Transcript Land Use Conflict in the Amazon Rainforest

LAND USE CONFLICT IN THE
AMAZON RAINFOREST
KEY VOCABULARY
Biodiversity: the variety of plants and animals living
in one area.
 Carbon-oxygen cycle: the process by which carbon and
oxygen cycle among plants, people and animals, and
the environment
 Deforestation: removing or clearing away the trees
from a forest. Deforestation is often done to clear land
for farming or ranching
 Sustainable development: using resources in ways that
meet the needs of people today without hurting the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Finding ways to use resources without using them up.
 Tropical rainforest: a broadleaf evergreen forest found
in wet and hot regions near the equator

GROUPS IN THE AMAZON
For thousands of years, small groups of
indigenous peoples have made their home here
making a living by hunting and gathering.
 In recent times other groups have come to the
rainforest, including rubber trappers, farmers,
cattle ranchers, and loggers
 The rainforest is also of great interest to
environmental groups
 Each group has different ideas of how the
rainforest should be used, this has led to land use
conflicts

AMAZON RAINFOREST
Rainforest covers 2 million
sq km in 6 different nations
 Great biodiversity

2.5 million insect species
 Tens of thousands of plant
species
 2,000 bird and animal species

MANY LAYERED ECOSYSTEM
LAND USE
The Amazon
Rainforest is highly
valuable land to
many!
 Some people want to
clear the land for
farming or ranching



Deforestation
Others want to use
more sustainable
development
LUNGS OF THE EARTH
Rainforests play a key
role in the carbonoxygen cycle
 Many fear that if too
much of the rainforest
(the Amazon and around
the world) are lost the
cycle will be interrupted
