Amazonian Jungle
It is located in South America, and
has an extension of approximately seven thousand kilometers, spread throughout
Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Suriname, Guiana and
French Guiana. The biggest part is in the states of Amazonas, Amapa, Rondonia,
Acre, Para and Roraima in Brazil (Fearnside, 2005). The video above shows the wonders of Amazonian Jungle and the wildlife and rich biodiversity, as well as the impact that is coming from deforestation.
It is a tropical and closed jungle,
and big part of its trees is of big port, and very close to each other. The
soil is not very rich, with only one small layer of nutrients that comes from
residuals of dead animals, fruits and leafs. This mix is essential for the type
of plants that grow up in the region.
Most of the animals are of small and
medium size. The climate is equatorial, because it is situated next to the
equatorial line. In this kind of climate, the temperatures are high, as well as
the rain levels.
In Brazil, deforestation happens
since the beginning of the colonization (XVI century). The Portuguese, looking
for profit, chopped down and sold big quantities of wood coming from the Amazon
jungle. It was also a way to get to colonies and explore the territory by
opening way in the middle of the jungle. The look for gold and other precious
metals was another reason why explorers would go through the forests, to find
myths such as “El Dorado”, city of gold, and the “Amazons”, women warriors that
carried gold. Nowadays, deforestation is still in place, mainly in the Amazon
jungle (Arturo, 2011).
Image available at: http://annoyzview.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/el-dorado-and-the-lost-city-of-gold/
One of the main problems of the
Amazon Jungle is the illegal deforestation. Wood companies get in the region to
extract and sell the trees. There are also farmers that make big firings in the
woods to make room to agriculture (mainly of soy). These two problems worry
scientists and environmental pro communities around the world, because in a
small amount of time, it can cause disequilibrium in the ecosystem, putting the
forest and its habitants in danger.
Another problem is the bio piracy in
the Amazon Jungle. International scientists come to the forest, without
government authorization, to obtain samples of species of plants or animals.
They take it back to their countries, research and develop substances, register
a patent and create a profit. The big problem is that Brazil would have to pay,
in the future, to use substances, which resources are in the own territory.
With
the discovery of gold, many rivers are being contaminated. The gold diggers use
mercury in the process, substance that is contaminating rivers and fishes on
the region. The indigenous tribes that live in the Amazon forest are also
suffering with the gold extraction, because the water in the rivers and fishes
are important to the survival of the tribes.
There
is a comment in this YouTube video by 487shawn that says: “We can’t eat money”.
The video above shows the progression of the deforestation seen by satellite in an area of the Amazonian Jungle. It is estimated by the Brazilian government that around 50 indigenous tribes in Amazon have never had contact with humans before. Deforestation is threatening to reach this tribes, which can bring several consequences for these indigenous populations, as well as to the more than 1.2 billion people that depend directly on the forests for their basic survival needs. The impacts on human security in the Amazonian Jungle go from the direct threats to the indigenous populations to the vulnerabilities that deforestation creates in the region, such as a decrease in food production which combined to the increasing number of people can create threats to their ability to provided and help in the process of providing their own survival needs, such as food.
Besides of the direct effects, people who can't be provided their needs in their current area can be forced to migrate to bigger cities, such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, which are already known to contain many favelas, or places with low infrastructure where low-income population gets settled. The favelas are connected to several acts of violence and bad infrastructure in health and housing, and the increase of these areas, which usually have poor water and sanitation levels, can create more waste and indirectly serve as consequences of deforestation and threats to human security.
Work Cited:
FEARNSIDE,
PHILIP M. "Deforestation In Brazilian Amazonia: History, Rates, And
Consequences." Conservation Biology 19.3 (2005): 680-688. Environment
Complete. Web. 16 Apr. 2013.
Boekhout van Solinge, Tim. "Deforestation Crimes And
Conflicts In The Amazon." Critical Criminology 18.4 (2010): 263-277.
SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 16 Apr. 2013.
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