Amazon Rainforest: Challenges and Opportunities

Amazon Rainforest: Challenges and Opportunities

Let's see what you can recall from the last few weeks on on-line lessons

7 Quick questions to test your memory.

You have 30 seconds to answer each question

Your score is based on how quickly you answer, and if you are correct

Ready, Set.........Go!

Multiple Choice

Where are tropical rainforests found?

• near the equator
• near the polar ice caps
• in northern coniferous forest
• in mild temperatures climates

Multiple Select

Name 3 countries within the Amazon rainforest...

• Brazil

• Peru

• Chile

• Columbia

• Mexico

Multiple Choice

The Amazon Rainforest helps convert ______________ into clean breathable air.

• hydrogen
• carbon dioxide
• helium
• plants

Multiple Choice

Indigenous people means ________

• Old people

• Originating in a place

• More people

• People travelling from place to place

Multiple Choice

People who move from place to place usually following a food source are called?

• Adaptive

• Nomadic

• Modification

• Indiginous

Multiple Choice

How many indigenous tribes live in the Amazon rainforest?

• 4

• 40

• 400

• 4000

Open Ended

Land belonging to the Waiapi tribe is under threat from....

Amazon Rainforest: Challenges and Opportunities

Learning Intentions

• To describe opportunities in the Amazon

• -To explain the challenge in the Amazon

• Make a decision on whether the Amazon rainforest should be protected

Open Ended

Using the grid, write one question about this image that you want to know the answer to...

The further left or down you go, the more complex the questions.

(Challenge: Can you think af an answer to your question?)

The Amazon in the Balance

• Why might people not want to protect the rainforest?

• What challenges are there for the Amazon rainforest in the future?

Mining

The Amazon is home to lots of minerals.

Copper, Tin, Nickel, Iron ore and even gold.

Governments are helping to set-up large-scale projects, in order to boost the economy.

It is likely that the scale of Amazon mining will increase due to better technology.

Are all the mines here legal?

Multiple Select

What are the impacts of mining in the Amazon?

• Deforestation

• Improves the local economy

• River pollution

• Increases number of tourists in area

Cattle ranching

Large areas are cleared for farming, as the global demand for meat has increased.

Brazil is the 2nd largest producer of beef in the world (USA 1st)

Cattle pastures increase the risk of fire and help destroy ecosystems, causing soil erosion and river pollution

Open Ended

Make a detailed statement to explain how cattle farming damages the rainforest environment...

(Challenge: Can you give two different impacts)

Logging

Logging companies are mainly only interested in high-value timber hard wood, such as mahogany and teak.

However, to access more valuable wood less valuable, trees are also removed to improve access.

Is it possible to restrict logging in the Amazon?

Arable (crop) Farming

Large areas of rainforest have been cleared areas to create huge plantations.

Crops such as soybeans, palm oil, pineapple and sugar cane are grown.

As with cattle farming, the land can only sustain crops for a short period, before new land will be needed.

Poll

Which of the 'challenges' do you think causes the highest levels of deforestation in the rainforest?

• Mining

• Logging

• Cattle ranching

• Agriculture farming

Why is the Amazon rainforest shrinking?

• Cattle Ranching

• Agriculture (Small and Commerical)

• Logging

• Mining

Poll

Do any of the products that you consume cause deforestation?

• Yes

• No

Greenpeace reports

• 7000km food chain linking Amazon Rainforest with Fried Chicken in the UK!

• 25% of the chicken feed used by McDonalds is produced in Brazil.

• Brazil's 'Soy King' Blairo Maggi owns over 2million hectares of soy bean fields, much of it former rainforest.

• Rainforest deforestation rates doubled when new port was built to export soy to other countries.

Task: Make the connection

Can you to link the fried chicken you eat to the deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, and the negative impacts this causes

Open Ended

How can we protect the Amazon forest from the challenges of Mining, Farming and Logging?

(Challenge: What other types of business could Brazil promote?)

Eco Tourism

Ecotourism is a holiday experience for tourists wishing to visit the natural environment without damaging it or disturbing its habitats.

Low impact buildings, constructed using sustainable methods.

Employing local people who educate tourists about the rainforest ecosystems and local customs

Multiple Select

What are the main aims of an ecotourism resort?

• To host as many tourists as possible

• To protect the natural environment around the resort

• To develop the rainforest large into a tourist attracton

• To educate visitor about the rainforest and local customs

• To employ an large foreign workforce

Protected Areas

This means that there can’t be any mining, logging, or farming here.

The government of Brazil is trying to remove some of the protected areas so that the land can be developed. 

Many of the recent Amazon fires were in protected areas....

Will the government still protect the fire damaged land?

Logging Laws

Logging laws prevent trees being cut down in certain areas.

The Amazon is so large that it is nearly impossible to protect all of these areas. Some parts of the Amazon have police or military who stop illegal logging. 

The government in Brazil is trying to change these laws to increase logging.

Multiple Choice

Why would the government want to remove the logging laws in the Amazon rainforest?

• To make more space for new trees to grow

• To enable people to collect firewood legally

• To enable logging companies to sell more wood, bringing tax for the government

• To help protect more of the rainforest

Government Agreements

Countries around the world have agreed to reduce the amount of carbon they release in to the atmosphere.

Richer countries pay poorer countries to to look after their rainforests (shifting responsibility).

Poor countries can get money for looking after their forested areas.

Open Ended

"Mining is the biggest threat to the Amazon rainforest". Do you agree with this statement? Justify your answer

Amazon Rainforest: Challenges and Opportunities

Learning Outcomes

• Described opportunities in the Amazon

• Explained the challenge in the Amazon

• Made a decision on whether the Amazon rainforest should be protected or developed

Multiple Choice

Groups that want sustainable development in the Amazon Rainforest are most likely to support...

• the building of more roads into the rainforest

• the harvesting of rainforests trees to create more jobs

• the clearing of rainforest to create farms and ranches

• the use of rainforest resources without destroying them

Multiple Choice

What has/is affecting the Amazon Rainforest?

• Deforestation
• Carbon Dioxide 
• Increased Rain 
• Indigenous Groups 

Multiple Choice

Which of these feuding groups wants the land in the Amazon for "sustainable development"?

• Cattle Ranchers
• Loggers
• Settlers
• Environmentalists

Multiple Choice

"Sustainable development" means...

• the variety of plants & animals living in one area.
• using resources in ways that meet needs of people today w/out hurting supply for future generations.
• The process by which carbon & oxygen cycle among plants, people & animals.

Multiple Choice

Which group has been in the Amazon Rain forest the longest?

• Settlers
• Loggers
• Native Amazonians
• Environmentalists

Multiple Choice

Which of these reasons explain why trees shouldn't be cut down?

• Many natural medicines are found in the rainforest.
• Trees are needed for paper and building
• Deforestation provides jobs
• The trees will just grow back anyway.