Page 331 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

the largest oaks and maples found in eastern North America Moreover, many people in these societies harvest fuelwood
today, and even most redwoods of the California coast, are for their daily cooking and heating needs (p. 585). In contrast,
second-growth trees: trees that have sprouted and grown to parts of Europe and North America are gaining forested area
partial maturity after old-growth trees were cut. Such second- as they recover from past deforestation. Today’s loss of tropi-
growth trees characterize secondary forest. Secondary forest cal forests in developing nations has global consequences, as
generally contains smaller trees than does primary forest, and these forests are home to far more biodiversity than the tem-
the species composition, structure, and nutrient balance of a perate forests of North America and Europe.
secondary forest may differ markedly from the primary forest The South American nation of Brazil, home to most of the
that it replaced. vast Amazon rainforest, illustrates success in reducing defor-
The fortunes of loggers have risen and fallen with the estation but also the continuing pressures upon tropical forests.
availability of big trees. As each region was depleted, the tim- Not long ago, Brazil was losing forests faster than any other
ber industry moved on while local loggers lost their jobs. If country. Its government was promoting settlement on the for-
the remaining ancient trees of North America—most in Brit- ested frontier and was subsidizing an expansion of large-scale
ish Columbia and Alaska—are cut, many loggers will be job- cattle ranching and soybean farming to supply demand from
less once again. Their employers may move on to nations of wealthy consumers in the United States and Europe. In recent
the developing world, as many already have. years, Brazil has reduced its deforestation rate significantly.
Today 80% of Brazil’s forest remains intact, while the nation
advances economically and politically as a stable democracy.
Forests are being cleared most rapidly However, in 2012 Brazil’s legislature pushed to weaken the
in developing nations nation’s Forest Code, which had helped to slow deforestation,
while also pushing for construction of a number of large dams
Uncut primary forests still remain in many developing coun- and development projects. Scientists feared these actions would
tries, and these nations are in the position the United States and reverse Brazil’s progress in slowing forest loss. President Dilma
Canada enjoyed a century or two ago: having a resource-rich Rousseff vetoed some aspects of the legislation in an effort to
frontier that they can develop. Today’s powerful industrial tech- balance conservation and development interests.
nologies allow these nations to exploit their resources and push Developing nations often are desperate enough for eco-
back their frontiers even faster than occurred in North America. nomic development and foreign capital that they impose few
As a result, deforestation is rapid in places such as Indonesia, or no restrictions on logging. Often they allow their timber to
West Africa, Central America, and Brazil (FIGURE 12.6). be extracted by foreign multinational corporations, which pay
Indeed, forests are being felled most quickly today in fees to the developing nation’s government for a concession, or
the tropical rainforests and dry forests of Africa and Latin right to extract the resource. Once a concession is granted, the
America (FIGURE 12.7). Developing nations in these regions are corporation has little or no incentive to manage forest resources
striving to expand settlement for their burgeoning populations sustainably. Local people may receive temporary employment
and to boost their economies by extracting natural resources. from the corporation, but once the timber is gone they no

FIGURE 12.6 Deforestation of Amazonian rainforest has been rapid in recent decades. Satellite images
of the state of Rondonia in Brazil show extensive clearing resulting from settlement in the region.

(a) Satellite photo of Rondonia, Brazil, 1975 (b) Satellite photo of same area, 2001

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