How can you keep the rainforest sustainable?

Answer 1

Since there are more trees within the perimeter of the United States NOW than there were when the Spanish arrived, it's difficult to get too excited about some trees being cut down.

In times past, a single forest fire could burn for hundreds of miles, blackening the skies in another continent. Tree huggers don't want ANY trees burned or cut for timber.

While any cutting or burning of timber products is considered "deforestation", modern forest management practices acknowledge the need to harvest wood and to renew forests through the planting of new growth.

Many of the modern forest management purists would rather see forests destroyed by lightening caused fires and allow trees to grow to dangerously high densities rather than allow mature trees to be used for lumber products.

While there is a net regrowth of trees in North America, deforestation is incontrovertibly a problem in much of the remainder of the world, particularly the Tropics. Deforestation, and to a lesser extent forest degradation, are easily monitored with high and medium resolution visible satellite imagery such as Landsat and MODIS.

It's difficult to recommend any action by individuals because of the nature of the problem: Much of the deforestation occurs due to national and international policies and institutions that are in place. Amazon deforestation has historically occurred as the Brazilian government has encouraged citizens to move into its hinterland and settle. Ranchers have followed them and cleared the remainder of the land for cattle raising. In Indonesia, for example, a lot of tropical rainforest has recently occurred to make room for palm oil plantations. Due to the rapidly increasing international demand for this type of oil, profits from palm oil production are considerably higher than land owners could make from international incentives to leave the forest alone.

So as a consumer, the decisions that you make can affect the pattern of deforestation and the sustainability of forest harvest. We can harvest plenty of wood sustainably, but you can start by knowing where the products you buy come from, and at what cost to the environment. But characterizing those who advocate better management of these Natural Resources as "tree huggers" who don't want ANY trees harvested is a strawman that precludes any meaningful discussion, and intentionally ignoring the situation outside the United States obfuscates the true nature of this issue.

Another Perspective:Many of the rare plant species are destroyed by locals because they see no value to them. If a premium is charged for any example of rare plant species, the locals would identify their value, and treat them with respect. If a woodworker in the United States or somewhere in Europe wants to build a project using an exotic wood, there should be high price for the wood, with taxes paid to the country from which the wood was shipped and a premium paid to the locals who are responsible for maintaining a sustainable supply of the species. That model has worked effectively in other parts of the world with endangered animals.

BTW, "tree huggers" is an accurate description, since the movement to protect trees owed it's success to people who physically "hugged" the trees to prevent contractors from cutting them down. They even called themselves, "Tree huggers".

Answer 2

By planting trees and recycling. See this webpage:Deforestation is clearing Earth's forests on a massive scale, often resulting in damage to the quality of the land. Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world's land area, but swaths the size of Panama are lost each and every year.The world's rain forests could completely vanish in a hundred years at the current rate of deforestation.Forests are cut down for many reasons, but most of them are related to money or to people's need to provide for their families.The biggest driver of deforestation is agriculture. Farmers cut forests to provide more room for planting crops or grazing livestock. Often many small farmers will each clear a few acres to feed their families by cutting down trees and burning them in a process known as "slash and burn" agriculture.Logging operations, which provide the world's wood and paper products, also cut countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also build roads to access more and more remote forests---which leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban sprawl.Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and subsequent overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees.Deforestation has many negative effects on the environment. The most dramatic impact is a loss of habitat for millions of species. Seventy percent of Earth's land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes.Deforestation also drives climate change. Forest soils are moist, but without protection from sun-blocking tree cover they quickly dry out. Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor back into the atmosphere. Without trees to fill these roles, many former forest lands can quickly become barren deserts.Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the sun's rays during the day and holds in heat at night. This disruption leads to more extreme temperatures swings that can be harmful to plants and animals.Trees also play a critical role in absorbing the greenhouse gases that fuel global warming. Fewer forests means larger amounts of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere---and increased speed and severity of global warming.The quickest solution to deforestation would be to simply stop cutting down trees. Though deforestation rates have slowed a bit in recent years, financial realities make this unlikely to occur.A more workable solution is to carefully manage forest resources by eliminating clear-cutting to make sure that forest environments remain intact. The cutting that does occur should be balanced by the planting of enough young trees to replace the older ones felled in any given forest. The number of new tree plantations is growing each year, but their total still equals a tiny fraction of the Earth's forested land.

Answer 3

You can do the simplest things like for every tree you chop down you plant a new one. Also things like only chop the mature trees down and the young tree grow. or when you cut it down make a hole in the tree and give it anal

Answer 4

deforestation can be sustainable if only the branches were cut down and only certain area's of the rainforest can be cut down but re built..

Answer 5

Only cut the trees down if essential. Replant at least one tree after cutting down one, to replace it.

Answer 6

Deforestation is being managed in a few ways however not enough ways. There are limits for how many trees companies can cut and they must plant new ones.

Answer 7

it can be more sustainable by not cutting trees down for mahogany !!

Answer 8

this question requires a good answer

Answer 9

people are using less paper