Deforestation Issue: Possible Solution to the Problem

What do you think of the world deforestation when it comes to mind? Deforestation is the action of clearing out a wide area of trees. The Earth is made up of 71% water and 29% land. Forest cover about 31% of the land area in our planet. They produce vital oxygen and provide homes for billions of people. There are a few things that cause deforestation: Agricultural activities, logging, urbanization, desertification, mining and fires. Agriculture Activities is where number of trees are cut down due to growing crops and cattle grazing due to overgrowing for food products. Logging is when wood based industries like paper, match sticks and furniture etc. also need a substantial amount of wood supply. Urbanization is occurring when the trees are being cut down due to creating railroads. The more the land is expanding the more is takes over forest. Desertification of land occurs when industries in petrochemicals release their waste into rivers which may lead into soil erosion and make in unfit to grow plants and trees. Mining is when oil and coal require amount of forest land. Roads and highways are being built to make way for trucks and other equipment. The waste that comes from mining pollutes the species around. Fires is where hundreds of trees are being lost each year due to mankind or extreme warm summers.

Many of the world’s most threatened and endangered animals and species live in the forest. Thirty million people rely on the benefits the amazon provides like food, shelter, fresh water, medicine and clothing. The Amazon Rainforest is “the lungs” of the Earth. The forest in located on the South America continent. The Amazon River goes through Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia. Ecuador and Brazil. Which may not seem to affect areas like deserts but it’s like the butterfly effect. A small gust of wind on one side of the world will cause a hurricane on the other side of the world or to that effect. Before mankind came to exist, the planet was full of many forests. The more mankind inhabited the area the more the forests started to disappear. The community that has been affected by deforestation are the Kayapo. The people who are known to live in the Amazon are known as Kayapo. There are one of the main Amerindians (native) groups that still remain in the forest until today. They are a known to be fierce warriors, they have fought against one another and raided enemy tribes. The way deforestation has happened have been a threat to the Kayapo people. These people live in the eastern part of the Amazon Rainforest. Many of the Kayapo believe that their ancestors learned how to community through the plants and insects. The religion of Kayapo is that they believe old people become young and young people become old. When a child is born there is a marriage tie between a wife and a husband. The children receive ancestral names. They have ceremonies so the children can become a Kayapo. They usually don’t have homes like people in the western civilization. There health protection comes from medicinal roots and herbs. They use canoes for transportation and can trek for days. Teenage women don’t select their partner their families are the one who usually do it. The women in the village harvest for the family and create paint with the children. While the men of the household hunt and fish. Fish is the main protein in the village. Fruits and nuts are also eaten, and they hunt only when they have a ceremony to celebrate. Still many of the Kayapo people educate their children, but they educate their children on how to properly survive the forest. There is a protected area called Xingu Reservation where they build school to educate the children of the Kayapo. Many parents don’t send their children to the school because they believe they will get lost in the world and lose traditional skills. Kayapo’s want to preserve their land, but many people have driven into the Amazon for land. Many people have been under attack for more land. Kayapo people have been confronting their own problems because people are not appreciating the ecological balance the Amazon provides.

There are many goals for the Amazon Rainforest, but our goal is that we should reduce the amount of agriculture activities in the area. Like stated before agriculture activities are one of the major factors affecting deforestation especially in the Amazon. Cattle Pasture has an occupy of 80% of the deforested areas in the Amazon. They are using many lands for pasture, because America is demanding more meat. We don’t think we should go on a “no meat diet” but we do believe if we lowered the amount of meat, we consume we can help the planet. Many of us eat more meat then we are supposed to. Instead of eating meat in every meal, try to substitute it with chicken. If everyone would do this, they would focus less on exporting beef, and we can help the amazon. The Department of Agriculture believes that Americans are overeating the meat they consume on a daily base. American people are in fact breaking the record for meat eating. Since the 1960’s cattle pasture has increased from five million to seventy-eighty million heads. The amount of beef has increased from $1.9 million to $1.9 billion.

What do you think the media is saying about the Amazon? One of the biggest corporations against the use of animals is PETA. What does PETA stand for, it stands for People for the Ethical of Animals? PETA is trying to persuade people into become vegan, so animals won’t get affected. There have been many protests about the Amazon, and everyone wants a better world. There have been many important people who have been tweeting about the Amazon being on fire. But the question is will people actually listen and take action? Porto Velho was affected most by the Amazon being on fire. The population was suffering from respiratory problems and irritation on the eyes. Joaquin Guilherme Strelow a student states that “we are dying slowly” he says the lack of media is making it seem like Brazil is two complete universes. People believe it’s for political ideology, many people want the congress: and the president to take action about the fire. People who are supporting Bolsonaro are not helping with the take of action with the Amazon, making it seem the reason is because of dry season. After the fire had finished, he blamed loggers and farmers for the fire of the Amazon without having any proof. Many journalist and reports questioned NASA because they thought NASA was helping Bolsonaro with his political view. They believed NASA took fake pictures with the satellite and leaked them to the press. Civilians are finding Bolsonaro guilty for the fires, they believe that he didn’t give it much importance. Norway and Germany have donated to the Amazon funds, while France and Ireland have thread Bolsonario’s government. The Brazilian government has been accused by foreign countries for the undermine of Brazil.

In conclusion, it has been stated that we need to take action into the amount of eat we consume. The Earth is slowly dying, we need to take into concertation the many things we can help out with. We only have one life to live, and one Earth to enjoy. Deforestation and cattle pasture are issues that need to be discouraged and take action on. So, all of our forests will be gone, and we will be left with nothing. What will you do then?