Amazon Jungle: Ecological Issues And Conservation

Amazon River – one of the natural miracles of the planet. Among the rivers of the earth it has no equal. The river is located in the north of South America, starting with the Andes in Peru, and ends in the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil. By all measures – this is the greatest, one of the longest rivers in the world. The Amazon River is the most affluent river in the world, carrying to the ocean 50% from the fresh water on the globe. The flow of water is so huge that, pouring into the Atlantic Ocean, the Amazon changes the salt composition and color of the ocean for 200 kilometers. The Amazon forests are rich in trees and plants, many of the jungle flora and fauna are endemic – they can only be found all over the world here. At the same time, 10% of all known species of plants and animals of the planet are found in the Amazon jungle. Jaguars, cougars, monkeys, sloths, caimans, anacondas, turtles, river dolphins, parrots, toucans, hummingbirds and many, many jungle inhabitants are part of the world’s heritage. In the number of animal and plant species, the Amazon jungle far surpasses the tropical forests of Africa and Asia.

The jungle is a real treasure trove of useful plants – the fruits of some are used for food, parts of others serve as the basis for modern medicines. Ferns, orchids, mosses, cacti, epiphytic – each plant has adapted to draw everything useful from the humid air of the jungle. Most of the Amazon River basin is still unexplored and dangerous for humans. You can get into the wild rainforest only in protected areas allowed by the government and only accompanied by accredited guides. According to scientists, it plays an important role in the life of our planet. This is a paradise for travelers and naturalists. And for millions of Brazilians, this is also the most important communication route. Many have heard that the forests of the Amazon are called the Earth’s green lungs. As a result of photosynthesis, all plants produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. But the Amazon rain forest produces about 50% of the oxygen on the planet. Scientists argue that if, in the very near future, the Brazilian authorities do not take emergency measures to protect the Amazon, it could end in an environmental disaster not only on a regional scale, but on a planetary scale.

We should not forget that the Amazon jungle greatly influences the chemical composition and temperature of the atmosphere, as well as the distribution of precipitation. Therefore, a sharp reduction in the area of equatorial forests will inevitably lead to climate change throughout the Earth. In the 20th century, Amazonia remained almost untapped territory, relatively little studied, and its vast natural resources (except for innumerable biological, aquatic, climatic resources), were almost never used. Then came a sharp break. The states that include the Amazonia (primarily Brazil), began to explore forest areas. For this, the Trans-Amazonian highways were built (the construction of the longest of them, having a sub-latitudinal direction started in the 70s of the 20th century, has not yet been completed) and other roads, including the railway through East Amazonia, along which forests are being cleared for arable land and pastures, minerals are being explored and mined, settlements are being built and industrial enterprises are being built. However, it is clear that the natural system of the Amazon is extremely vulnerable. An active intrusion into it of a person armed with modern technology can lead (and somewhere already led) to an irreversible disruption of the natural balance and destruction of this unique natural region of the Earth.

Clear deforestation leads to soil degradation, accelerated erosion and other negative consequences. Tropical rains quickly wash away the upper, unprotected vegetation, humus horizon of the soil, as a result of which the forest will never be able to recover. With low soil fertility, farming and cattle breeding within the Amazonia are in many cases less profitable than using its natural wealth while preserving the richest gene pool of animals and animals for humanity. Now there is no doubt that the further development of the Amazonia requires its careful study and an integrated approach to solving the problem of nature conservation. Also, began a gradual settlement of vast areas of the South American jungle. Since the early 1960s the population within the Brazilian Amazon has increased 10 times. As a rule, settlement is accompanied by uncontrolled deforestation, as well as the destruction of unique species of flora and fauna. The sharp reduction in the area of the forests of Amazonia and evidence of observations from space. But in some places tropical forests were completely turned into a desert. Looking at how the wind raises clouds of dust from the reddish earth dotted with cracks, on which there are not the slightest signs of life, it is hard to imagine that only 10 years ago this place was covered with thickets. Having cut down the tropical forest, it is easy to turn its territory into a new Sahara. The rains very quickly wash off the upper fertile layer with the soil that is not protected by plants. And the sun and wind complete their work.

