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The cause
Loggers, industrial scale soybean producers, and cattle
ranchers are the ones who can be held responsible for the
disappearance of the Amazon rainforest. To meet rising
demands loggers are cutting increased amounts of trees
and moving to originally untouched areas of the rainforest
causing large amounts of deforestation that can only be
restored after millions of years. Meanwhile, cattle ranchers
and soybean producers are clearing entire fields and
forests for land. Open space where cattle can graze and
crops can be planted. The use of machinery, pesticides,
and chemicals in the process of farming damages the land
and river so severely that it cannot be restored and is
often left barren, deprived of all it's nutrients and
supporting no life.
Illegal activity is also one of the main concerns. Also protection laws and regulations, they are not
enforced. Government agents and officials are oftentimes highly corrupt or under equipped. Companies
and the mafia also completely ignore the laws set, using forged permits, cutting all trees they deemed
valuable even those protected by laws, cutting more than the quota, and so on. A study by a Brazilian
commission in the late 90s showed that 12 out of 13 companies broke laws which were set to protect the
environment.3 These illegal practices are the most damaging to the environment as it leaves large pieces
of land irreversibly damaged.
1
http://www.softschools.com/facts/wonders_of_the_world/amazon_rainforest_facts/98/
2
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/last-of-amazon/
3
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/amazon_threats/other_threats/logging_amazon/
4
http://www.economist.com/node/3996152
economy and deforestation, establishing a negative
relationship between the two.
5
http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/bra/
6
https://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/production.pdf
Globalisation: The Problem? Or the Solution?
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, many argue that the environment is taking a great toll
due to human activity in previously untouched areas of the world. Because of globalisation, multinational
companies have moved to Brazil for the rich raw materials the countrys rainforest holds. These large
companies operate industrial scale crop farms and cattle ranches using heavy machinery and chemical
pesticides which greatly damages damages the environment. To create these large scale farms and
pastures, large areas of forest and fields have to be cleared using slash and burn techniques to clear trees
and bring nutrient to the normally poor soil. This makes the area nutrient rich for a few years where crops
can grow until the nutrients and the land is abandoned, damaged beyond repair. This method causes all
the nutrients from the soil to disappear and the land will not be able to support life.
Increased trade has also encouraged the illegal trade and harvest of timbre as companies work to avoid
the governments protection laws and harvest the most timbre and trade for the highest price on the
market. It is estimated that 80 - 90% of logging in Columbia is illegal, timbre is smuggled to more
developed countries such as Brazil and Peru where they are traded internationally.7 This has caused
irreversible damage to the rainforest as illegal loggers do not use safe logging practices which minimize
the damage to the rainforest. Illegal loggers also greatly contributes to deforestation as they cut down
more trees than the quota set by the government. They also log in restricted areas, destroying protected
habitats, which could threaten local animal species.
Therefore many argue that globalisation and the increase in trade it brings is greatly harmful to the
environment. And as the actions of large foreign companies and the long term consequences they bring
progressively become more and more severe, the number of people speaking against globalisation is
7
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/amazon_threats/other_threats/logging_amazon/
increasing. However, some also believe that, although the past cannot be changed, globalisation could be
the key to protecting the future.
8
https://news.mongabay.com/2007/06/globalization-could-save-the-amazon-rainforest/
9
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-kennell/environmental-concern-emp_b_8105580.html
million hectares of protected areas in the Amazon rainforest, successfully dropping deforestation rates by
more than half.10
In the end, we can see that globalisation, in terms of the increase in trade and MNCs, has caused large
amounts of damage to the Amazon. However as the exchange of media connects the people of the world,
more and more are working to save the environment. Therefore although we cannot change the fact that
globalisation has caused a lot of damage, and is still causing damage to the Amazon rainforest, we also
cannot deny that globalisation has the power to change the situation, helping to slow and stop the
destruction of the rainforest, and maybe one day, even help restore it to its former glory.
Figure 7: A part of the Amazon without any human destruction. What the entire rainforest and river looked
like before human activity, and what it could look like if globalisation helps stop the damage and restore it.
Bibliography
10
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