Presentation for Deforestation project By: Ming Chun, Shang Wen, Chloe and Amanda

Causes Good without them

Mining Coal mining Land is cleared for coal mining Metal mining Land is also cleared for metal mining. To separate gold from ore, mercury is used. The mercury get absorbed by the plants and kills them.

Palm oil  Land is cleared for palm oil plantations  Great use of palm oil  Made into biofuel (substitute of fossil fuels!!) Looking at the two reasons (palm oil and mining), need for land is a serious cause.

More causes (brief) PPoor management of forests LLocal poverty TTimber FForest fires (first caused by company “Itzi”) JJealousy of locals on big companies (they cannot log while the big companies can. Thus, this cause the locals to log illegally)

Palm oil Cause of deforestation

What is palm oil?  It is a red liquid at room temperature but lighter coloured after boiling  Comes from the African Oil Palm  First commercially cultivated in 1911 on Sumatra island Palm oil(Liquid) Oil palm Solid Palm oil block

Uses  Ingredient in food  Cheap substitute for bread  Make biodiesel  Make bread, cereal, sweets and soaps  Cooking oil  Make chocolate Fun Fact: In World War 2, Palm oil combined with Naphtha to produce Napalm!

Why do people want to buy palm oil?  It is cheap  Has a high stability when frying

Countries with large palm oil production  Indonesia -More than 20.9 million tons  Malaysia million tons -Uses 4,500,000 hectares of land -Employ more than 570,000 people  Nigeria -More than 2.5 million hectares of land used  Columbia -Uses 1,000,000 hectares of land -35% made into biofuel

Why does palm oil cause all this? Can only be cultivated in rainforests Orangutans live there Orangutans run away from the fire Orangutans fled from their habitats Eat farmers crops Get shot down by them

Current measures How to stop deforestation?

1.Conservationists groups Have them to promote conservation Why not working?? Factories: Less land for plantations Less people with jobs Population decrease!! What is Indonesia?

2.Signing of regulation PPresident of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a regulation on an implementation of a national inventory of greenhouse gases. There was a program called "Moving Towards a Green Indonesia" which helped conservationists groups and also deal with deforestation. WWhy EPIC FAIL: Deforestation is not fully banned even though the carbon usage is thought to be able to decrease by 26%.

3. Pressure from conservationist groups’ fans SSupporters of Greenpeace pressured companies like Nestle and Unilever to change their palm oil sourcing policies to stop deforestation as the forests are cleared mostly for palm oil. This helped as companies (which were providing palm oil to the buyers) used less land for palm oil plantations as they need less palm oil. Why EPIC fail SStill a lot of other companies using palm oil and thus the problems are not solved. FFun fact (not really fun after all): U nilever is one of the biggest buyers of palm oil from Indonesia but it buys only 3% of the palm oil bought all the companies!

Things to note Nestle sells stuff like Milo, Kit Kat, Koko Krunch and the latest product is Nescafe Dolce Gusto (the coffee maker stuff) while Unilever sells a range of products like Dove, Sunsilk, Lipton, Lux, Vaseline, Ben and Jerry's, Clear, Cif, Comfort, Lifebuoy, Rexona and Domestos

Military raids  Confiscate chainsaws  Illegal loggers put to jail.

Efforts to prevent deforestation (not in Indonesia)  Brazil   Creation of a federal force to fight environmental crime – for which 3,000 new agents will be hired – and the training of 1,500 current staff in Brazil’s environmental agencies  Assembly of a committee composed of six ministers with portfolios affecting deforestation, such as rural credit and land property policy.  Inclusion of protected area costs in highway plans and budgets – a key measure as new and improved roads often cause greater deforestation  Why EPIC fail: This is not working as this is only among 10% of the Amazon forest in Brazil. There are still a lot of other areas that would be worse

Enforcement of laws 1. Anyone who causes a forest fire will be given a sentence of at least 10 years. 2. If it is severe, the DEATH penalty will come. Question – Why is it not working? 1. Nobody enforces the laws 2. The enforcers when sent are easily bribed It is like… the school sets a rule to not allow socks below ankle length. At first, everybody obeys. After a while, nobody comes to check and the students start wearing them.