People ‘put an eye’ on the wealth of the Amazon. One of the environmental issues is gold. People rummaged through the jungle in his search. When in the 16th century, the West found out about the Amazon, the white conquerors began to hunt Arapaima, to boast trophies. As a result, the number of fishes decreased, and it was on the verge of extinction. This is an expensive fish, its cost is 10 dollars per kilogram. An adult can cost up to 700 dollars. In restaurants, its meat is served as a delicacy. Pink dolphins lived in the ocean and rivers of South America, 15 million years ago. But then, the way to the ocean was blocked by the Andes. They spread across the rivers and became pink. After the appearance of the settlers, the pink dolphins suffered the most. Their meat was used as bait to catch a catfish, which was expensive. Numerous dams prevent fish from spawning. Man-made structures changed the flow of the river and violated the ecosystem. The city of Manaus, adjacent to the Amazon jungle. It was founded in the 19th century to develop the production of rubber. Europeans were delighted when they saw the indigenous people gathering rubber from the trees. He went to the manufacture of tires for the growing automotive industry. Industrialists who made rubber intimidated the indigenous population. Those who refused to work for them were killed. The ships loaded with rubber went to Europe, and the natives were turned into slaves. It is said that for every thousand tons of rubber, 10,000 lives were paid. Local industrialists have become slave owners. In the 19th century, the Marubu tribe almost disappeared, falling into slavery to the industrialists. As a result, the tribe lost its traditions. People stopped working the land together and sharing the loot. This is a serious environmental problem of the local population. No less serious problem is considered to be the disease, which brought the aliens. Part of the species diversity has disappeared as a result of deforestation. The forests turned into pastures and eroded the soil.

Deforestation, at present, is one of the most important environmental problems, not only in the Amazon, but in the whole world. However, the scientist noted that the part of the forest that is closer to the Amazon, as well as to the north of the river, still receives a sufficient amount of rain, and the climate does not threaten it yet. The root cause of this increasing disproportion between the dry south and the wet north lies in the climatic changes occurring on the globe. The southern part of the Amazonian jungle is farther from the equatorial rain zone, which due to the increasing warming of the northern hemisphere is shifted to that side. Climatologist Julian Sachs from the University of Washington in Seattle has calculated even the speed of this phenomenon – it is about 1.4 km per year. Thus, over three decades, the offset would be about 40 km. It seems a little, but it is enough to bring rain to the southern part of Amazonia a little later with each decade and stop a little earlier, allowing the powerful atmospheric anticyclone to dispel the clouds, and with them the hope of rain. It is obvious that global warming affects the Amazon and it is dangerous, but not to the level of disappearing. The damage that the American company Chevron Texaco has inflicted on this area is obvious. Its activities have polluted over two million hectares of land. We are talking about 70 million liters of toxic waste that was thrown here – the company got rid of them by committing a real crime against the environment. They also left 64 million liters of raw materials here, ignoring the rules for cleaning the area. Chevron Texaco has caused tremendous damage to its local nature and has benefited from this financial gain. This is all about the American company Chevron Texaco, the heir to the giant Standard Oil, owned by the Rockefellers. They refuse to recognize the blame for the environmental crime of a colossal scale – the pollution of millions of hectares of the unique natural territories of Latin America. But the evidence speaks for itself.

Although, Amazon rainforest has faced tough human consumption and industrialization which has led to deforestation and biodiversity loss, some people have and still search for better tools to recover Amazon rainforest, which is essential for the survival of humankind and earth. NGOs such as Greenpeace also contributed to enlighten people about unstable over consumption and production in Amazon rainforest and the importance of eliminating instability. Due to Greenpeace’s soy moratorium signed in 24th July 2006 by members of Brazilian Vegetable Oil Industry Association and National Association of Cereal Exporters with the support of McDonald’s, soy production in Amazon decreased 86% which consequently also slowed down deforestation and biodiversity loss. Accordingly, Deforestation Conservation Groups such as Conservation International, Amazon Watch, Rainforest Action Network, Rainforest Alliance, and others, have had great input in decreasing deforestation in rainforests. On September 15, 2017, Conservation International, took part in the world’s largest reforestation project in the Brazilian region of Amazon rainforest. Brazilian Ministry of the environment, World Bank, Brazilian Biodiversity fund and other organization were partners in this massive project. This multimillion-dollar project is considered to last until 2023 and restore 73 million trees in the Brazilian part of Amazon. Accordingly, the project is essential for the survival of Amazon, 25 million residents who live in that region, to stabilize the climate of our earth and to stop biodiversity loss. Another, organization which contributed to reforestation in Amazon rainforest is Amazon Watch. Since 1996, Goals of this organization is to protect Amazon rainforest and rights of indigenous people living in the Amazon Basin, decrease deforestation and focuses on global warming. Amazon watch annually makes projects and protects a million acres of rainforests by the help of indigenous people.

