I would like to ask some questions for human beings, those who care about the living things from their hearts.
- There are many farmers, those who earn only 2$ (400 LKR) or below, per day. [Around 60$ (12000 LKR) per month] would you say "it’s enough for a single person to live happily, somewhere in this planet"?
- Elephants kill about 200 humans per year. At the same time, 200 elephants are killed by humans. Will you be the side of elephants or humans?
- There are many poor fishermen killed and arrested by border countries for violating the marine ecosystems, Which leads those fishing communities below the poverty line. Ecosystems or humans?
Earth is the only place where life could sustain in this whole universe. This place contains many lives from the nano level to the macro level. All these life forms need water, air, and the support of other life forms to gain a successful survival. The human race without an environment is impossible. At the same time, an environment without the human race is useless. So, We really need a sustainable lifestyle to live here.
Behind the Amazon forest.
30% of the earth’s total land area is forested. It’s commonly classifieds into three major groups.
- Tropical forests
- Temperate forests
- Boreal forests (taiga)
66% of the tropical moist forests are in Latin America, and remaining are in Africa and Asia. There are many other massive forests in other continents as well. These forests are the key factors in the earth’s life cycle.
Especially Latin American (Amazon) rain forests, it has a significant role in the nutrient cycle of the whole world. In here, Wind brings clouds full of nutrients and minerals from the dusty desert sand around the world and rain over the forest. Rain falls incisively throughout the Amazon’s wet season, delivering thousand tons of phosphate into the forest below. It passes into the soil and the roots of trees, nurturing and depleting the rainforest and provides healthy vegetations.
Vegetations provide the oxygen we need, and these vegetations created the earth habitable for life. Each day, Amazon provides hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of oxygen (20%) to the world, therefor it often called the lungs of the earth, but the reality is more complicated. Scientists think, human breathe non of it. All the oxygen in the Amazon produces during the day, remains there and reabsorbed into the forest at night. But Amazon still place a vital part in generating the oxygen that human breath. This process begins with rain, which fall up to 250 days in the forest. When it’s raining, Soil continuously washed into the Amazon river system. Taking with it, nutrients and organic materials. It provides average of millions of tons of sediments every twenty four hours. This makes microscopic planktons to thrive on the nutrients and explore their population. This organisms act like vegetations, absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxigen. This will causea huge boom in oxygen production in a vast area around the ocean and made available oxygen to the entire planet.
This Rainforest is home for over 2,200 species of animals. These species are found in the vegetation covers and land covers of the forest, while others are found in the amazon rainforest river like the fresh water dolphin and other aquatic species. The Amazon Rainforest is home to 427 mammal species, 1,300 bird species, 378 species of reptiles, and more than 400 species of amphibians. One in ten known species in the world lives in the Amazon Rainforest as do one in five known bird species.
These Latin American forests are located near the northern part of South America. It spreads through many countries and cultures but Brazil has the most. Other countries like Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana covers the rest. This forest is kind a important for the world.
“The forest is not a resource for us, it is life itself. It is the only place for us to live.”
-Evaristo Nugkuag Ikanan
Behind the burning fire of Amazon.
Soybean meal is the world’s largest source of protein feed, if someone from China or USA consumed a delicious meal like chicken, pork, and beef, they are indirectly consuming soyabeans which is exported by Brazil. Most of the times, these countries import soybeans to use in livestock feed. This key source of protein is globally traded from Brazil because of its highest level of nutrients. Which is given by the highly fertilised grounds around the tropical rainforest.
Brazil provides many important products to the world. Such as cultivated products, dairy products, electronics, mechanical products and many other products. But in micro level, most of the farmers those who cultivate and produce dairy products are in below the poverty line. These farmers earn only 2$ per day and struggle a lot, even for their day to day life activities. This situation leads them to cultivate more to earn more and live a happy life.
Their cultivation methods are similar to Sri Lankan “Chena”(slash and burn) cultivation. They cuts down, at regular intervals, the trees of a jungle land and set fire to the woody growths as far as possible, which is next to their current cultivation land and prepare for their next cultivation. This virgin land is most suitable for cultivation in view of its rich soil. It provides the highest nutritious fertilizer than earlier cultivated land for the new season.
