P1: B Borneo rainforest FINISHED Flashcards
(17 cards)
Where is Malaysia?
- country in South East Asia
- Made up of Peninsula Malaysia, East Malaysia and Borneo
How much of Malaysia is covered by rainforest? And how much of that has been destroyed in the last twenty years?
- 67%
- 20%
How many plant and mammal species are there in Malaysian rainforests?
- 15,000 plants
- 300 mammals
CAUSES OF DEFRORESTATION: subsistence farming
Local farmers use slash and burn to make room to grow crops for their families.
CAUSES OF DEFRORESTATION: commercial farming
- Malaysia is the largest producer and exporter of palm oil in the world. Large areas of forest are cleared for this purpose.
CAUSES OF DEFRORESTATION: logging
Trees are felled to sell as timber for furniture or pulp for paper, clear felling often used. Largest exporter of tropical wood in the 1980s. Efforts are being made to replace clear felling with selective logging.
CAUSES OF DEFRORESTATION: Mineral extraction
Mines for metal ores eg. tin. Drilling for oil. Mines have to built and roads constructed.
CAUSES: energy development
- HEP (hydro-electric power) produced by dams, eg. Bakun Dam in Sarawak. Involves mass deforestation and flooding. Designed to support Malaysia’s growing population and expanding industry.
CAUSE: Population pressure
- Government encouraged urban poor to move to rural areas to ease overcrowding, causes more deforestation as plantations are built.
EFFECTS: social (2)
- development of land leads to jobs
- companies eg. logging companies pay taxes which can be reinvested eg. in healthcare.
EFFECTS: Economic (3)
+ Products eg. palm oil can be exported for manufacturing, raises GDP.
- Number of tourists to the rainforest could decrease due to deforestation.
- A drier climate causes water prices to go up.
EFFECTS: Environmental (6)
- Pollution of water sources could lead to shortages
- Burning areas of rainforest can lead to harmful air pollution
- Deforestion remove habits of animals leading to a loss of biodiversity
- Reduction in interception causes soil erosion and leeching
- Trees no longer transpire, so the climate becomes drier
- Trees are Carbon sinks, when burned they release CO2, contributing to climate change.
Selective logging and replanting
- Only chopping down certain trees, leaving some to grow back.
+ maintains biodiversity - Expensive
Conservation and education
eg. Rainforest Alliance
* Manages human use of natural resources to protect and preserve rainforest
+ Employment
- Some LICs can’t afford to this
Ecotourism
- Environmentally friendly tourism. Includes education, employment for locals, profits go back to rainforest
+ Educate people - Small scale
International agreements
- 2006: International Tropical Timber Agreement. All timber must be marked with registration number to stop illegal logging.
+ Promote sustainabilty - Doesn’t fully stop logging or illegal logging
Debt Reduction
- HICs pay LICs money to preserve their rainforest, as they otherwise use the rainforest for profit eg. logging
- LICs depend on HICs for money, what if it unexpectedly stops?
+ LICs can spend money on infrastructure etc. while still preserving rainforests.
