CAMBRIDGE GEOGRAPHY A2 REVISION - TROPICAL ENVIRONMENTS: SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF TROPICAL AREAS. Contains: sustainable agroforestry, ranching, monoculture, community forest, trophy hunting, MILPA system, extensive monoculture, CAMPFIRE, additional work, suggested websites.

1. A2GEOGRAPHYREVISION
TROPICAL ENVIRONMENTS
7.4 SUSTAINABLEMANAGEMENT
OFTROPICALAREAS

2. KEYTERMSANDDEFINITIONS
Sustainable agroforestry is a form of sustainable development in which
the people farm the forest.
Ranching is large-scale commercial agriculture in which large numbers
of animals are raised on extensive farms.
Monoculture is a form of arable agriculture which concentrates on the
production of just one crop.
Community forest refers to large areas of forest in which villagers
obtain and manage part of the communal forest for a long period of
time.
Trophy hunting is a form of ecotourism which involves the hunting of
large game such as elephant and buffalo.

3. TOPICSUMMARY
The Popoluca Indians of Santa Rosa, Mexico practise a form of
sustainable agriculture that resembles shifting cultivation, known as
the milpa system. As in a rainforest, the crops are multi-layered, with
tree, shrub and herb layers.
● Ranching prevents the natural succession of vegetation because of
a lack of seed from nearby forests and the grazing effects of cattle.
● Extensive monoculture is increasingly mechanised, and uses large
inputs of fertiliser, pesticides and insecticides.
● Community forests, such as Korup National Park, are large areas
of forest in which villagers obtain and manage part of the communal
forest for a long period of time.

5. TOPICSUMMARY
CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous
Resources) is a programme designed to assist rural development and
conservation.
● Approximately 12 per cent of Zimbabwe is protected as National
Parks or conservation areas.
● Five main activities help provide extra income to local
communities: trophy hunting, selling live animals, harvesting natural
resources, tourism and selling wildlife meat.

7. ADDITIONALWORK
1. What is meant by the term ‘sustainable agroforestry’? Illustrate your
answer with examples.
2. With the use of examples, examine the view that the main way to protect
the environment is to make money from it.
3. Briefly explain the impact of grazing and monoculture on tropical
rainforests.
4. What are the problems associated with sustainable management of
savanna areas?
5. Outline some of the options for sustainable management of savanna
areas.
6. Examine the main pressures facing areas of savanna or tropical rainforest.
7. To what extent is it possible to manage areas of savanna or tropical
rainforest in a sustainable way?

8. SUGGESTEDWEBSITES
http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/9780415395168/resources/chapter27m
anual.pdf for a case study of conflicts of conservation and development in
Paraguay.
http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0821-cerrado.html for developments in
Brazilian agriculture in the savanna.
This site has some excellent statistics and links to other sites concerning the
Brazilian rainforest and savanna.
www.fao.org/docrep/v5200e/v5200e03.htm for silviculture for sustainable
management of tropical moist forests.
www.fao.org/docrep/w8212e/w8212e04.htm for principles of sustainable
tropical forest management where wood production is the primary
objective.
www.tropenbos.org/index.php/en/what-we-do/co-management-in-
protected-areas for co-management of tropical rain forests. There are some
very detailed case studies to be found here (click on the links on the right-
hand side of the screen).