Stakeholders People involved

Who they are and how they uses it TTribes-They use it for home and shelter EEco-tour Operators-they use the rainforest as a tool for education and for them to show people the beauty of the rainforest FFactories- They use the rainforest as a source of income AAnimals-They use the rainforest as a home and for protection SScientists- They use the rainforest as a way of discovering things (like new plants for medication) that can benefit others GGovernment-They try to protect the rainforest and stop things that help destroy it CConservationists-They use the rainforest as a tool for education and they try to protect it SSchools- They educate people just like eco-tour operators

Their job and what they do Tribes-  They help spread around the seeds of eaten fruit  They eat the fruit then let the animals carry around the seeds, planting more of that species Eco-Tour Operators-  They tell people how the rainforest is being threatened and what they can do to help stop this  They take tour groups around and show them the rainforest and how wonderful it is so they can appreciate it

Their job and what they do (cont.) Factories-  Cut down trees for plantations Animals-  Spread around seeds and “plants” them  Make trees and plants grow as well as fruits that tribes in the rainforest can live off Scientists-  To go into the rainforests and try to find good uses for new plant specimens  They find new plant species then use them in experiments to see if they can be used for medicine

Their rights and responsibilities We respect them and they respect us

TRIBES Rights  To retain their homes  To be able to find food easily  To have water  To feel protected in their homes  To have clothes Responsibilities  To help distribute plants and seeds so that species can keep growing  To only take what they need and nothing more

ANIMALS Rights  To feel protected  To always have food  To have shelter in their home  To retain their homes Responsibilities  To keep spreading around seeds for food purposes  To protect the forest from other threats

ECO-TOUR OPERATORS Rights  Educate people  Fine people if they pollute(Example: Litter) the rainforest.  Show tourists the rainforest and let them appreciate it Responsibilities  Educate people  Be role models by not polluting the rainforest  Respect laws that try to protect the rainforest

WORLD GOVERNMENTS Rights  To be allowed to request countries to reduce greenhouse gases  To be allowed to try and pay countries to protect their rainforests  To put in the Kyoto (international agreement against greenhouse emissions) into place

WORLD GOVERNMENTS cont. Responsibilities  To reduce greenhouse gases and the burning of fossil fuels in other countries  To protect the rainforests and what’s left of them

FACTORIES Rights  Make money  Able to make living Responsibilities  Burn trees in designated areas (not illegal places)  Burn trees sustainably

Scientists Rights  To be able to explore the rainforest (with conditions)  To be allowed to observe different species but make NO contact  To be granted permission to explore different parts of the rainforest in order to look for new plant species

Scientists Responsibilities  To not move/change around any areas of the rainforest e.g. plant fruit where animals are trying to sleep  Not to disturb the wildlife inside the rainforests  To respect how the rainforest and to not do anything to pollute it

Conservationists Rights  To be able to at least try to protect the rainforests  To be able to protest against non-environmental projects (things that hurt the environment and it’s rainforests) and not get in trouble for it Responsibilities  To be able to protect the rainforest and everything in it  To not stand by and watch the environment along with it’s rainforests be destroyed

School Rights and Responsibilities  Educate people  Hold conference to stop deforestation

Effects if their rights are not fulfilled Tribes-  The tribe will die out  People will forget about them Eco-tour operators-  People will forget how they should treat/behave in the rainforest  People will forget how important rainforests are Factories-  They can’t help/support themselves or their families

Effects if their rights are not fulfilled (cont.) Animals-  Animals could become more aggressive because of the stress from everything happening around them Scientists-  Cures for diseases that could’ve been found would’ve disappeared because scientists couldn’t explore and look for them World governments-  Rainforests will have even MORE threats working against the existence of them! Conservationists-  No one will be there to help the rainforests exist

What are the effects if their responsibilities are not fulfilled Tribes-  The rainforest and the species within it will diminish faster than before because seeds of plants aren’t being distributed Eco-tour operators-  Rainforests will be in even worse conditions  Different species will perish faster Factories-  There would be unemployment

What are the effects if their responsibilities are not fulfilled (cont.) Animals-  More animal species will die out  More plant/fruit species will die out Scientists-  Animals could start acting up because scientists have made with the animals and they’ve reacted badly  Cures that can solve current illness would be extinct World governments-  Rainforests won’t be protected at ALL anymore! Conservationists-  Rainforests simply WON’T exist anymore Schools  You might have to say bye to the rainforest (not literary)

Linking Charts

Linking Charts (cont.)

