Life Science
The
Battle
Over the
Rain
Forests
by Sarah Bright
Vocabulary
basin
charities
equator
erosion
evaporates
exported
industrial
recycled
tropics
Word count: 1,848
Note: The total word count includes words in the running text and headings only.
Numerals and words in chapter titles, captions, labels, diagrams, charts, graphs,
sidebars, and extra features are not included.
The
Battle
Over the
Rain
Forests
by Sarah Bright
Photographs
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ISBN 13: 978-0-328-52553-9
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 13 12 11 10 09
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 4
CHAPTER ONE 6
The Amazon
CHAPTER TWO 10
The Pacific Northwest
CHAPTER THREE 17
Africa, Asia, and Canada
CHAPTER FOUR 20
What Can We Do?
Glossary 24
3
Introduction
Rain forests are found around the world. Some
are located in temperate climates, others in the
tropics. In either case, they are the oldest, most
complicated ecosystems on our planet. They are
home to more than 30 million species of animals and
plants.
A rain forest typically has four layers: the
emergent layer, consisting of the tallest trees, where
water evaporates; the canopy, which has shorter
trees and vines; the understory, with shrubs and
shorter plants; and the forest floor, home to plants
that thrive without sunlight. These layers are treasure
troves of plant and animal life.
Rain forests are also treasure troves of valuable
crops and products. Scientists are just beginning to
understand the medical value of many rain forest
plants. For example, a bark extract from the Pacific
yew tree contains taxol, which may be effective in
fighting cancer.
Rain forests are the most complicated
ecosystems on our planet.
4
Plantations on former rain forest lands produce
crops such as bananas, coffee, oil, Brazil nuts, and
rubber. These products are used by people around
the world. The sale of such cash crops plays a large
part in the economies of nations where rain forests
are found. The harvesting of rain forest products also
provides work for people who often live in poverty.
Similarly, logging of precious rain forest wood
and open-pit mining are important. However, these
activities often threaten or destroy rain forest
ecosystems. In addition, an increasing population
puts pressure on the space and resources in the rain
forest.
Often the interests of people and the ecosystem
conflict with one another. Many people consider that
resolving the problems of rain forest management is
the most important environmental issue of our time.
5
Chapter One: The Amazon
The Amazon is the most well-known of the
world’s tropical rain forests. It covers 2.7 million
square miles of land in South America and is home
to jaguars, parrots, monkeys, and piranhas, among
hundreds of thousands of other species.
The Amazon rain forest is also home to about 20
percent of the world’s fresh water supply. In addition,
with its massive amount of oxygen-producing tree
life, the Amazon is sometimes called Earth’s “lungs.”
In spite of all of its ecological riches, though,
the area’s human population is very poor. How can
we improve the lives of the area’s people while
maintaining the ecology of the rain forest itself?
6
The Amazon rain forest, with its oxygen-
producing tree life, is known as Earth’s “lungs.”
7
One of the main issues of rain forest management
in the Amazon is agriculture. For generations,
Amazonian farmers have used the slash-and-burn
technique to clear land. In this method, forest growth
is first cut down. The stubble is then set on fire.
Slash-and-burn not only clears the land but
provides fertilizer (burned organic matter) as well. It
supports two to three years of production. After that,
a farmer moves to another area where he repeats
the process. After twenty-five years, the farmer can
return to the original field to burn the “new growth”
forest again.
The Amazon’s population is increasing so rapidly,
however, that farmers must return to cleared areas
before twenty-five years are up. This means that the
land does not have time to replace nutrients needed
to grow good crops.
Slash-and-burn farming also results in soil erosion
because the root structures of trees are lost. Without
a canopy cover, more rain falls to the ground, and
nutrients are drained from the topsoil. In the dry
season, the loss of cover causes the ground to get
sun-baked, and crops are easily destroyed.
Slash-and-burn farming erodes soil
because it kills root structures.
8
Cattle ranching has proven profitable for
some farmers, but it has destroyed large parts of
the Amazon rain forest. For each pound of beef
produced, an estimated 200 square feet of rain forest
needs to be cleared. Farmers have found that beef
cattle can be raised cheaply on cleared rain forest
lands. The beef is then exported to other countries.
The constant movement of cattle on the land
results in soil compacting. This changes the chemistry
of the soil, leaving the land suitable only for grass
and woody shrubs.
Over the years, however, ranching has become
vital to Brazil’s economy. In fact, Brazil’s cattle herd is
the largest in the world.
