Title: Loss of Biodiversity
1Loss of Biodiversity
Team 4
Rainforest Degradation
- Photo courtesy of www.gu.edu.au
Ben Hammonds Will Hanlon Matt Hughes Steve
Jackson Alex Kevern Ricky Pickett
2Rainforest DegradationA Moral Dilemma
- Importance of Rainforests
- Biodiversity
- Carbon sinks
- New pharmaceutical drugs and new
disease-resistant crops - The Human Element
- Family farmers
- industrial logging mining and agriculture
companies as well
3Rainforest Biodiversity
- Rainforests cover just 2 of the earths surface
but are home to approximately 50 of all species
of life on the planet. - A single bush in the Amazon may have more
species of ants than the entire British Isles.
(Monogabay) - Rich diversity creates webs of interdependence.
4History of Conservation
- Parks and Reserves
- Ineffective
- Do not provide economic benefits
- Using this method 50 of worlds rainforests
have been lost - local people and the government itself must see
financial returns to justify the costs of
maintaining parks and forgoing revenue from
economic activities within the boundaries of the
protected area (Monogabay).
5Plants of the Rainforest
6Plants of the Rainforest
- Rainforests have five levels
- Overstory
- Canopy
- Understory
- Shrub Layer
- Forest Floor
- 70-90 percent of rainforest life is in the canopy
level. - Forest floor has limited life.
7Plants of the Rainforest
- Plants are protected by CITES (Convention on
International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild
Flora and Fauna). - This a listing of endangered species.
- Attempts to stop trade of listed plant species.
- Plants are endangered by deforestation from
agriculture logging and cattle industries. - Elimination of plants eliminates habitats for
animals.
8Plants of the Rainforest
- Loss of tree canopy inhibits conversion of green
house gases. - This can also cause climate shifts worldwide.
- The ultimate loss of rainforest plants is the
loss of biodiversity.
9Rainforests and Medicines
10Rainforests and Medicines
- Most medicines extracted from rainforests are
used by indigenous people - Some herbal remedies are beneficial to the
physical health of the indigenous people - Some of the herbs extracted from the rainforests
are ritualistic to indigenous culture
11Medicine Cont.
- World Health Organization survey
- 70 to 80 of world population uses
non-conventional medicines (herbal sources) for
primary health care - Most of the non-conventional used by less
developed countries due to lack of lab drugs
12Dragons Blood
- Latex or sap of Sangre de Drago (dragons blood)
- Used for gastrointestinal problems wound
healing microbial infections - Found in the Amazon river basin
- Beginning to be used by more than just indigenous
people - Cost effective two week treatment cost approx.
25 cents with same effectiveness as conventional
methods
13Dragons Blood cont.
- Possible cancer treatment
- Interferes with malignant cells to keep
reproducing - Found to reduce intestinal tumors
- Could be an effective weapon against colon cancer
14Animal Species Loss
15Rainforest Animal Species
- 5 times the amount of Bird species
- 43 species of Ants in one tree nearly as much as
in all of British Isles - Manatees Giant Otters Amazon turtles large
cats all in danger of extinction - Due to number of insect species extinctions
often go unnoticed
16Causes
- Fragmentation for Agriculture
- Logging
- Over hunting
- Increased human populations
- Need for food
- Modern weapons
17International Conventions
- The Convention on International Trade of
Endangered Species (CITES) - Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals
(CMS) - Convention on Biological diversity (CBD)
18Convention on International Trade of Endangered
Species (CITES)
- Entered into force 1975
- 172 member states
- restrictions on import export re-export and
introduction of specified species - Appendix I is on endangered species
- Appendix II specifies restrictions placed on
species by varying degrees of necessity
19Convention on the Conservation of Migratory
Species of Wild Animals (CMS)
- Signed 1983
- 104 member states
- parties to the convention must recognize the
issue of endangered migratory species and take
steps to protect them - Parties must also take action to prevent other
species from becoming endangered
20Member states
21Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
- stemmed from the 1992 Rio Convention
- 190 parties to the treaty
- Article 8 requires the creation of safe and
protected areas for animals in potential risk - Article 9 requires parties to provide for the
rehabilitation and reintegration of depleted
species - 2010 Biodiversity Target
- strives to achieve by 2010 a significant
reduction of the current rate of biodiversity
loss at the global regional and national level
as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to
the benefit of all life on Earth
22Member States
23Effectiveness
- Brazil has made steps to reach the 2010 target of
the CBD - protected wildlife areas
- reintegrating manatees and rock cavies
24Challenges to effectiveness
- enforcement is always in question
- up to member states to implement these
regulations - Development and poverty
- In extremely poor areas animal meat is necessity
to survive regardless of the source - Corruption of low level government officials
- remoteness and size of rainforest
25Rainforests and Humans
26World Population
- World population has been increasing
exponentially. By the middle of this very
century the world population is expected to
reach roughly nine billion people assuming it
continues to grow at an annual rate of 90 million
people. - Problem at hand humans rapidly overtaxing
natural resources in rainforests and are
consuming a disproportionate amount of the
Earths primary production and transforming
native environments into human-dominated
landscapes. - Two problems concerned with this include that the
forests are being degraded at an apparently
ever-increasing rate while human welfare in
forested areas is remaining at a constant level
at best and are more often deteriorating.
