The Amazon Basin Tropical Rainforest is the largest Rainforest in the World, covering an area greater than Western Europe. It is situated in the Northern part of Brazil. TRFs, including the Amazon, are under threat of destruction from a range of sources. Some of these sources are not only devastating a natural resource; they are also destroying an environment that is not yet fully understood.
The Amazon Basin - Natural Features
Tasier Monkey - J Snodgrass
Trees, Vegetation and Wildlife: The Amazon TRF has similar characteristics in terms of trees, vegetation and wildlife, to all other TRFs. It is very diverse, with a huge variety of trees, plants, and wildlife. The major concern with this TRF is that it is not yet fully understood. The trees and plants have largely not been studied. Elements of these may hold cures to diseases like cancer or AIDS as some of the medicines we now use come TRF plants, such as aspirin, heart disease treatment, and painkillers. Also, destruction of the TRF may mean the end of a number of wildlife species. Some birds, like parrots, are under threat of capture, being kept or sold as pets.
River Amazon: In size, the Amazon is the second largest river in the World, after the Nile. The Amazon river is fed by many other rivers like the Japura, Negro and Madeira and over 1000 tributaries. As well as being long, it is a very wide, flowing through the Amazon TRF to its mouth at the Atlantic Ocean. The size of the river allows for a vast variety and amount of fish and amphibians to live in and around it. However, these could be under threat from the building of dams, which use the power of the river to generate electricity, through Hydro Electric Power (HEP) schemes.
Yanomami tribe
The People: The Amazon TRF has been the home to many groups of indigenous (natural to the area) Indian people for thousands of years, for example the Yanomami people. The Indian people live in small communities, usually in remote parts of the forest but close to rivers. They survive by living in harmony with the TRF. They hunt, fish and gather food like nuts and berries. Also they often develop small agricultural areas. These provide a little area to grow food and natural medical cures that they may need. The key to the Indian people’s survival is that they use only what they need and everything, for example fishing and hunting, is carefully managed, so that it is not exhausted. These people also move around the forest, so that one area does not become overused. The lives of Indian people are threatened by human intervention in numerous ways.
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Tropical Rainforests