Deforestation in the Present - Essay Example

? Deforestation of Q1: Physical domain related to deforestation. Deforestation can be very detrimental both to the economy and to the environment as it is a natural cleaner of the environment. Rainfall would reduce besides initiation of climate change. During summer, the Amazon forest often gets razed down because of the extremely high temperatures. Most of the global tree clearers have turned to be tree huggers but they face reluctance in completely leaving the habit of chopping down trees. This results because most of the forest land is being converted to agricultural land thus removing the protective covering that aids us to breathe and maintain continental water cycles. The physical environment includes topography of the country, climate and the amount of rainfall. Presence of the forest and valleys helps in formation of rainfall which in turn improves the climate of the Amazon and is environs. The relationship between these physical elements it to be should all point towards a healthy environment. The trends manifested are that demand for land is increasing with the ever increasing population and unemployment thus leading to deforestation. Also, in most of the rich countries the pressure on forest has subsidized due to manageable population levels (The Economist, 2010a). As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pointed out, “Tackling climate change, water scarcity, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, and addressing shifting demographic and consumption patterns, will require bold new approaches.” (Ki-moon, 2011: 5) Q2: The social domain in deforestation is that people are to exercise self responsibility in the preservation of forests and the organisms that dwell in there. This is because forests are being cleared for agricultural purposes. There are campaigns by NGOs, vigils and FAO who are in the front line to protect the survival of the rainforests. According to a recent report by the Royal Institute of International Affairs, it showed that illegal logging has been greatly reduced in Brazil, Indonesia and Cameroon. In the DR Congo the forests have not been greatly affected but the recent trends show that with ever increasing population the forest is bound to clearance and other illegal logging activities. Most tropical deforestation is due to the ever expanding commercial ranching and agriculture propelled by the rocketing domestic and global demand for food, biofuel and fiber. Therefore, foreign governments and investors are scouting to buy cheap and well watered tropical land( The Economist, 2010b) Q3: The government of Brazil has formed a committee involving 14 ministries to design and execute plan for reducing Amazon deforestation. Monitoring and controlling of illegal logging have been stepped up. Moreover, Brazil has installed advanced and transparent remote sensing systems for monitoring deforestation, relaying monthly and yearly estimates which are then posted to the internet. Also, in the pipeline is system for detecting illegal logging (DETEX) which is being developed. By Brazil advocating for lower prices for soya beans in the international community market brings down the levels of deforestation by 52% since 2004. In addition, due to the difficulties in attaching property rights to tree species, the Brazilian government has liaised with other NGOs and the international community on legal protection of tree species( The Economist 2010c) Q4: With the ever increasing population the Brazilian Government faces the challenge of overpopulation, debilitating poverty and scarce job opportunities experienced in the country. Before the global crisis the economy was robust and it averaged to about 4.4% yearly from 2004-2007 and 6.4% for the first three quarters of 2008. The global recession hit the economy hard leading to jobs being lost and collapse of industries. Between November 2009 and March2010 almost 500 thousand jobs were lost in Brazil. The government in its bid to boost the economy it increased wages, social transfers and made provisions for tax cuts. But this proved to be a challenge because there of the gaping gap between the rich and the poor. Being a middle income nation with a bloated government, rampant corruption, inequality in wealth and educational opportunities it is hurdle if you want to improve the economy (The Economist, 2010d). Q5: In Brazil, the main industries include manufacturing industry, saw mills, agricultural industries, still and iron production, petroleum processing, automobile assembly and finally cement making. Some of these industries are advocates of deforestation thus their operations need to be streamlined with those that are not to cub greenhouse emissions. An idea borne by developed countries, REDD which means Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forestation Degradation is an idea borne to provide transition from clearing of forests to protection. This is achieved through the rich governments of developed countries via international effort pays people of developing countries to leave the trees standing and other ecosystem services (The Economist, 2010e). Almost half a dozen countries have promised to give $4.5 billion for beginners. By most of the companies with holding and storing their emissions it is quite a cheaper method of mitigating environmental disasters. Q6: The society has its share of opinion in any developing nation. This is because of the cultural significance the place holds for them. But since most of time the traditional inhabitants are not aware of their rights, many a times they end up being abused. This was evident in Ecuador and Russia when oil explorers invaded the region and forcefully evicted the locals. Also, Canada was loosing its land