Slide 1Slide 2Slide 3Slide 4Slide 5Slide 6Slide 7Slide 8Slide 9Slide 10Slide 11Slide 12Slide 13Slide 14MiningSlide 16Hydroelectric DamsRoad BuildingSlide 19Slide 20Why Build Roads: The Economic PerspectiveSlide 22What will this do to the Amazon?Slide 24Amazon Rainforest: Physical Features•World’s largest rainforest• 5.5 million km² or 1.4 billion acres (2/3 the size of the continental U.S.)• Accounts for 54% of Earth’s rainforest•Spans 9 countries• Brazil (60%)• Peru (13%) • Columbia• Venezuela• Ecuador• Bolivia• Guyana• Suriname• French Guiana•Average annual precipitation: 9 feet• Wettest areas can receive up to 35 feet•Average temperature: 72-93°F•Produces more than 20% of Earth's oxygen, thus the name "Lungs of the Planet"Amazon Rainforest: Flora & Fauna•More than half of the world's estimated ten million species of plants, animals and insects live in tropical rainforests.• At least 40,000 plant species•More than 3,000 fruits are found in the rainforest• 200 are now in use in the Western World• The natives of the rainforest use over 2,000 •70% of plants found to have anti-cancer properties are found only in the rainforest. •An estimated 90% of Amazon rainforest plants used by Amazon natives have not been studied by modern science. • Roughly 30% of the worlds animals• 90% are insects• 1,500 species of birds (1/3 of the world’s total)• Over 400 species of mammals•Extremely dense growth •One hectare (2.47 acres) of rainforest can contain over 750 types of trees and 1500 species of plants.Amazon rainforest is vertically divided in four layers and each of them has a unique ecosystem, animals and plants... • Overstory (Emergent)•Uppermost layer – roughly 125 feet and above.•The tallest trees are found here, towering as much as 200 feet above the forest floor, with widths reaching up to16 feet around. •Many of the rainforest birds, including eagles and parrots inhabit this layer. • Canopy•Roughly 75 to 125 feet.•The primary layer in terms of plants and animals - an estimated 70 to 90% of life in the rainforest exists in this layer. •Leaves in the canopy act like miniature solar panes. Through photosynthesis - the process of converting sunlight into energy - they provide the source of power to the forest.•Thus, plants in this layer have a higher yield of fruits, seeds and flowers, attracting a wide range of biodiversity. •In addition, they play an important role in regulating regional and global climate, because it's the principal site of interchange of heat, water, vapor and atmospheric gases. • Understory•Between the forest floor and 75 feet.•Little sunshine reaches this area - only 2-15% of the sunshine that falls on the canopy.•Plants have to grow larger leaves to reach sunlight, thus there are large numbers of ferns and orchids.• Forest Floor:•Darkest area of the rainforest - less than 2% of sunshine reaches the forest floor.•As a result, decay of of organic materials occurs quickly in this layer.•Home of the largest animals of the forest. Amazon Rainforest: LayersAmazon Rainforest: Peoples•Pre-colonial populations: estimates vary widely•Between 2-9 million, of which at least 1 million were in Brazil•Current native population estimated at 250,000 - 350,000•215 ethnic groups•170 different languages •There is some evidence that 50-60 Amazon tribes may be living in the depths of the Amazon rainforest that have never had contact with the outside world.•The majority of the current population of the Amazon is located along the Amazon River in larger cities.City Country PopulationBelem Brazil 1,912,600Manaus Brazil 1,524,600Iquitos Peru 349,300Macapa Brazil 301,600Porto Velho Brazil 292,000Santarem Brazil 192,300Largest Amazon CitiesAmazon River Facts•World’s 2nd longest river (Nile is 1st).•3,900 mi (6,280 km) long.•Average depth of 150 feet.•Width ranges from 1 to 35 miles.•Drainage basin (the Amazon Basin) of roughly 2.5 million mi² (40% of South America).•Carries more water than any other river in the world.•Formed by the junction of two Peruvian rivers, the Ucayali and the Marañón, which flow out of the Andes MountainsDeforestation: Facts and Figures •Since 1970 roughly 825,000 km² of rainforest have been cleared (15% of total).•Deforestation has slowed in recent years due to the global economic recession.• The historical rate of deforestation has been closely tied to the state of the Brazilian economy.• Recent data indicate deforestation is again rising (nearly 12,000 km² in the last calendar year).•Rainforests once the covered 14% of earth's surface, but now cover only 6%. • Pessimistic estimates indicate rainforests could disappear within 40 years.Land Use•1970: The National Integration Program (PIN) provided impetus for the road building boom.•Transamazon highway connecting Amazon with NE Brazil.•Cuiaba-Santarem highway linking Amazon with S & SE Brazil. •Rationale for PIN:•Transamazon highway would provide solution to drought problems in NE Brazil by creating jobs for displaced NE families.•Alleviate population and social pressures in NE Brazil and promote occupation of Amazon•Uncover mineral deposits during road construction.•Other motives: national security and fear of foreign domination in the region.•1970-1972: INCRA (National Institute for Colonization & Agrarian Reform) established network of villages, towns, cities along the highway and demarcated 100 hectare farm plots with goal to settle 70,000 families.•Road building supported by loans from World Bank and Inter American Development Bank in 1980s.A Little History In the 1970s and 1980s the Brazilian tended to see the Amazon as an underused resource.Deforestation: Why? •Logging•Cattle Ranching•Commercial Farming•Subsistence Agriculture and Settlement•Mining•Hydroelectric Dams•Road BuildingLoggingCommercial logging / timber extraction is one of the largest causes of deforestation. Logging companies sell timber, mainly for use in the construction and furniture industries. Additionally, the paper industry requires a massive amount of pulpwood trees. In order to satisfy the world's demand, more and more of the rainforest is burned and replanted with pulpwood trees.Foreign companies (fast-food companies, beef industry) have bought large areas of the Amazon which they have turned into cattle ranches. Grazing land