If a community lives below the poverty line, then the ruler of that area, must take the responsibility. He must give them a good solution to enhance their life style to grow above the poverty line. More than 3000 years old Sri Lankan tank villages are some of best example for this. It’s more effective and efficient than earlier when it was constructed. Currently it’s not only for the human but it also very friendly and supportive with the other living organisms around those tanks. When we consider about the Brazil, most common and easiest way to to bring the farmers above the poverty line is to encourage them to increase their cultivation. It means they must encouraged to cut down and burn. Brazilian president decided to rewrite the cordenuns of forest covers of the Brazil. He encouraged farmers to cut down and burn. This kind of a release made those farmers to burn more and more. At the beginning it was only around the edges of their cultivation lands next to the rain forest but then the fire started to spread quickly, most of the forest started burning. Government hadn’t any plans to stop the fire. Fire wiped out the most of living things in the reserved forest and small jungles next to it, they were fried alive. World started to look at the fire.
“At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting for humanity.”
-Chico Mendes
Behind the wildfire.
This was one of the tweet of a Sri Lankan, while Amazon rainforest was burning.
“Yesterday it was Amazon Fires & today it’s Ella Wildfire in Sri Lanka.”
One thing everyone of us should know, Wildlife is dangerous but it’s necessary for the ecosystems. The fires in Ella are an annual occurrence same as Hanthana, knuckles and other places around Sri Lanka and the world.
Wildfire, the primary change agent in some zones of the environment, is as crucial to forest renewal as the sun and rain. Wildfire releases valuable nutrients stored in the litter on the forest floor. They open the forest canopy to sunlight, which stimulates new growth. From the death of the old forest comes the birth of the new. But if it’s uncontrollably expand, it’s too danger for ecosystems as well. Fires are also important for the wider ecosystem as whole
- Release seeds or otherwise encourage the growth of certain tree species.
- Clear dead trees, leaves, and competing vegetation from the forest floor, so new plants can grow.
- Break down and return nutrients to the soil
- Remove weak or disease-ridden trees, leaving more space and nutrients for stronger trees
- Keep tree stands thin and open, letting more sunlight in so trees stay healthier
- Improve wildlife habitat
We should protect them while enabling the forest fire in a controlled manner. Some times forests are like the legendary phoenix, to rise reborn from their own ashes. This process nearly equal to succession in ecology.
Behind the reality
Current world is struggling a lot with human- environment issues in various ways. Problems between Brazilian farmers and Amazon rainforest is just only one of those issues, but these kinds of issues are all over the world.
Even Sri Lanka faces many issues.
- Marine ecosystem conflict between Sri Lankan navy and Indian fishermen in gulf of Mannar.
- Human elephant conflicts all around the country.
- Human health and farming issues all around the country; Chronic kidney diseases
Most of the people were protesting against the Amazon fire from all over the world. Some of them were protesting from there heart but others protested to show off, specially in social media platforms. But most of these protest are triggered, innocents people didn’t know it was a political play. Anyway does anyone know, what was the results for those protests. It’s all just vanished as usual, we don’t care, now we are into another trend.
Everyone should understand, there are two sides to every story and the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle. Finding a solution for the Amazon fire is not that easy but every problem has its own solution, we just need to find it.
We can’t boycott Brazilian exports because savings humanity is just as important as saving environment. If you really care about Amazon, then we could do something to save them both.
- By giving higher value for Brazilian products to support the poor farmers.
- By donating something for the Brazilian poor farmers and their families to become highly educated.
- Or by Donating some money to environmental organisations to protect those forests.
Remember those poor farmers in your every meal. There aren’t the only one who’s the reason behind those wildfire, we all are in the same boat. human without Environment is impossible. At the same time, Environment without human race, is useless. We really need a sustainable lifestyle. If you want to save the world, you just need to act.
Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.
-Bruce Lee