mostly to ranching and other agricultural activities that required large tracts of land. Due to the many groups that are displaced during establishment of industries, most of the governments resolve to resettle them in the rain forests. Though on one hand the economy would be boosted by the companies, on the contrary the environment would be greatly be affected as forests will need to be cleared to pave way for the settlement of the displaced. According to The Economist (2010f), early initiatives to certify the REDD projects have to include the safeguards of the local people. In Brazil the draft national REDD law states that, “Indigenous people own the forest carbon of their reserves.” This will create necessity for civilization but most of the indigenous people are not that ready to embrace it. Moreover, it is not advisable to have blanket assumption that all indigenous forest people are tree huggers but some of the loggers who cut down the trees and later sell them as logs. Q7: Since the economy is growing at rapid rate, it has been noted it is at the expense of the natural ecosystem. In the long run, non-renewable natural resources would get depleted and the economy would slump. As in the case of Wal-Mart and Carrefour their supply chain was cut short hence their business was adversely affected as many of their customers stopped buying. Though the Brazilian government is striving to stem down deforestation, most of the frequently used products are manufactured from forests and forest products. Timber, food, biofuels, medicinal trees, and with the making of roads through forests the business for bush meat will thrive. Also, the ranches that produce meat for export is a very large industry due to the fact that it is exported to developed countries who are the main importers of beef products. Besides, the law enforcement agents are not that thorough in their work hence a lapse implementation of the laws that are passed. The lack of laws to streamline the export of beef is also poorly implemented (The Economist, 2010g). Q8: In Brazil for an effective government to properly run the country, there must be a consensus between the national government and the local government in making of decisions. The national government may decide to implement a law on environmental reform and the local government does not consent to it thus rendering the law non-operational. Consequently, the local government may decide to enact a law that seems appropriate in that particular region, but it may not be recognized by the national government. This difference in governments though it brings the services closer to the people it has too much bureaucratic levels (The Economist, 2010h). Since some of the law makers are in government so with the rampant corruption they act as an impediment to laws that will affect them since they profit on deforestation by owning ranches or large farms adjacent to the forest. The Amazonian land law is a good example of such. Each state has its own laws that govern their respective states with respect to land. Therefore, the efforts to prevent environmental degradation is facing obstacles triggering the Amazonian state governments to rezone their territories to allow for a modest reduction of in the stipulated tree cover that the law makers are demanding. The Brazilian government is in favor of deforestation under certain conditions. Lula said to the Copenhagen summit on climate change “I don’t want any gringo asking us to let an Amazon resident die of hunger under a tree”, (The Economist, 2010a) References The Economist. (2010, Sept 25: 8). “Better REDD than dead." [US] Retrieved December 6, 2012:http://0.galegroup.com.library.law.suffolk.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA237745767&v=2.1&u=mlin_b_suffuniv&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w (d) The Economist. (2010, Sept 25:12). "Keeping it in the community." [US] Retrieved December 5, 2012:http://0go.galegroup.com.library.law.suffolk.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA237745768&v=2.1&u=mlin_b_suffuniv&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w (e) Ki-moon, Ban. (2011). Message from the UN Secretary General, Annual Report February 2011. United Nations Environment Programme. The Economist. (2010, Sept 25:6). "Money can grow on trees." [US] Retrieved December 5, 2012:http://0go.galegroup.com.library.law.suffolk.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA237745766&v=2.1&u=mlin_b_suffuniv&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w (c) The Economist. (2010, Sept, 25:11). "Not a small problem." [US].Retrieved December 6,2012:http://0go.galegroup.com.library.law.suffolk.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA237745769&v=2.1&u=mlin_b_suffuniv&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w(f) The Economist. (2010, Sept, 25:3). "Seeing the wood." [US]. Retrieved December 6, 2012:http://0go.galegroup.com.library.law.suffolk.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA237745765&v=2.1&u=mlin_b_suffuniv&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w (b) The Economist. (2010, Sept, 25:15). “The world's lungs." [US]. Retrieved December 6, 2012:http://0go.galegroup.com.library.law.suffolk.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA237745754&v=2.1&u=mlin_b_suffuniv&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w(a) The Economist. (2010, Sept, 25:12). "Long road to sustainability." (US) Retrieved December 6, 2012:http://0go.galegroup.com.library.law.suffolk.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA237745771&v=2.1&u=mlin_b_suffuniv&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w (g) The Economist. (2010, Sept, 25:14). "Less smoke, less ire." (US). 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