes of making a living. People moving to the frontier were given land practically for free so long as they showed evidence of "productive use," which unfortunately meant clearing the forest for agriculture or pasture. These people represented mainly a class of peasant farmers, who lacked the financial support of Brazil's banks to start their own large-scale cattle or agricultural operations. Consequently, they practiced local forms of agriculture, the most popular of which has been slash-and-burn. In addition to agriculture and cattle ranching, the Amazon offers an abundant supply of timber, which is cut for fuelwood and industrial uses.
Hamburger Thesis
"EAT A MCNUGGET, KILL THE RAINFOREST"
This thesis, which has recently been reanalyzed and refuted, involves the idea that the U.S and other developed nations have such a high demand for beef it is fueling the destruction of rainforest in order to clear area for pasture of cattle.[5] However, many other factors need to be considered when making that sort of connection between consumption and deforestation. Another popularized view is the McNugget connection. Keep in mind these are popular views among certain groups but the reasons for deforestation are much more complex than just the West's consumption of fast food.[6]
"Dozens of seven-foot chickens invaded McDonald's outlets across the UK to expose the link between the fast food chain and the destruction of the Amazon. Chicken nuggets served by McDonald's in the UK are a primary cause of Amazon deforestation. A new report by Greenpeace -- We're Trashin' It -- says chickens supplied to McDonald's UK are reared on soya grown on cleared land in the Amazon.The soya is supplied by the $70 billion a year agro-giant Cargill, which runs a port and 13 soya storage works in the Amazon region. Cargill ships Brazilian soya to its Hereford-based poultry subsidiary Sun Valley, which supplies up to half the chicken sold by McDonald's in the UK and Europe. Greenpeace says soya cultivation demands massive chemical input and leads to rapid soil erosion and degredation. Most of the 25,000 square kilometres of Amazon rainforest felled last year were cleared for soya. The report says: 'In the last three years 70,000 square kilometres of the Amazon have been destroyed. This equates to six football pitches a minute. Or 12 pitches in the time it takes to cook a Chicken McNugget."[7]
Awareness in the 1970s
In the 1970s, as the effects of rampant development began to surface, Paulo Nogueira Neto, Brazilian biologist and Special Secretary to the Environment, recognized the need for conservation-related policies and pushed for changing legislation. In 1979, a grand experiment known as the Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystems was undertaken by US biologist Thomas E. Lovejoy, with the support of Brazil’s National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA), The Smithsonian Institute, and World Wildlife Fund. This ongoing project examines forest fragments of different sizes to determine how size may affect rain forest ecosystem regeneration and biodiversity.[2] Since the 1970s and into the 1980s much more attention and awareness has been raised to the long term effects of deforestation. Several world organizations have been formed in an effort to raise awareness of the issues.
"These and similar happenings or forebodings serve to emphasise the fact that, even for peoples which have reached high levels of material culture, the physical environment remains a veritable Pandora's box, ever ready to burst open and scatter its noxious contents."
-Gordon East in the book "Geography Behind History. East was an English Geographer and Writer, in 1938 amidst the context of WWII analyzed the path he believed man was headed in if nations did not realize the delicate balance man has with nature, and what the consequences are if we choose to ignore these matters.
Bibliography
- ↑ Wilson, E.O. 1992. The Diversity of Life. W.W. Norton and Company, New York, 1992. p 108.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Amazon GIS – Conservation Library, Smithsonian Institute, “A Brief History of Amazon Conservation”, http://www.amazongis.org.html. (Accessed Nov. 10, 2007)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Phil Camill, “Deforestation of the Amazon, A Case Study in Understanding Ecosystems and Their Value.” – A Case Study Collection, National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science. http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/projects/cases/case.html.
- ↑ Hall, A.L. “Developing Amazonia”. Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1989.
- ↑ The Social Causes of Environmental Destruction in Latin America by Michael Painter, William H. Durham Author(s) of Review: F. G. Gosling Journal of Social History, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Summer, 1997), pp. 984-987
- ↑ Michael B. Witherford and Scott Whiteford, "Crossing Currents: Continuity and Change in Latin America." Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1998. p 391.
- ↑ "EAT A MCNUGGET, KILL THE RAINFOREST." Ecologist 36, no. 5 (June 2006): Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed November 15, 2007).
For Further Reading
For further reading, refer to the following links (provided by Dr. Slatta)