AquaticaKK: Conservation: Rainforest

Untitled Document

Threats To The Rainforest
The rainforests of Borneo are one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth and contain thousands of plant and animal species not found anywhere else in the world. These rainforests not only provide a habitat for a huge portion of the worlds biodiversity but they also help to stabilise the planets climate by absorbing the atmospheric carbon dioxide which causes global warming. Rainforests also play an important role in the water cycle, protecting nearby lands against floods drought and erosion. However, despite their great importance, Borneo's rainforests are being logged and cleared at an astonishing rate of 20 football pitches a minute!
	Timber is a very valuable resource and therefore the logging industry is operating on a vast scale in Borneo, devastating the wildlife with widespread deforestation.	Cash crop plantations such as oil palm, clear vast areas of forest to make room for the crops and often operate unsustainably with little regard to the environmental damage they cause.
	Forests are cleared and farms are set up on the nutritious land but often the nutrients are only held in the soil for 2- 7 years after which the land may be deemed useless and abandoned.	Expanding urban areas and industrial development requires land that can easily be obtained through deforestation
	The process of dam construction involves clearing areas of rainforest and then altering waterways, affecting the levels of water reaching the forest

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