Strategies for Managing Tropical Rainforests Sustainably - Paper 1

Question 1

What 3 things can be done at in international level?

Answer 1

-Inter-government agreement on hardwoods and endangered species

-Debt reduction by HICs

-Conservation and education by NGOs

Question 2

What is the International Tropical Timber Agreement of 2006?

Answer 2

It restricts the trade in hardwoods taken from tropical rainforest.

Question 3

What has encouraged a huge amount of illegal felling?

Answer 3

Very high prices paid for tropical hardwoods.

Question 4

what does CITES stand for?

Answer 4

Convention on International Trade in Endangered species.

Question 5

What does the CITES treaty do?

Answer 5

It blocks the illegal trade of rare and endangered animals and plants.

Question 6

How much is the illegal trade still worth?

Answer 6

Unfortunately millions of pounds.

Question 7

So what 2 schemes are included in inter-government agreements on hardwood and endangered species?

Answer 7

-The International Tropical Timber Agreement (2006)

-The CITES treaty (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species 1973)

Question 8

What is debt reduction?

Answer 8

Where HICs agree to write off the debts of some poor LICs.

Question 9

What is an example of debt reduction?

Answer 9

Schemes called debt-for-nature swaps.

In 2010, the USA signed an agreement to convert a Brazilian debt of £13.5 million into a fund to protect large areas of tropical rainforest.

Question 10

What are NGOs?

Answer 10

Non-governmental organisations.

Question 11

Give 3 examples of NGOs which are interested in tropical rainforests:

Answer 11

-WWF

-Fauna and Flora International

-Birdlife International

Question 12

What do these organisations do?

Answer 12

-Promote conservation largely through education programmes in schools and colleges

-Provide training for conservation workers

-Provide practical help to make programmes more sustainable

-Buy threatened areas and create nature reserves.

Question 13

What 3 laws can all national governments do to achieve a sustainable balance between protection and development of rainforests?

Answer 13

-Create protected areas of reserves

-Stop the abuse of the rainforest and other biomes by developers

-Making subjects such as environmental studies a compulsory part of the school curriculum

Question 14

What are 3 problems involving national governments and the management of rainforests?

Answer 14

-Few governments are willing to do anything that might slow down the rate of economic development

-Governments seem unwilling to enforce or monitor laws aimed at protecting or conserving the rainforest

-There is a lot of corruption in rainforests, for instance by illegal loggers and developers paying bribes

Question 15

What does conservation mean?

Answer 15

Natural resources such as timber can still be used, but must be used sustainably.

Question 16

What does protection mean?

Answer 16

The environment should be untouched and humans should not interfere, so ecosystems can find their own balance.

Question 17

What are 4 possible actions we can do about areas with logging?

Answer 17

-Selective logging
-Stopping illegal logging
-Agroforestry
-Replanting

Question 18

What is selective logging?

Answer 18

Only felling trees once they are fully grown, and letting younger trees mature and continue protecting the ground from erosion.

Question 19

Selective logging involved a cycle which takes how long?

Answer 19

Between 30 and 40 years.

Question 20

What 2 things are helping monitor illegal logging?

Answer 20

Satellites and drones.

Question 21

What is agroforestry?

Answer 21

It involves combining crops and trees, by allowing crops to be grown in carefully controlled, cleared areas within the rainforest, and by growing rainforest trees on plantations outside the rainforest.

Question 22

What is REGUA?

Answer 22

A project in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil has shown it is possible to recreate a rainforest cover almost like the original.

Question 23

How is it possible to recreate a rainforest cover almost like the original?

Answer 23

Collecting seeds from remaining patches of primary rainforest, growing the seeds into saplings in nurseries and then planting the saplings back in the deforested areas.

Question 24

What is the aim of ecotourism?

Answer 24

To educate visitors and increase their understanding and appreciation of nature and local tourists. It tries to minimise the consumption of non-renewable resources and the ecological impact.

Question 25

What is a biosphere reserve?

Answer 25

This is a way of protecting part of the rainforest by leaving it untouched except for research and plant breeding, etc.

Question 26

What is the protected core surrounded by in a biosphere reserve?

Answer 26

A buffer zone, in which only certain human activities are allowed.

Question 27

How can mining be less destructive?

Answer 27

Once bauxite is removed, the earth can be replaced, covered with its topsoil and replanted with native trees.

Question 28

How much is the cost of reforestation in terms of mining?

Answer 28

$2,500 per hectare, or 7% of the cost of the mine.

Question 29

Give an example of an ecotourism project:

Answer 29

The Yachana Lodge in Ecuador. It employs local people, providing a reliable source of income and improving lives. Volunteers work with the local Amazon youth who study at the Yachana technical high school where learning is focused around: rainforest conservation, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, animal husbandry, ecotourism and more

Question 30

What is the largest area of protected rainforest in Brazil? Describe it:

Answer 30

The Central Amazon Conservation Complex (CACC) covers 60,000km2 and is classified as a world heritage site by the UN, meaning it’s protected by international treaties. Access and things like logging, fishing and hunting are limited.