Other country involvement and consequences on other countries Lending a helping hand

Chart

Consequences WHAT DOES HAZE LEAD TO? 1 st effect – Economic losses WHY?  1. Tourist income  Some countries, especially Singapore, rely a lot on tourists to survive.  With the haze, they will avoid coming, and thus we will lose a lot.  2. Trade income  With the haze absorbing and scattering light, there were a lot of visual problems.  This heavily affected land, sea and air transport, causing late arrival of goods, and thus cause heavy losses. For example, in the 1997 haze, both Singapore and Malaysia lost US$0.4b.

Consequences (cont.) 2 nd effect – More illnesses WHY? 1. Lack of protective measures  Many Asian countries did not have the financial means to supply protective measures like respiratory masks. In turn, this caused more people to be ill. 2. Poor environment Haze causes asthma diseases and respiratory problems. In 2006, there was a 20% increase of patients in areas west of Singapore. Although the west of Singapore usually has the highest PSI levels, it is only by several points. NEA denied speculation that the construction sites in Tuas and Jurong contributed to the haze, although it is hard to tell.  Crowded environment  While some people opted to stay in their homes, others decided to spend time in shopping malls. As there are more crowds in public areas, the chances of spreading and getting diseases are higher.  Increase of ozone  With haze, the amount of air purifiers to purify the air in the house will soar. However, many of these purifiers release ozone, which in turn causes people to suffer similar diseases as to the haze.

Consequences again 3 rd effect – Higher PSI levels WHY? 1. The number of pollutants in the air is increased with haze. This will cause the PSI levels to rise. Take the 1997 haze in Singapore as an example. The PSI levels shot up to 226 at one stage, entering very the unhealthy stage. The immune system of people with heart or lung disease will be weakened, in addition to more widespread symptoms of transient irritation in the healthy population. 2. Usually, the time when most deforestation happens clashes with the Ghost Festival. Smoke is released as offerings and worsens the impact of the haze, thus increasing the PSI.

What are other countries doing?  Singapore - Provided efficient satellite equipment and good photos, to view where the hot spots were. They managed to detect 146 hot spots.  Malaysia - Provided fire-fighting equipment that Indonesia lacked funds to buy and able- bodied fire fighters to help put out the fire. *Please note these were only solutions to stop the fires but not deforestation.

What are other countries doing? (cont.) NNorway – Signed a letter of intent with Indonesia. In exchange for up to US$1 billion, Indonesia would place a two-year moratorium on new logging concession. This is expected to put curbs on Indonesia's palm oil industry and delay plans for the creation of a huge agricultural estate in Papua province, where the Papua Forest is home to orang utans. AAlso, to prevent illegal burning after this letter, Norway will set up a system in Indonesia to reduce corruption so that the deal can be enforced. With the money, Indonesia would have enough resources to combat deforestation. The money goes to making the farm land more productive and thus reduce the need for deforestation.

 Brunei – Import orang utans from the forests of Indonesia to live in their safer forests  Joint effort by Malaysia, Brunei, Borneo and Indonesia – Create save the forest campaign to protect animals in the forests  America – Import orang utans from Indonesia to live in an artificial environment  Spent US$1.5m to save the orang utans  Request other countries to stop importing wood from Indonesia to stop the tree cutting  Wrote off Brazil’s debt of $21 million in exchange for forest protection

What are organisations doing?  United Nations – Encourage rich countries to contribute funds to help reduce deforestation (REDD Plus, aka Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation)  ASEAN – Set up the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. The purpose is to address haze pollution, namely prevention, mitigation and monitoring.  Designated 27 national protected areas from selected countries as National Heritage Parks  Strongly urged Indonesia to ratify the Agreement  Set up the ASEAN Haze Technical Task Force to combat the fires

Rate of deforestation in Southeast Asia As you can see, Malaysia and Indonesia’s rates are the highest.