27Problems that affect humans
- Problems of forest degradation include over
harvesting of industrial wood and fuelwood
overgrazing fire insect pests and disease
storms and air pollution - Also With fewer trees to soak up carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere the risk of global warming
is increased
28Who it effects
- forest dwellers who may be dependent on the
forest for his daily faire - settlers in a nearby village who may need
forest-dependent environmental services - consumers in the rainforests national capitals
that may suffer if wood prices rise due to
deforestation - farmers in a distant country who may depend on
the forest for the rains that water his crops or
for a stable climate
29What must be done
- Sustainable development therefore must be the
answer to how the human well-being can be
preserved. - The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro Brazil
defined sustainable development as such
sustainable forest management aims to meet the
needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own
needs (Pierce and Byron 6).
30The Policy Cycle
31The Policy Cycle
- Identification of the Problem
- Agenda Setting
- Doing Something to correct the problem
- Formation of Public Policy
- Implementation
- Evaluation
32Policy on Rainforest Conservation
- International Tropical Timbers Agreement-1994
- International Tropical Timbers Associations
Guidelines on the Conservation of Biological
Diversity in Tropical Production Forests - Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998
33International Tropical Timbers Agreement 1994
- Drafted by the International Tropical Timbers
Organization - Regulate Timber use in Modern Industry
- 14 objectives
- Use Timber from sustainable regions
- Rehabilitation of damaged forests
34International Tropical Timbers Agreement 1994
- Set forth the Bali Fund
- A Fund for sustainable management of tropical
timber producing forests hereby established to
assist producing members to make the investments
necessary to achieve the objective of article 1
(d) of this Agreement. - Established 4 Committees
- Economic Information and Market Intelligence
- Reforestation and Forest Management
- Forest Industry
- Finance and Administration
35Guidelines on the Conservation of Biological
Diversity in Tropical Production Forests
- Set forth by the ITTO
- 20 different recommended actions for conservation
of Biodiversity - Recommended Action 1 Provide a national agency
or reform and strengthen existing institutions to
include biodiversity conservation in their
mandate. - Recommended Action 2 Provide this agency with
sufficient human and financial resources to
effectively achieve integrated biodiversity
conservation involving both the TPA and
production forest systems. - Recommended Action 8 Particular care should be
taken in applying silvicultural treatments to
ensure that adequate populations of species which
are important in food chains or in providing
ecological functions (keystone species) are
retained.
36Tropical Forest Conservation Act 1998
- Offers eligible developing countries options to
relieve U.S. debt while generating funds to
support forest conservation - Six countries have agreements
- Bangladesh Belize El Salvador Panama Peru
and the Philippines - Generated over 60 Million for Tropical Forest
Conservation
37Tropical Forest Conservation Act 1998
- Eligibility
- Must have a tropical forest of global or regional
significance and meet certain political and
economic criteria established in the law - Must have Democratically Elected Governments
- Cooperate on International Narcotics Control
measures - Have a sustainable economic reform program in
place - Must not support international terrorism or
violate human rights
38Tropical Forest Conservation Act1998
- Reauthorized in both 2004 and 2007
- In 2007 received a makeover now including Coral
Reef protection - On October 15 2007 it was extended through 2010
39Conclusion
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