Threats to the Amazon

The Amazon isn’t very large compared to the deforestation it is facing. It doesn’t help that it’s only found on one continent on the planet, South America. Threats such as cattle ranching, building roads and hydro-electric dams, mining, logging, oil extraction, farming, and climate change. The reason protecting this rain forest is so important is because it is home to approximately ten million species of plants, animals, and insects. Not only is this forest important animals, plants, and insects, but humans as well. The amazon provides about twenty percent of the world’s oxygen. It is often referred to as “Lungs of the Planet.”

Man seems to want to take away that oxygen from the species living there however. Some of the most endangered animal species call the Amazon their home. A few of these animals include the Toucan, Gorilla, Giant River Otter, Jaguar, Manatee, Poison Dart Frog, and the Amazon River Dolphin. The reason for their population decline is pollution, hunting and fishing, climate change, deforestation, and invasive species being introduced. The reason these species aren’t able to survive these conditions is because they are so used to having a plentiful food and home space. The Amazon is sunny and rainy, making it the perfect place for plants to nourish. These plants provide food as well as protection for millions of species. Other places on the planet have cold seasons where all the resources dry out, the species living there have adapted and either migrate or hibernate. Organisms in the Amazon do not.

Rain forests use to make up fourteen percent of the land on earth, now that number is down to six. “More than half of our rain forests have already been lost due to the insatiable human demand for wood.” says a National Geographic article. Humans are also affected by these problems however. The Amazon is home to about 400 indigenous groups who rely on the land to live, they also need this land for food and shelter. An organization known as REDD+ has since been trying to educate these groups about things such as climate change and deforestation so they know the consequences if the damage continues, and how it can affect them as well.  Some suggestions this group has is encouraging people who live near the forest to harvest its bounty rather than cutting it for farmland. Logging (legal and illegal) are one of the largest problems for the Amazon. REDD+ is hoping that logging regimes will agree to cull trees rather than clear-cut them. This alone could save millions of acres every year.

Overall the Amazon consists of one in ten known species on earth, has 4,100 miles of rivers, makes up half of the planets remaining rain forests, and is about forty percent of South America. That’s a lot of resources for one continent, but as a planet it’s close to nothing, and it’s rapidly being destroyed. Saving this rain forest will only have a positive affect by saving millions of human, insect, plant, and animal lives.