Tropical Rainforest

Located Example - Amazon Rainforest
It consists of one-third of the planet's remaining tropical rainforest.
It provides resources for people locally and worldwide, including food, water, timber and medicines
It is home to a diverse range of plants and animals, with over 13,000 bird and 40,000 plant species.
Sustainable Management
1. Government Policies (governance) - Brazil
  1. National Forests belong to the state, but government can grant timber companies concessions to manage certain areas
  2. 31 National Forests covering 16 million hectares - an are larger than England
  3. Biodiversity survey must be carried out before logging, to establish which areas need protection
2. Commodity value
  1. In parts of the Amazon (e.g. Paragominas) timber firms are realising that undamaged forest is a commercial asset and can yield sustainable income
  2. 'Sustainable management' or 'reduced-impact logging' (RIL) can be more profitable than 'clear all' methods of timber extraction.
  3. RIL is up to 12% cheaper than conventional logging
3. Conventional logging
  1. The TRF is fragmented and species become endangerd
  2. For every tree cut down, 10-20 others are damaged
4. Reduced-impact logging
  1. Selective matures trees cut down
  2. 'Seed' trees are left to help quicker regrowth
  3. Direction of falling trees calculated to reduce damage to other trees.
  4. Less fragmentation and quicker regeneration

Resource summary

	Created by Mia Clement almost 8 years ago