Transcript The Tropical Rainforest

The Tropical Rainforest
Emma’s Forest
• What do we want to do about the rainforest?
• Is the Rainforest important?
• Read and listen to the following story and
then complete the task which follows
Emma’s house is thatched
with leaves and built from
timber and mud. It is
situated in a patch of
rainforest in the South of
Ghana. The forest provides
her family with most if
their medicines, many
different types of fruit,
palm oil and beverages
(tea, coffee and cocoa).
Wood is collected for cooking and heating and the forest animals
provide an important source of protein (bushmeat). One froest
climber can be used a bathing sponge and from another climber,
Emma weaves baskets.
Emma’s baskets are sold in the huge market in the city of Kumasi.
The money she gets will then buy clothes and other things like the
plastic laundry basket that Emma’s niece carries. When Emma
visits the market she sees lots of other forest products being sold.
Things like musical instruments, furniture, bushmeat and many
medicines are made from forest plants
Emma comes from a forest community and she has been taught to
respect the forest. Festivals are held to give thanks for all that the
forest provides. Emma enjoys the singing and dancing during the
festivals. She has watched forests disappear as they are cleared for
farmland. If forests are to survive, people must realise that forests
have a higher value than farmland. Emma thinks more people
should realise how important the forest is in providing all sorts of
products including timber. The forest canopy protects the soil so
that it doesn’t end up in the rivers and it offers shelter from the
wind. She says ‘If you look after the forest, it will be a faithful
friend’.
What is best for Emma’s Forest?
Look at the 4 options and work out which one would be
preferred
by Emma,
by a wildlife expert,
by a traditional medical chemist and
by a chocolate manufacturer
Option 1
Option 2
Forest to be made into a
nature reserve – nothing
to be taken out of the
forest and only
Scientists with a permit
allowed into the forest.
Forest to be cleared for a modern cocoa
plantation which will employ 100
people and produce cocoa cheaply
Option 3
Option 4
Forest to be made into a forestry reserve
where logging is controlled. Only the
oldest trees are cut down on a 40-year cycle
allowing the forest to recover. No other
clearance is allowed. Local people can
collect fruits, vines and dead wood.
Hunting is limited to a short season
Forest remains with
little control over
logging, hunting
and clearance