The document discusses how humans negatively impact rainforests through deforestation for economic gain, which destroys forest habitat and pollutes the environment. It notes that indigenous people live sustainably in rainforests, while human activities like hunting endangered animals are unsustainable. However, rainforests also provide economic benefits from tourism and valuable resources, as well as medical benefits from plants that could yield new drugs.

1. HUMANS AND THE RAINFOREST
By: Nick Kalogeras

2. OVERVIEW
• Deforestation by Humans
• Habitation and Life
• Pollution of the Environment
• Hunting/Poaching Scarce Animals
• Positive Economic Effects
• Pharmaceutical Benefits

3. DEFORESTATION BY HUMANS
• Strong economic force for humans
• Includes oil extraction, logging, mining, fires, pollution, agriculture,
hunting, etc.
• Allows humans to continue growth, but completely destroys all of the
forest in an area
• Major problem in Asia, Africa, and South America
• Government actually makes it profitable by tax breaks; not a profitable
plan

4. DEFORESTATION- EFFECTS

5. WHO INHABITS THIS AREA???
• Many indigenous people live in the rainforests and use it as their home and
hunting ground
• They are conscious of how many animals/organisms they can take to keep
balance
• Invasive species have altered the wildlife in many areas like Guam and
Hawaii
• Guam- Bird populations drastically decreased, finally realized due to a new
snake species
• Hawaii- foreign weed and plant species have choked out a majority of the
native species

6. THESE POOR CREATURES

7. HUMAN POLLUTION OF THE
RAINFOREST
• Oil spills have degraded many of the rainforests
• Air pollution is causing major problems in many of the rainforests, like in
areas like South America
• This causes many of the resources to be trashed and not available for use
• Fertilizers used in agriculture near these areas affect the area as a whole by
getting into animals that continue plant growth
• Aquatic species are affected by the runoff and chemicals that go with it

8. CLEAR ADVERSE EFFECTS

9. HUNTING SCARCE ANIMALS
• Removal of key species that keep the ecosystem functioning
• South America- major mammal and bird hunting every year makes many
species endangered
• Africa- tiger populations are dramatically decreasing to a very low and
unstable number
• Sometimes the people hunt for food, but most often it’s for profit
• Humans are creating this problem by being greedy and taking what they
don’t need

10. FROM THE HUNTER TO THE HUNTED

11. ECONOMIC BENEFITS??
• Tourism provides more money into the economies of these poor,
developing countries
• However, tourism also brings in conflict between people in these countries
vying and competing for the small amount of money coming in
• This tourism allows resources like the hardwoods to be bought, and makes
a better market for these goods
• Urbanization also changed rainforest populations in the fact that people
quickly move when towns were established
• Gold and diamond deposits encouraged loads of people to move quickly,
but then they disappeared just as fast

12. EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC CHANGES
Positive or Negative Benefits?
You Decide.

13. MEDICAL BENEFITS
• There are many different drugs that are harvested through tropical plants
and animals that help cure diseases and problems in every society
•
• Quinine- a part of the malaria cure come from the bark of the cinchona
tree
• Rosy Periwinkle- Comes from Madagascar and has two important anti-
tumor agents in it
• Scientists are using plants to see how cancers are growing and are working
on developing treatments for it
• ****Major potential in the building blocks of some plants to find a cure
for AIDS

14. LIFE-SAVERS FROM LIVELY PLACES

15. TRUE VIDEO OF THE RAINFOREST
http://youtu.be/OBFRZbN0p7U

16. EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
• Explain some of the additional effects of deforestation
• Discuss the types of problems that arise from human involvement in the
rainforest
• Discuss some solutions to the problem of human destruction of our
rainforests

17. WORK CITED
• http://www.adventure-life.com/articles/rainforest-medicine-78/
• http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0813.htm
• http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0803.htm
• http://www.eoearth.org/article/Borneo_lowland_rain_forests?topic=4959
7
• http://www.eoearth.org/article/Rainforests_of_the_Atsinanana,_Madagas
car?topic=49597
• http://fye2011.blogspot.com/