Recommendations
(These are personal statements, not necessarily those of my group)

Major Two Way Education Campaign

         It is important to maximize the productivity and longevity of the land which has already been deforested.  Programs to educate farmers about soil erosion prevention, crop rotation and diversification are key.  Giving small farmers the tools to sustain themselves, their families and the land.
              Brazil has a literacy rate of about 80% and I would guess that the 20% that are not literate represent a certain spectrum of society, that is that illiteracy is not uniformly distributed among the population.  This means that a segment of society is under represented in the political process.  It is imperative for a working democracy to have a high level of literacy and political awareness so that the whole society can be properly accounted for.
              The natives of Brazil have a wealth of knowledge about the species within the rain forest.  There should be a formal, compensated  exchange of native knowledge with companies seeking to utilize the resources within the rain forest.  This could greatly increase the rate at which new products are discovered.
                  Growing population is a major strain on the resources of a country.  Introducing family planning and education to women have been shown to slow population growth.
              Conservation efforts can find free labor by connecting with high school and college exchange programs.  Program such as Ecology Projects International and Global Exchange bring people to foreign countries where they pay to participate in community service, reforestation and conservation efforts.  This also serves to educate the global community about the situation in that particular country.
 
 

Economic Shifts
 

         The rain forest contains many valuable resource, known and unknown.  Many of these directly depend on the health of the forest.  If the value of these resources become apparent, people will have a sound economic reason to preserve the forest.                 Wood being used for an energy source is a large contributor to deforestation.  encouraging the development of solar, wind and tidal energy sources will lessen that need for wood.
            The Brazilian economy can be developed independent of the rain forest and, therefor, reduce the need for detrimental activities in the rain forest.  Although it is always mentioned that the United States and other developed nation were allowed to use their forest to aid development, it is important to recognize that we are in a much different time.  It could be beneficial to the country and the forest to take advantage of modern industries to aid development.  As seen in the facts section, 23% of the population is employed in agriculture, which only accounts for 9% of the GNP.  If agriculture was made more efficient and these people found employment in the services and industry sectors, the GNP could be greatly increased.
              Ecotourism introduces a new market that is dependent on the preservation of the rain forest.  It is a large percent of the economy in Costa Rica.  It could be valuable to increase the economy, educate the world about rain forest issues and promote conservation and rehabilitation programs for the country at little to no cost.
                  A large percent of  rain forest products end up in the United States.  Consumer awareness can increase the demand for sustainably grown materials and foods.  Increased recycling and reuse of wood products will also greatly reduce the demand for rain forest woods.
 

Transportation

               New roads and other infrastructure greatly increase the fragmentation of the rain forest.  We recomend using rail roads for specific transportation needs such as removing harvested products.  This is a faster form of transportation than trucking, less polluting and doesn't lead to illigal roads being built.  Small planes are also a solution for the transportation of people over long expanses of the Amazon.  The country already has a network of airports in several locations in the Amazon and the rest of the country.  Waterways are already highly used and are probably the lowest impact form of transportation.

Regulations and Reserves

            Place transimitting devices on all legal mining and logging activity.  This will allow the detection of illigal opperations and allow monitoring of specific companies.
            Develop a way to monitor the damage caused by companies and industries and require clean up, reforestation, community support etc. to counteract the damage.                 Put land aside for different uses.  Designate the level of use that area is allowed to have.  That is, set aside some land that is completely nature (and indigenous people?) reserves, some which are allowed for tourism and recreation, some that are for selective logging etc.                 Stabilizing ownership of lands will create a desire to protect it and encourage use of such practices which will only be beneficial on a long term scale.  It will also provide the farmers with a stable living situation and constant income.                 This will help combat the discrepancy between small scale and large scale farmers.  Small scale farmers can be more efficient and productive than large scale ones.  It will also discourage land speculation.
 


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