What you need to know for your examination:a) Changing rates of deforestation.b) A case study of a tropical rainforest to illustrate:

•• causes of deforestation – subsistence and commercial farming, logging, road building, mineral extraction, energy development, settlement, population growth

•• impacts of deforestation – economic development, soil erosion, contribution to climate change.

c) Value of tropical rainforests to people and the environment.d) Strategies used to manage the rainforest sustainably – selective logging and replanting,

conservation and education, ecotourism and international agreements about the use of tropical hardwoods, debt reduction.

Living with the physical environmentSection B: Living World

Tropical Rainforest Case Study: Malaysia

Changing rates of deforestation

There are 62 countries with rainforests in their countries. Figure 6.8 shows the top 30 countries. The UNFAO estimates that about half the world’s tropical rainforest has now been cleared. Use Figure 6.8 to answer these questions:

a) How many hectares of rainforest does Brazil have? _________________________b) Which country has the least amount of rainforest in Figure 6.8? ______________________c) What’s the difference between Brazil with the highest amount of rainforest compared to

the smallest amount of rainforest? ______________ 000 hectares.

Use Figure 6.9 to describe how the rate of deforestation is changing. Use these questions to help you if you need it:What dates does this figure show you changes in annual deforestation rates?

How many countries have increased annual deforestation?

How many countries have decreased annual deforestation?

Name the top three countries with the highest rates of annual deforestation.

Which continents have had increased rates of annual deforestation?

Which continents have had a decrease in rates of annual deforestation?

Causes of deforestation in Malaysia

Use the map below to describe the location of Malaysia in the world – write at least 2 sentences.

Causes of deforestation

A sustainable cause of deforestation (this could continue forever without harming the environment) is called SHIFTING CULTIVATION (or SLASH AND BURN).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/ecosystems/human_uses_rainforest_rev4.shtml

Using the information on the link above, explain what shifting cultivation is. This is also known as ‘slash and burn’.

Unsustainable causes of deforestation (if these continue then there may not be rainforests for future generations to use

Complete the key and decide which of these causes are ECONOMIC and which are SOCIAL (there are not equal amounts of each)

Economic causes (to do with money)Social causes (to do with people)

Clear felling (where all trees are chopped The Bakun Dam was built to make

down in an area) was common in the 1980s. Malaysia became very rich selling these trees to other countries.

hydroelectric power for all the new industries in Malaysia. 700km2 of land was flooded to make this dam.

Forest has been cleared for mining work. Trees were cleared so roads could be built to get the machines in.Drilling for oil and gas has just started on Borneo so trees have to be cleared to get to the ground.

During the 1970s, larges areas of land were changed from forests to palm oil plantations (farms). Plantation owners were given a break from paying taxes for 10 years. Many landowners changed their land from forests to plantations to make more money.

Transmigration – where poor urban people were encouraged by the government to move from the city into the forests. Between 1956 and the 1980s, about 1500 hectares of rainforest were cut down to make space for the new houses. Many of these people then set up oil palm plantations.

Find a picture of:

a) An area that has been clear felled. Picture:

b) The Bakun Dam Picture:

c) A palm oil plantation Picture:

Deforestation means orang-utans are losing their habitats and food supply. Many young orang-utans are killed or orphaned as the trees are chopped down so they may become an extinct species.

Malaysia has made a lot of money from selling tropical hardwoods, palm oil and valuable minerals such as gold.

Mining, palm oil planations and the Bakun Dam leads to jobs for the local people.

Improved transport infrastructure opens up new areas for industrial development and tourism.

Conflict between groups of people occurs. The local Penan Community protested against the logging companies that were deforesting their farming land. 100 protesters got put into prison.

9000 Kenyah people were forced to leave their land because of the building of the Bakum Dam. They are traditional subsistence farmers (farm enough to eat but not sell). They are struggling to survive and many suffer from depression and alcoholism.

Plants that could bring huge medical benefits could become extinct.

The number of tourists attracted to see the beautiful rainforests could decrease so Malaysia will lose this income.

Rising temperatures could destroy some forms of farming such as growing tea, fruit and flowers.

Companies will pay taxes to the Malaysian government which can be used to improve education, water supply and healthcare.

Hydro-electric power provides cheap and plentiful energy – water turns turbines to create energy.

Climate change could lead to high costs as people have to adapt to living in a warmer world.

Land and rivers have been polluted by mining chemicals and this has affected local food chains.

Impacts of deforestation – economic development, soil erosion, contribution to climate change.

Impacts: Economic developmenta) Read each statement in the table below and decide if it is a positive or negative effect.b) Decide if each statement is an economic, social or environmental effect.

