Reference no: EM133249196

Assignment:

Tropical forests (sometimes colloquially referred to as 'rainforests') are rapidly being cut down for timber and to clear the way for alternative land uses. The Amazon, chiefly in Brazil, is the largest and best-known tropical forest but important tropical forests exist in many other low latitude parts of the world including Southeast Asia, Central America, India, Indonesia, and Central Africa. All these forests are under intense pressure and are increasingly disappearing at the hands of humankind.

Tropical forests are incredibly rich and diverse ecosystems and provide critical benefits to the human world. Their destruction is having far-reaching consequences for the future of our planet.

Charles, Prince of Wales said, "The simple fact is that the world is not paying for the services the forests provide. At the moment, they are worth more dead than alive ... I think we need to be clear that the drivers of rainforest destruction do not originate in the rainforest nations but in the more developed countries ..."

-- Presidential Lecture, November 3, 2008, at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Indonesia, on the Prince of Wales website.

Resources:

Tracking Amazon Deforestation

What is the controversy around palm oil? | Mongabay Explains

Questions

1. What is Deforestation?

2. What are the five causes of deforestation?

3. How is the Amazon tracking deforestation?

4. What is the controversy about palm oil?

5. What do you think he wants us to understand? In your response, please consider the motivations, causes, and consequences of tropical deforestation.