Rainforest Solutions With too many opinions to satisfy everyone as a whole, the rainforest issue is known to be one of the greatest struggles the world has encountered. With logging companies scrapping for land, natives trying to live as they always have, ranchers trying to raise cattle, environmentalists working to stop deforestation, and people like me throwing out ideas that may not be agreeable to anyone else, it is easy to see why this precious resource must be taken into great consideration before it is no longer in existence. Which way is the right way to go? How can the government satisfy the majority? The first thing we need to do is to outlaw the current practices that harm the rainforest. Cutting down trees for modernization is an incredibly blind sighted mistake. At the present rate, a portion of the rainforest the size of New York City is being cleared out daily.
Deforestation in Amazonia, seen from satellite. Th...
Rainforest Gully
This was taken along the grand canyon walk in the ...The rainforest is not an endless resource; in fact, its end seems to be in the near future.
The second thing I suggest is that the organizations involved with the rainforest must all work together in solving each other's disputes. Environmentalists must work with logging companies, commercial medical suppliers must work with the cattle ranchers, and so on. The main thing that people need to realize is that the forest is quite limited, and it is completely illogical to tear it down. Once it is gone, its destroyers will need to find new jobs anyway, so why not stop destroying it before it's gone and look for new means of income? Lastly, the government in charge must approve the resolutions that the organizations come to. Once they are approved, they must be enforced. No resolution shall be accepted if it is in any way putting the existence of the rainforest in harms way. This is the only way to guarantee a future for our worlds most important resource.
Each individual group involved with the forest will somehow be affected by this plan. The environmentalists will be very supportive of this approach. Their main goal is to stop the deforestation and preserve what is left. The plan I propose fully covers that goal. The government leaders will be asked to do a great deal of overseeing and enforcing. It is in the government's hands to determine whether the plan is effective or faulty. They will most likely feel a lot of strain coming from each of the other groups involved with the process.
The natives to the forest will be extremely relieved. They have lived in the forest for centuries, and know no other way of life. Their homes will be saved and their lives will be preserved. They may, however, encounter increased violence from groups opposed to the plan. This is a small price to pay for the saving of a culture. Rubber tappers, much like the natives, will thrive on the new plan. Their way of life is funded by the sales of rubber harvested from the rubber trees in the forest. In the process of the harvesting, there is no harm being done to the forest itself.
The two groups that will be the least cooperative with the new plan are the ranchers, and the settlers. The ranching industry destroys large portions of the rainforest. They cut down trees and then burn the land. The soil is then only good for a couple of years, at which time the ranchers need more land to use, so they continue the process of destruction. This industry MUST be eliminated from the rainforest. Those who live off of it must be required to find new means of income, and it is the government's job to supervise such an action. It is quite certain that the ranchers will be greatly upset. The settlers are the other group that will be negatively affected by the proposal. They feel that the rainforest makes a good place to live after it is deforested. This, in my opinion, is not a hard problem to solve. The government can find other land that is not rainforest, and develop it strictly for settlers. This will give the people a place to go and live, without destroying the forest. Of course, the settlers will not be agreeable. It is most likely that they will refuse a move such as this. That is where the government must enforce the plan.
I never really understood how badly the world is in need of a solution to the rainforest issue. It is often quite simple to ignore a problem that doesn't seem to affect us directly. All it takes is a little bit of knowledge on an issue, and soon an opinion is formed. My opinion on the rainforest is quite strong. The destruction of such a valuable resource would be the worst move we could make. I know now, that it DOES affect me, and that I personally have the power to voice my opinion and work to save our worlds rainforests.
Jungle burned for agriculture in southern Mexico.
Daintree Rainforest. Photo taken June 2005. Upload...
Tropical rainforest, Fatu Hiva Island, Marquesas I...