The use and consumption of our world’s natural resources has gentrified our society for centuries. In the last 40 years, the Brazilian Amazon lost more than 18 percent of its rainforest — an area about the size of California — to illegal logging, soy plantations, and cattle ranching. Most of the remaining forest is under threat, and with it the plants, animals, and people who depend on the forest to survive (GreenPeace). Big logging industries and forestry businesses thrive with the use of the natural resources found in the Amazonian regions. These resources supply our first world communities with the ingredients needed to be sustainable and successful. However the legality of these acts creates a fine line that is crossed frequently. The destruction caused by illegal acts of logging and forestry harms our environment by killing wildlife and their habitats as well as pollute our atmosphere. The clearing of land in the Amazon can also displace indigenous peoples by taking away their land. However, it is not only big corporations taking advantage of these resources. The indigenous groups residing in these lands consume the same resources for their own sustainability and abolishing it can hinder their livelihood. Deforestation needs to be regulated in the Amazon Rainforest because of the environmental, social, and economic problems created for large corporations, indigenous communities, as well as wildlife and their ecosystems around the world

The deforestation controversy affects us all. Carbon emissions from forestry poison our atmosphere, creating an imbalanced biodiversity, and encourage climate change. The physical act harms wildlife and displaces communities. Although, the benefits from the use of these natural resources sustain the first world society we are used to. The industries driving forestry fuel our economy and trade all over the world. Indigenous peoples prosper from these resources, without being able to take them they’re civilizations would fail. I believe this controversy can be controlled. In my research there are many ideas to consider as this problem evolves. These ideas include regulating deforestation into sectors that can be replenished after destroyed, alarms to ward off illegal logging, and private plots for community usage. None of these ideas can go into effect without the help and encouragement from all sides of the argument. Big corporation could learn to share, regulations can save habitats, and citizen outreach can help prevent deforestation in unregulated areas.

To preserve this biological diversity would mean adhering to the varying needs of our world’s ecosystems and to aid this carbon emission must decrease. Stopping or slowing deforestation can contribute to the continuity and strengthening of a robust, comprehensive international emissions reductions regime (Moutinho and Schwartzman 9). The concept of ‘compensated reduction has been proposed to counter this issue. Compensated meaning countries makes restitution for a loss or specifically; whereby countries that elect to reduce national level deforestation … would receive post facto compensation, and commit to stabilize or further reduce deforestation in the future (Moutinho and Schwartzman 47). By following this protocol, countries and civilizations can limit the amount of damage they cause to our rainforests by receiving compensation for the resources they lose. If taken, this action would also encourage the regulation of climate change. Based on the effects of hurricane El Niño and deforestation induced dry seasons, substantial portions of carbon stored globally in tropical forest trees could be transferred to the atmosphere in the coming decades (Mouthino and Schwartzman 47). Natural disasters pose as a huge threat to our rain forests and tropical regions as result of global warming and abundant carbon emissions poisoning our atmosphere.

Deforestation also poses as a threat to the habitats of species residing in the Amazon Rainforest. . The most dramatic impact is a loss of habitat for millions of species. Eighty percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes (NatGeo). The removal of trees and other types of vegetation reduces available food, shelter, and breeding habitat. These actions displace animals and species leaving them with limited resources of survival resulting in malnourishment and higher mortality rates. As large amounts of forests are cleared away, allowing exposed earth to whither and die and the habitats of innumerable species to be destroyed, the indigenous tribes who depend on them to sustain their way of life are also irreparably damaged. The Amazon rainforest is the world's largest intact forest. It’s home to more than 24 million people in Brazil alone, including hundreds of thousands of Indigenous Peoples belonging to 180 different groups (GreenPeace). The loss of forests has an immediate and direct effect on their lifestyle that we in the modern world, despite our own dependency on what the rainforest provides, will never know. The level of immediacy is exponentially greater (Pachamama Alliance). In order to save animals, habitats, and indigenous people it is important for everyone to take action. Perhaps one of the most effective solutions to the problems of deforestation around the globe is to change the valuation of products that are obtained through deforestation to the valuation of our global forests for the important ecosystem services and other important resources that they provide, including the storage of carbon in a carbon-constrained future. The use of sustainable forestry certifications schemes, such as the Forest Stewardship Council, is one way to support the sustainable management and preservation of forests around the world (Greentumble). The Forest Stewardship Council mission is to promote environmentally sound, socially beneficial and economically prosperous management of the world's forests. Their vision is to meet the current needs for forest products without compromising the health of the world’s forests for future generations. 

