TOP TIP!

TROPICAL RAINFOREST CASE

STUDY SHEET

REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE LINKS BETWEEN THE CLIMATE AND THE
VEGETATION. IF ASKED, YOU NEED TO EXPLAIN HOW THE HOT AND WET
CLIMATE LINKS TO VEGETATION.

Rainforest Case Study: The Amazon in Brazil

What is deforestation?

The Sahara desert is in the northern part of Africa and covers

10% of the continent. It is the largest hot desert in the world.

Deforestation is the removal of trees because of human actions.

An area at risk of deforestation: The Amazon

The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world.
10% of the worlds species live in the Amazon

An area which is successfully managing deforestation:

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is a country with a large rainforest. They

have managed to find the fine line between deforestation and
development. They use a range of sustainable techniques to
make the most of the rainforest, in terms of both the materials
available and the experiences available.
Methods that we can do to manage deforestation:
Afforestation- by replanting trees the roots will hold the soil together
so will store the nutrients, which encourage growth of other crops.
Agroforestry- When we plant trees and crops to mimic the layers of
the rainforest. These return nutrients to the soil. The larger trees protect
the smaller crops from the sun.
Ecotourism- Tourists paying to see the rainforest in its natural state
which increases awareness and educates people about the importance

Why do humans deforest?

We deforest for a number of reasons:
Logging: The removal of trees for the selling of the timber,
normally for furniture.
Agriculture: The deforestation of land so it can be used to grow
crops such as soya and graze cattle to sell the beef.
Minerals: Beneath the tropical rainforest are valuable deposits of
minerals such as bauxite, copper and gold. The trees are cleared
and the topsoil removed so that the minerals can be mined.
Roads: The trees are removed in order to allow roads to be built.
The Trans- Amazonian Highway is a major road built in the 1970s
which opens the area for other developments such as farms.
Hydroelectric Power: Areas of tropical rainforest are flooded
when rivers are dammed for HEP schemes. In Brazil there are
plans to build with a further 30 of these projects.

Selective logging- Only some trees are deforested. This allows an

income from timber logging whilst destroying less of the rainforest.
Buffer zones- An area in which development is restricted in an inner
core with mixed conservation/development occurring around the outer
core. This protects the primary rainforest in the centre whilst allowing
some economic gain.
Conservation- The way in which we protect and manage our natural
resources, using the methods listed above.