Worrying reasons  A study broke down changes in forest cover by island. Borneo, which is shared by Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia, topped the list in terms of total area lost at 5 million hectares during the period, accounting for 12% of its 2000 cover.  The most worrying sign is, forests declined at a faster rate in Sumatra, which lost 23.7% of its forest cover or 3.5 million hectares. If other countries cannot defend themselves, I cannot see them helping Indonesia.

Consequences Serious threats to the world

A brief summary

Extinction of species  With deforestation, trees will be burned down. Many animals will lose their homes and migrate to other unsuitable environment.  Some animals are unable to adapt, and they might die easily. Predators will of course, be introduced and the population will be unbalanced. Thus, some animals might die of quickly.  In addition, when the poor animals seek refuge from a farmer, they get killed or injured badly.

Greenhouse effects  Enormous quantities of CO2 are released from the burnt trees. While the input of CO2 to the atmosphere is increased, its output decreases.  Many scientists believe that deforestation has been contributing significant amounts of carbon dioxide to the global atmosphere and thereby to the greenhouse effect or global warming.

Natural disasters  In forest fires, global warming is caused by the CO2 released during forest fires. Global warming leads to dire consequences. Floods, droughts, earthquakes and acid rain.  Trees increase water infiltration. However, when the forests are burned, they are unable to transport water from heavy rain to streams. Thus, this leads to floods.  Droughts can also be caused during the dry season, because water supply to streams are not provided.

Acid rain  WHY? Rain clouds get polluted by the haze released by deforestation.  EFFECTS When acid rain comes into contact with anything, it practically destroys it. The Sphnix has already some parts destroyed by acid rain.

Soil Erosion  Trees with the help of deep root systems are able to draw water from sub-surface water table. Humidity prevents excessive water loss and rapid desiccation. Plants contribute organic matter which upon decomposition adds humus to the soil.  Deforestation leaves the ground surface bare. Further loss of nutrients might occur. Where remaining vegetation is burned to clear the land and agriculture attempted loss of nutrients is even more rapid. Already poor tropical soil is made poorer.

Soil Erosion (continued)  The top soil which is thus lost is irreplaceable. Nature takes about 1000 years to produce 2.5 cms of top soil.  Massive soil erosion aggravates flood situation in two ways. Firstly, the deposition of silt and sediments in river beds makes them shallow. Secondly, land devoid of forest cover loses its water holding capacity.  About 10 million hectares of forested land can hold enough water to fill completely a reservoir as large as that of Bhakra-Nangal dam. In absence of plant cover this water flows down in rapid torrents.

Interlinking Chart

Orang utans  Orang Utans  About 1000 orangutans have died during the dry season earlier. Forest fires have produced thick smoke across Borneo. They have suffered from dehydration, respiratory problems, lack of food and even sustained injuries due to the forest fires. The fires have destroyed their habitats.  Orangutans flee the burning forest in search of food and safety, often to nearby palm oil plantations, where they are abused. Shouldn’t orangutans be saved? Why are they being abused? In my opinion, the world should do something to save these orangutans.

Some current measures  Wildlife Direct  Petition to the Indonesian President to halt the Tripa Swamps deforestation  Send rescue teams to palm oil plantations to save the orang utans In some cases, forests are closed off, and they are considered protected parts. However, some parts are not clearly marked… which just spells the word BAD. In other cases, there is an international law giving orang utans endangered statuses.

Solutions? Maybe not… 1. Ban the use of kerosene and other materials that catch fire easily. Daily necessities e.g. charcoal and oil rationed to a limited quantity able to be bought 2. Seal off the forests and only allow access to plantations 3. Have air patrols occasionally using only one or two people when deforestation is mostly carried out, and make sure nobody damages or harms the forest. Just arrest anyone that come to the forests without question 4. Have several robot guards that cannot be toppled to guard the forests

THE END! Thank you for your kind attention NOTE: Peace rocks!!!