Costa Rica has also turned to ranching. Since the
1980s, most of this country’s rain forest has been lost
to cattle ranchers. As farmers build ranches, they
also build roads and other buildings, permanently
changing the landscape.
9
Chapter Two: The Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest of the United
States is home to temperate rain forests,
famous for their beautiful redwood
trees. Unfortunately, less than three
percent of these ancient trees are left.
The redwood forests have been
harvested for lumber for generations.
Timber companies seek out the largest,
most mature trees to cut down. They call
this “selective” logging.
In addition, large areas are often
cleared to provide access to the desired
trees. The land is used for building roads
and housing for the workers.
Road-building helps make areas accessible to
farmers and miners, but it permanently destroys
much of the rain forest.
10
A redwood forest
11
A tree-sitter occupies a tree to
protest logging practices in the
rain forest.
12
In “clear-cutting,” large areas of trees
are cut down completely.
Environmentalists in the Pacific Northwest have
pushed for an end to—or a reduction in—rain forest
logging. In California, logging had stopped until a
judge allowed one hundred timber harvests to take
place. This was to prevent economic hardship for
logging companies.
Timber companies often say they face economic
hardship. They often claim they cannot afford to
follow laws meant to protect the environment.
Meanwhile, environmentalists say that clear-
cutting—completely cutting down large areas of
trees—creates mud slides and affects water quality.
Trees—especially huge, old-growth ones—help
maintain hills and provide habitats for many species.
Some environmentalists have taken to “tree
sitting” to bring attention to the problem of clear-
cutting. One of the best-known tree-sitters was Julia
Butterfly Hill. She climbed a redwood named Luna
in 1997 in the town of Freshwater, California. What
was remarkable was that she remained in the tree for
two full years. She brought the public’s attention to
threats facing the rain forest environment.
13
Today, environmental groups
such as We Save Trees and Earth
First! offer courses in how to
climb and live in a redwood.
In one California forest,
between eight and twenty-
three sitters live in twenty-two
trees connected by ropes. The
habitat has become like a city in
the treetops where sitters can
communicate and socialize.
In turn, lumber companies
now employ “tree climbers”
who—by law—may climb up
and remove tree-sitters. Tree-
sitters face possible trespassing
charges. Each occupied tree is
spray-painted with a number.
Lumber companies often know
a climber will be coming after
they announce their harvest
plans.
Logging companies say they
have the right to log on land
they own. Protestors say they
have the right to let the public
know how logging companies
are destroying the forests. Some
tree-sitters have died defending
trees. Meanwhile, government
agencies, from water-quality
boards to police and sheriff
departments, are caught in the
middle.
14
Environmental groups train people
to climb and occupy trees in the
Pacific Northwest rain forest.
15
Tree-sitting has brought attention to another
threatened but little-known rain forest in the
United States. In this case, a new group of people
has stepped in to help calm tensions between
environmentalists and developers.
In the Humboldt forest area of California, there
is now a network of independent observers. They
act as silent witnesses in confrontations between
loggers and protestors. The observers’ mission is
to witness disputes, not to mediate or settle them.
These teams of observers help keep demonstrators
as well as lumber company officials and law
enforcers on good behavior.
16
The Great Bear Rain Forest
in Canada is the only habitat
of the all-white black bear,
known as the spirit bear.
Chapter Three:
Africa, Asia,
and Canada
The largest temperate
coastal rain forest on
the planet is found in
Canada. The Great Bear
Rain Forest, as it is known,
is full of breathtaking
fjords and icy mountains.
It is home to many species
of plants, birds, and
mammals. It is also where
the spirit bear lives.
In recent decades,
however, large lumber
companies have begun
to log within the
Great Bear Rain Forest.
Environmentalists feared
the destruction of its
habitat would harm the
spirit bear. Some activists
went to work.
Greenpeace
International led a
boycott against a major Greenpeace is an
lumber company. As environmental
a result, the company group that has
agreed to negotiate with
the government and
lobbied to save
environmental groups ancient-growth
to save the spirit bear’s forests around
habitat. the world.
17
In the rain forests of the equator, humans’
closest relatives—chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas,
and orangutans—face extinction as their habitat
disappears. This is partly the result of natural
disaster. In 1997 and 1998, fires destroyed millions
of acres of rain forest in Southeast Asia. It is
believed that thousands of orangutans died.
