Brazilian Amazonia: Biodiversity and Deforestation

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Why did the Paragominas support their mayor?

Firstly, Adnan Demachki was efficient in his previous term (Duncan, 2013). Secondly, the mayor persuaded the people to stop deforestation to save the Amazon. Traditionally, this decision would have been unpopular with most people because it infringed on their capacity to generate income. However, a number of events worked concurrently to initiate change. Chief among them was the fact that international pressure on the government caused it to blacklist Paragominas from cheap credit; this affected the citizens of Paragominas financially and socially. Additionally, Greenpeace’s boycott of soya, beef and leather also caused people to consider supporting the mayor. Interestingly, the mayor managed to convince 88% of the people to support his re-election (Imazon, 2013).

What level of biodiversity does the Brazilian Amazon support?

Amazonia supports the world’s highest level of biodiversity. Brazilian Amazon supports more than half of the world’s animal and plant species. Amazonia is considered to be among the world’s largest natural resources. It produces 20% of the world’s oxygen. It is estimated that Amazonia contains more than 500 mammals, 300 reptiles, and 175 lizard species. Moreover, the rainforest supports about a third of the world’s birds (BluePlanetBiomes, 2003).

What is deforestation and why is it practiced?

Deforestation refers to the lasting destruction of forests with the aim of making the cleared land available for other uses. It is estimated that the world loses about 18 million acres yearly to deforestation. Deforestation is usually done for various reasons namely to make land available for cattle ranching and to harvest timber for use in making commercial items such as furniture and paper, among others. Deforestation is also done to create space for urbanization and housing. Moreover, deforestation is sometimes done to make constituents such as oil from palm trees. However, the most common cause of deforestation that affects more than half of forests is for use as fuel (Bradford, 2015).

How does deforestation affect the Brazilian Amazon?

Amazon forest is one of the world’s biggest regions that support half the world’s animal and plant species. Deforestation destroys the ecology of the forest. This results in destruction of habitats of the world’s species. Secondly, deforestation in Amazon influences global warming because it is responsible for about 10% of greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation also causes soil erosion in the Amazonia thereby destroying land for agriculture. Additionally, deforestation leads to displacement of indigenous people living in the Amazonia. Deforestation also leads to less forest cover, which eliminates natural filters for water that is utilized by the inhabitants of Amazonia (Lind, 2010).

What is the history behind the fight against deforestation? Who spoke out against it? What role did the population of Brazil play in changing Paragominas from logging town to a site of environmental protection?

It is estimated that Brazil has lost about 19% of its rainforest in the past. Moreover, Brazil makes the most of Amazonia at 63%. The fight against deforestation began in 2003 with pressure from the international community and public opinion to turn away from illegal logging. It had been established by an American scientist, Thomas Lovejoy that deforestation cut the forest into fragments that wiped away large swathes of biodiversity. The government of Lula da Silva, through his minister for environment, Marina Silva, provided improved protection for the Amazon. This led to blacklisting of centers for illegal logging like Paragominas. Key players in this role included Brazilian NGO Imazon, NASA and Greenpeace that utilized technology to show areas where deforestation was rampant. Other players in the fight against deforestation included Paragominas’s mayor Adnan Demachki, federal public prosecutor Daniel Avelion, Governor Simao Jatene and the federal environmental police (Imazon, 2013).

The Brazilian population played a big role in changing Paragominas from a center for deforestation to a center for environmental protection. Firstly, they realized that wiping out species was wrong. This change in attitude caused political transformation. This was done through the election of President Lula da Silva whose government ceded to pressure from the international community to protect Amazonia. Citizens whose municipalities were blacklisted decided to support the move to protect Amazonia. In addition, the people registered to be taught about the limitations of deforestation. This enabled many Brazilian scientists to be taught on the consequences of fragmenting the Amazon (Imazon, 2013).

What role did the Brazilian federal environmental police play and how were they appointed initially?

The federal police were forefront in ensuring that regulations regarding illegal logging were executed. In fact, the federal environmental police implemented the federal policies on protection of the Amazon. In particular, they collaborated with the law enforcement agencies as well as the political leaders and the Brazilian population to achieve their goal of reducing deforestation. Additionally, they collaborated with the public prosecutor to indict people who were found to escalate deforestation. In essence, the Brazilian federal environmental police helped reduce deforestation in the Amazon (Imazon, 2013).

How do education and technology play a role in reducing deforestation in Brazil?

Education and technology was important in helping reduce deforestation in the Amazon in many ways. Firstly, education and technology enabled the people and the government to know the level of destruction that had occurred in the Amazon through the help of Google and NASA platforms (Duncan, 2013). This enabled the people of Brazil and their leaders to locate areas, which were affected in the vast rainforest. Technology and education also enabled the people and the federal agencies to be trained on the effects and the ways of mitigating deforestation. In essence, education and technology was essential in providing effective communication and coordination to help reduce deforestation (Imazon, 2013).