Impacts: Soil erosionLook at the diagrams below.

a) What protects the rainforest floor from the heavy daily rainfall?

b) What provides humus (the fertile compost-like top layer of the soil)?

c) What do the roots of trees do?

d) What happens to the soil after the trees are cut down?

e) What happens to the nutrients in the soil after deforestation?

f) Why is there no renewal (new) humus for the soil after deforestation?

Impacts: Contribution to climate change

Use the diagrams above to give three reasons why there is more carbon dioxide in the air after deforestation:

1. _______________________________________________________________________________________2. _______________________________________________________________________________________3. _______________________________________________________________________________________

The value of tropical rainforests to people and the environment

Unscramble the letters on each of these pieces of information to explain why tropical rainforests are valuable to people:

These are the goods and services the rainforests provide us. Complete this table – change the Xs to vowels:

Goods from tropical rainforests Services from tropical rainforestsFxxd crxps Xbsxrbxng CX₂

Wxld mxxt xnd fxsh Prxtxctxxn xgxxnst sxxl xrxsxxn

Xnxrgy frxm HXP Wxldlxfx hxbxtxts

Wxtxr Bxxdxvxrsxty

Mxdxcxnxs Xmplxymxnt xppxrtxnxtxxs

Bxxldxng mxtxrxxls (e.g wxxd) Nxtrxxnt rxcyclxng

Strategies used to manage the rainforest sustainably

The rainforests are mainly being used in an unsustainable way. Using this homework, name one group of people who are using the rainforest in a sustainable way (i.e. they are not damaging the rainforests) ___________________________________________

Sustainable management: Selective logging and replanting

This is the process of selective logging and replanting:

Fully grown trees are selected because…

Arrows are painted on the trees so that…

Trees are removed from the forest using a buffalo…..

A replacement tree is planted so that….

Read the following explanations and add it in the most appropriate box above to explain the selective logging and replanting process:

….when the tree falls down it doesn’t damage little trees that will grow to full height and sold later.

….big trees make more money and the little trees are left to grow to full height.

……it will grow and be able to be chopped down in the next cycle of deforestation.

…..so that a road doesn’t need to be built to remove the tree.

Sustainable management: Conservation and Education

Malaysia uses national parks for education, scientific research and tourism. Use the internet to give a defintion for a national park (does not need to be specific to Malaysia):______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This map shows Malaysia’s national parks.a) Describe the location of the national parks

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

b) On the map above, label three of the national parks (use this link: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/malaysia+national+parks/@3.9134099,103.9161596,6z/data=!3m1!4b1 )

Sustainable management: Ecotourism

Ecotourism is a type of sustainable development. The aim of ecotourism is to reduce the impact that tourism has on naturally beautiful environments.Any tourist destination can be harmed by increased levels of tourism. If areas are damaged or destroyed, they might not be available to future generation

What three things does the ecotourism approach include? http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/tourism/ecotourism_rev1.shtml

123Ecotourism in Malaysia:Use your own knowledge of what sustainable means to write an answer in the boxes below:In the past:Turtle eggs used to be eaten.

Now:Malaysia have a turtle egg hatchery where tourists pay money to see the eggs hatch and then they let the tourists watch as the baby turtles are set free into the ocean.

This was unsustainable in the long term because…..

This is more sustainable because…..

In the past:Swiflets are little birds who live in caves. All

This was unsustainable in the long term

the swiflet nests used to be harvested (collected) and sent to China so they could be made into an expensive soup.

Now:Malaysia only harvests one cave for the swiftlet nests. They leave one cave completely alone and do not take any nests. The other cave is open to paying tourists to take pictures of the caves and the swiftlets.

because…

This is more sustainable because…..

Sustainable management: International agreementsForest Stewardship Council (FSC)This international organisation promotes sustainable forestry. It has two main aims:

1. FSC educates people to buy soft, fast growing wood like pine rather than hard, slow growing, rare hardwood like mahogany.

2. FSC educates manufacturers and consumers (buyers) to buy wood only from sustainable sources (all their products have the FSC label on)

What does the FSC label look like? Find it on the internet and draw it (you might have it on a product in your house – have a look).

FSC label:

Sustainable management: Debt-for-nature swapping

Lower Income Countries like Malaysia borrowed money from Higher Income Countries (HICs) to develop their country. To pay off these debts LICs deforested massive areas of their rainforests. Now, some HICs have reduced the LICs debts in return for the agreement that rainforests will not be deforested.

Read the link below and answer these questions:Which is the LIC country?Which is the HIC country?How much is the debt being reduced by?When was the agreement signed?

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/borneo_forests/news/?202126/US285-million-Debt-Swap-for-Forest-Conservation-in-Borneo