CASE STUDY: Rainforest

• 8 million km squared 
• Since 1978, over 750 00 km squared has been destroyed by deforestation.

Between 2000 and 2005:

• 70% - cattle ranching
• 20 - 25% - small-scale subsistence farming
• 5 - 10% - commercial farming i.e. soy and sugar cane
• 2 - 3 % used for timber
• 1 - 2 % mineral extraction and building new settlements

• Slash and Burn tenchinques to clear large areas release CO2 into the atmosphere which conributes to global warming.

• Trees are a carbon sink  -  Amazon stores about 100 billion tonnes of CO2 so cutting them down releases more CO2 into the atmosphere.

• Brazil loses 55 million tonnes of topsoil each year due to soil erosion caused by soy farming.

• In 2008, Brazil made $6.9 billion from trading cattle.

• Brazil is the 2nd biggest exporter of soy beans.

• In 2015, the mining sector in Brazil generated 2.7 million direct and indirect jobs.

• The minerals sector equates to 21% of Brazils's exports.

• Local Brazilian rubber tappers have lost their livelihoods as trees have been cut down.

• Indigenous Amazonian tribes are often forced to move due to the destruction of their habitats.
• The Murunahua were decimated by contact with loggers.

• It destroys the natural beauty of the area.