geography skills

• the carajas iron ore mining project uses wood from forest to power its iron plants - annual deforestation of 6100km2
• mercury used in gold mining - very toxic. 905 of fish caught surround river tapajas is concentrated with mercury, causes cancer and high miscarriage rates if eaten by tribes 

• oil extracted from oriente region of ecuador, toxic waste mixed with crude oil seeps out of 600 unlined pits into subsoil - polluting fresh water and farmland
• many plants like periwinkle (used to cure leukemia) are now endangered species. 

• camisea region there is a larger natural gas and pipeline project: home to many amazonion tribes such as yine,nanti and nahua  
• deforestation has caused damage patterns to be altered, habitats destroyed.
• caused soil erosion and landslides resulting in the sitting up of local rivers
• tribal people have caught diseases they are not immune to. 
• one in four of the nanti live to be teenagers. 
• many roads have been built for this prject and this has attracted colonists to the area and they have further destroyed the forest by setting up farms

• large areas of cameroon have been cut down for commercial wood production: roads built by logging companies have opened up forest for illegal loggers and commercial hunting - led to slaughtering of mammals e.g elephant, gorilla
• local Baka wokers breath in toxic products used on the wood - this goes into their lungs and harms them

• the freeport mining company mines gold and copper in west papua. mines an area of 3.6 million hectares
• 285,000 tonnes of untreated mining waste is dumped into river Aghawaghen every day - pollutes river and poisons fish
• locals are exploited by being given the lowest paid jobs 
• crocodiles and tortoises in the area of Teluk Etna are on the brink of extinction due to pollution 

• government of france has refused to allow gold mine: IAMGOLD, canadian company wanted to mine gold in the Kaw mountain area. 
• this area is home to 700 plant species, 150 different animals and 754 bird species. 
• the open cast mine would have affected biodiversity of the area and put water containing cyanide into the kaw swamp 

• developing rainforest in sustainable way through ecotourism: 
• the governement has allowed american company Merck to look for plants which can be used to make medicines or fragrances for perfumes.
• government will get a share of the profits of any products that are sold 
• many areas of the country have developed tourist facilites such as zip wiring and trails throught forest, which are very popular

• since 2008 the governement has not issued any to mine gold or diamonds in the Imataca rainforest reserve or anywhere in the country.
• no need to expolit the minerals for economic reasons due to its oil reserves - this caused attacks on locals by illegal minors
• government will now protect both biodiversity of the forest and locals

• government rejected plans to build a coal fired power plant at Silam: was too close to the ecologically sensitive areas of darvel bay and danum valley
• did not want to pollute the area and more environmentally friendly form of energy would need to be found
• country has vast reserves of coal and gold - gov' will not develop these resources at the expense of the rainforest which has endangered species such as orang - utan
• government going to develop ecotourism emphasising the natural attractions such as world class diving, biologically diverse tropical rainforest.

• in 2001 givaudan, a swiss company sent a team to madagascar to survey for new fragrances: 
• it developed 40 arromas which were then sold
• the complany shared profits with the local communties 

sustainability : 

• reduce emissions 
•  lower congestions 

congestion charge: reduce number of vehicles entering city by making motorists pay to travel into urban areas during heaviest use. London introduced this in 2003, by 2008 it beneficial effects!

• travel levels reduced by 21%
• 45,000 fewer car journeys per day 
• increase of 29,000 bus passengers entering zone during morning peak
• 12% increase in cycle journeys in zone
• 12% reduction in emission of nitrous oxide 

park and ride: designated parking areas on edge of urban areas and catch bus into town centre

cambridge used this scheme:

• five p&r sites covering all main routes into city
• next to M11, A14
• 4,500 parking spaces available 
• double decker bus up 70 people - travels every 10 mintues, mon - sat 
• £2.20 per day 
• site well lit and security systems operate 
• waitrooms, toilets 

• car sharing - if half motorists received a lift one day a week - pollution reduced by 10%, traffic jams by 20%
• cycle and walking paths in urban area. milton keynes best area with 273km of cycle paths
• road lanes that allow cars with at keast 2 passengers to use them
• pedestrianised areas  - cars no access , bus and trams allow to operate
• road lanes which give priority to buses, easy passage through busy areas
•  restricting car parking in central urban areas, so people forced to use public transport