Rainforest Action Network is another organization, which wants to maintain healthy forests for all generations, foster respect for community rights and achieve profit without the expense of our planet. Next organization is Rainforest Alliance, which focuses on changing land usage practice, consumer behavior in a way that it protects biodiversity and foster sustainable livelihood. Several programmes also contributed to decreasing of forest destruction in Amazon and one of the most important ones can be considered as Amazon Region Protected Areas programme (ARPA), which as a response to slow down of deforestation in Brazil by 75% between 2000 and 2012, committed to support and expand protected areas of Amazon Rainforest in 2014. Moreover, it is also possible to mention World Wildlife Fund (WWF), with their massive campaign against hydropower dams, which would lead to flooding in some areas in Juruena National Park, one of the most important natural environments in Brazil. Therefore, these organizations, have implemented all their power to ensure that deforestation stops especially in Amazon rainforest, stabilize climate and to protect biodiversity, which is essential to maintain earth sustainable for all other generations. All things considered, although some organizations, NGOs and countries started projects to save Amazon rainforest and biodiversity there, we as individuals also should contribute in this or new projects and help Amazon rainforest to come back to its shape which was before industrialization.

People themselves can contribute to the saving of Amazon ecosystem. Firstly, we can help by reducing our paper and wood consumption. Logging organizations are chopping down the absolute most jeopardized forests on earth to make wood and paper items, for example, office paper, telephone directories, tissue, window trim, and furniture. More than seventy-eight percent of the Earth’s unique old development woods have already been logged or debased. You can help decrease the weight on our woodlands by finding a way to diminish your own wood and paper use. For instance, utilize the two sides of each bit of paper, utilize your very own fabric packs at the market, use material napkins and towels, and avoid disposable paper plates and cups. When acquiring paper items, pick items with the most astounding level of recycled content. Pick tree-free paper options if conceivable. Free tree paper is produced using farming items like waste straw, kenaf, and hemp, so not a solitary tree is chopped down for its generation. While building a house or including to your home, use wood proficient structure procedures and dodge wood items. Secondly, reduce your oil consumption. The consuming of oil, gas, and coal is the essential driver of environmental change, a pattern that is compromising the stability of the worldwide atmosphere. Researchers have anticipated that on the off chance that we remain on our momentum way, worldwide temperatures will ascend somewhere in the range of 2° and 9° Fahrenheit in the following century – a warming rate quicker than any happening in the last ten thousand years. Likewise, oil investigation leads to lethal contamination and monstrous deforestation, representing a danger to the ecosystem and indigenous societies around the world. You can help ease oil’s effect on nature by diminishing your very own oil and gas utilization. Whenever you buy a vehicle, pick one that gets great gas mileage. If you drive someplace normally, begin a carpool. At whatever point conceivable, leave your vehicle at home and rather walk, ride your bicycle, or take nearby mass transportation.

Support funding for mass transportation and bicycle paths – choices that will serve our transportation needs and our planet much preferable over the long term. Moreover, reduce your beef consumption. Rainforest beef is commonly found in cheap burgers or handled hamburger items. In both 1993 and 1994, the U. S. imported more than 200 million pounds of beef from Central American nations. 66% of these nations’ rainforests have been cleared, to raise cows whose meat is sent out to benefit the U. S. food industry. Decreasing your utilization of meat will lessen interest for it, reducing strain to clear more woods for cows. Finally, support Rainforest Action Network and invest in rainforest communities. Rainforest Action Network is a successful, hard-hitting association. In 1985, RAN propelled an across the country boycott of Burger King, which was bringing in cheap meat from tropical rainforest nations. After two years, Burger King dropped thirty-five million dollars worth of meat contracts and consented to prevent bringing in beef from the rainforest. RAN then drove a worldwide purchaser boycott against Mitsubishi, which brought to Mitsubishi Motor Sales America and Mitsubishi Electric America rethinking about environmental reviews of their business activities. Most recently, because of a multi-year battle driven by RAN, the country’s top home improvement retailers and biggest home developers consented to eliminate the deal and utilization of wood from the Earth’s imperiled woodlands. RAN’s Protect-an-Acre Program was made to ensure the world’s rainforests and to help the privileges of rainforest networks. The Protect-an-Acre Program is a choice to ‘purchase a section of land’ programs, which will, in general, overlook the way that there are regular individuals who rely upon the timberland and have lived in the woodland reasonably for quite a long time. Protect-an-Acre provides funding to help woodland people groups increase lawful acknowledgment of their domains, and oppose destructive practices, for example, logging and fossil fuel development.