Recommendations

From my research in to cattle ranching, I propose that ranchers consider a few options to improve sustainability and profit 1) Keep cattle herds at conservative rates for the land their on - don't overburden the land and it won't burn out as quickly. 2) Rotation of land - don't let the cattle entirely destroy the land their grazing on and move them around in a controlled fashion fairly often. 3) Incorporate trees in pasture land - it doesn't have a negative effect on the cattle and could even be a tiny step back to reforestation someday. I believe these are the key ideas that could be utitilized fairly easy by farmers, even on a fairly small scale. Some sort of government support could also really help this program. There is the idea that we could move the ranchers out of the rainforest entirely, but I do not believe that this is a very practical idea. I think it would be hard to find somewhere else for them to go and it would also be extremely hard to force people to move in a non-totalitarian state. I also think that industrialized countries like the US really need to crack down on labelling beef to force fast food and other companies to admit where they buy their beef so consumers can make informed decisions about what they are buying.

I also believe that education is at the core of our solution. Many small communities in Brazil are already trying to improve the way they live. In fact, a recent poll showed Brazilians saying that their number one concern was the preservation of the rainforest. Their dedication to the land they live on and their desire to provide for their families, if they could be combined and supported by a single plan, could be a powerful force in conserving the rainforest. If we found some way to give them the resources and tools they need, I believe that most Brazilians would want to better their lives and their environment.

Some kind of ecofriendly industry would be great for Brazil. If outside companies were willing to invest in the vast human resources of Brazil, it could take some of the strain off the production of raw materials. If more Brazilians worked on manufacturing more finished, refined products or performing services, they would find have a much wider profit margin and would not have as much reason to exploit the rainforest.

Ecotourism is a good idea for bringing some of the resources of wealthy nations to Brazil. Wealthy American tourists are willing to spend money to learn about exotic areas like the rainforest. This could be from staying at an ecologically friendly resort in Brazil to doing a service project and learning about the forest to doing months or years of research and actively trying to improve the rainforest. Either way, people from rich nations who are interested in the rainforest should be exploited in such a way as to help the Brazilian economy and the environment.

A practical, sustainable model for agriculture is a must for the poor farmers who work the poor Amazonian soil. Slash and burn agriculture with its recurring pattern of ruining the soil and then moving on to clear more healthy forest must be delayed or stopped entirely. Agroforestry, rotation of crops, and growing crops under the shade of the rainforest canopy are all innovative ideas that could help these people use the land more sustainably. Our group (Juliana) is also investigating a type of rainforest soil known as terra preta which could be fabulous for the rainforest if we can figure out how to generate it.