Meanwhile, developers are cutting down the
rain forest for agricultural and industrial uses.
In Indonesia, national parks that are supposed
to shelter orangutans are poorly staffed. Illegal
loggers cut down trees, and poachers capture
orangutans. In the last 100 years, orangutan
populations have decreased by 90 percent.
The rain forests of the Congo Basin in Africa are
the second-largest in the world, after the Amazon.
They too are threatened by logging, mining,
and agriculture. Here, ape-meat is considered a
delicacy, and apes are hunted for their flesh. As a
result, by 2030, less than 10 percent of the apes of
Africa will likely survive.
18
Less than 2 percent of the
orangutan’s rain forest habitat
survives in Borneo and Sumatra.
19
Chapter Four: What Can We Do?
From what you have read, you can see that it
may be impossible to “save” an entire rain forest.
You can see that there are difficult issues and
conflicting interests involved.
The challenge is to balance the demands of
developing areas and the needs of people with
the need to maintain rain forest habitats. Creative
thinking is needed to find ways to maintain this
balance.
Often poor farmers use farming methods that
may harm the environment. They may not have the
money or other resources to switch to a more “rain-
forest-friendly” method of farming. For their own
survival, and that of their families, they may need
to grow as much food as they can, in the fastest,
cheapest way possible.
Great Bear Rain Forest (Canada)
Pacific Northwest
Rain Forests
around the World
Tropic of Cancer
Central America
Equator
Amazon
Tropic of Capricorn
20
Many people today are searching for creative
solutions to the conflicting interests that threaten
the world’s rain forests.
As a result, international organizations now
support coffee cooperatives that benefit small
farmers. They make sure participating farmers get a
fair price per pound. Some retailers give incentives
to small farmers to stay in the coffee bean business.
This stops small farmers from selling their land to
developers.
In Brazil, activists successfully lobbied to link 25
million acres of pristine wilderness. The corridor, or
area of linked lands, is home to nine primate species
and more than five hundred bird species.
Groups such as the Great Apes Survival Partnership
(GRASP) have brought together United Nations
agencies, governments, and individuals who want to
halt the decline of ape populations around the world.
Southern Asia
Central Africa Indonesia and Australasia
21
People around the world
find ways to raise money
to save the rain forests.
22
People need to learn about the danger of rain
forests disappearing altogether. Indeed, parts of the
world’s rain forests are disappearing at an alarming
rate. What can be done about it?
On an everyday level, there are simple things
we can do. We can support small coffee farmers
by buying “fair trade” products. We can give to
charities that help provide better lives for these
workers.
We can teach farmers to use clear-cut land so that
it does not erode. We can lobby lumber companies
to do a better job of protecting redwoods and other
huge, old-growth trees.
We can urge people to use recycled forest
products and boycott companies that do business in
pristine forestland. We can encourage governments
to set aside and protect more rain forest land for
national parks.
We certainly can make a difference!
23
Glossary
basin n. an area drained by exported v. transported or
a river or tributary. traded abroad.
charities n. groups that help industrial adj. characterized
or assist. by highly developed
industries.
equator n. the imaginary
circle around Earth’s surface recycled v. reused or
that divides Earth into the adapted to another use.
Northern and Southern
tropics n. region of Earth’s
Hemispheres.
surface lying between the
erosion n. an act or process Tropic of Cancer and the
of wearing away. Tropic of Capricorn (23°45'
north to 23°45' south
evaporates v. converts or
latitudes).
changes into vapor.
24
Reader Response
1. List three facts and three opinions about rain forests.
2. Use a T-chart like the one below to show both sides of the
battle over the rain forests. Why should we:
Cut down the rain forests? Save the rain forests?
3. Look up the vocabulary word erosion in a dictionary. Write
down the base word and the ending. Then list other words
you know that have -sion or -tion endings.
4. Look at the map of rain forests on pages 20–21. What do
you notice about the location of most rain forests? Why do
you think they are located where they are?
Suggested levels for Guided Reading, DRA,™
Lexile,® and Reading Recovery™ are provided
in the Savvas Scott Foresman Leveling Guide.
Comprehension
Genre Text Features
Skills and Strategy
Expository • Fact and Opinion • Table of Contents
nonfiction • Cause and Effect • Captions
• Important Ideas • Map
• Sidebar
Scott Foresman Reading Street 6.1.4
ISBN-13: 978-0-328-52553-9
ISBN-10: 0-328-52553-7
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