Although indigenous civilizations also partake in the deforestation found in the Amazon Rainforest for their own sustainability. Collaboration between indigenous villages and large corporations fuel the economy and viability of both companies and livelihood of these communities. For example, Cargill, a company that brings food agricultural, financial and industrial products around the world, wanted to buy soybeans from the Mennonite residents. The company would finance a local warehouse and weighing station so farmers could sell their produce directly to Cargill on-site, the man said, according to local residents. This relationship benefits both parties in the agreement however that resurgence, driven by the world’s growing appetite for soy and other agricultural crops, is raising the specter of a backward slide in efforts to preserve biodiversity and fight climate change. To monitor this aspect of deforestation, there needs to be some form of government intervention. Victor Yucra, the director general of Bolivia’s forest and land management at the Forestry and Land Authority, stressed the need for the Bolivian government to balance the protection of its forests with the needs of its agricultural sector (New York Times). Mr. Yucra addresses his concern by stating, “Our concern is in ensuring that intensive agricultural production takes place within a framework that also provides for sustainable forestry and protection for standing forests”. While big corporations are protected by law to consume the resources provided by the Amazon, illegal logging still poses concern to the wellbeing of the Rainforests, those who reside in them, and our atmosphere and climate. 

Many reserves within the Rainforests focus on protecting endangered species and communities from illegal logging. These reserves post guards around their territory to ward off illegal loggers from threatening areas to wildlife, habitats, and civilizations. This logging is unregulated allowing groups to destroy areas of the Rainforest without care for what and whom they are damaging. New figures coming from the Brazilian government suggest illegal logging has taken more trees from the Amazon rainforest than previously expected (Futurism). Satellite data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research shows that, from August 2015 to June 2016, 7,989 square kilometers of forest have been destroyed. Last year, that number was 6,207 square km, a 29 percent increase. There are many steps that need to be taken in order to reduce this rate and stop illegal and unregulated logging. The Brazilian government introduced new enforcement methods in 2004. Tougher enforcement coupled with satellite imaging was able to significantly slow deforestation. The government also established protected areas and introduced fines for illegal logging. In a TED talk on saving the Rainforest, Topher White describes a strategy that allows anyone to fight against illegal logging. White tells the story of his last trip to the island of Borneo. There he assisted a Gibbon Reserve where he witnessed first hand the effects of illegal logging. He claimed that through the beautiful, natural sounds of the Rainforest, he could still here the machinery of loggers in the distance. Even though the reserve followed the expected protocol with guards manning the frontiers of the reserve, illegal forestation still posed major threat to surrounding areas. White stated that in the middle of the jungle he found one very important resource; cell service. He summarizes his strategy by stating that if we can use a device to listen to the sounds of the forest, connect to the cell phone network that's there, and send an alert to people on the ground, perhaps we could have a solution for this issue.

As you can see there are many factors that create the problem that is deforestation. Through government intervention and community outreach we can tackle this issue. Deforestation puts a lot of stress on the healthiness of our environment. The carbon emissions given off by logging and forestry poison our atmosphere increasing the likelihood of climate change and global warming. The purity of our air quality affects us all and we should be concerned as temperatures rise and natural disasters increase. Wildlife and ecosystems are threatened by the physical act of deforestation. The destruction of the forests and rainforests displace and kill animals residing in the rainforest. The destruction of these territories also displaces many indigenous civilizations. Government regulation of deforestation can help to save these territories and bring more focus to the dependency of animals and communities to the Amazon Rainforest. Large corporations partnering with these civilizations can also benefit from this regulation, as we can see these resources are vital to our survival and our economy’s stability so it is important that government supervision is advised to keep both sides; the environmentalist and the economist, content. Lastly, illegal logging must be stopped. By fining and overseeing these illegal acts we can decrease the rates of illegal logging and deforestation in the Amazon. We can also help through Topher White’s cellular alert plan to ward off unwanted destruction in rainforests. 
