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25 views

Untitled Document

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katiestephens30
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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‘Tropical rainforests should be protected from economic

development.’
Do you agree?
Explain your answer.
Use Figure 7 and your own understanding

On the one hand, tropical rainforests should be protected from economic development because
trees are important for a variety of different reasons. A big disadvantage of cutting down trees is
that animals and plants lose their habitats which means that if they were adapted to live there, it
can be very difficult for the species to survive now that their home is destroyed. Additionally,
rainforests provide us as humans with many of the things we use everyday from medicine to
foods such as fruits and nuts as well as also being an important source of clean water. Another
important thing about rainforests is the trees themselves, with 400 billion trees in the Amazon as
an example, they are very good at absorbing and storing carbon dioxide, this helps to reduce
global warming by limiting the amount of CO2 in the air. For example, in the Amazon Rainforest,
150-200 billion tonnes of carbon are stored in the trees and soils.

However, economic development in rainforests can also have it’s advantages, especially in
making a lot of money from exports of resources that can be found in the area. Examples of this
include mining, where minerals such as gold can be found and logging, where the trees cut
down can be used for paper and timber. Both of these also provide jobs for local people so that
they can also earn some money. Additionally, these companies pay taxes to the government
and as a result, other necessities such as healthcare and education can be improved for local
people. Finally, there is also an increase in strategies that allow economic development to
remain sustainable such as selective logging.

In conclusion, I think both sides need to be taken into account. Deforestation threatens many
species with extinction and when the rainforest is home to over half of the world’s plant species,
this is a major problem for thousands of species. However, countries do need to develop
economically to make sure that living standards are still acceptable and to give locals a better
quality of life. I think the move towards more sustainable strategies to do this is a good idea as it
meets the needs of the present generation whilst not compromising that of the future.

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