1. © Oxford University Press 2009 Tropical Rain Forest - Man-land relationship Tropical Rain Forest - Man-land relationship

2. © Oxford University Press 2009 1 What is happening to tropical rainforests?

3. © Oxford University Press 2009 What are your impressions about a tropical rainforest? Luxuriant growth of plants? Rainforest in Temburong, Brunei (Credit: Ng Kim Hung)

4. © Oxford University Press 2009 Rich diversity of plant and animal species?

5. © Oxford University Press 2009 Or the deforested scenes of rainforests? Destroyed Amazon rainforest Where are the tropical rainforests? (Credit: Reuters/OTHK)

6. © Oxford University Press 2009 Where are tropical rainforests? Where can we find tropical rainforests? Tropical rainforests can be found between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Where can we find the largest area of tropical rainforests in the world? Tropical rainforests are found mainly around the Equator and the area between latitudes 10 o N and S. These regions usually have high temperature, rainfall and humidity.

7. © Oxford University Press 2009 Where are tropical rainforests? Where can we find tropical rainforests? Tropical rainforests can be found between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Where can we find the largest area of tropical rainforests in the world? The largest area of tropical rainforests in the world is in the Amazon Basin in South America. Congo Basin South-east Asia Amazon Basin

8. © Oxford University Press 2009 What has happened to tropical rainforests? The change in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest cover (1990–2006) The rainforests in the Brazilian Amazon has been losing at a rapid rate. What has happened to the tropical rainforests in the Brazilian Amazon?

9. © Oxford University Press 2009 How can we identify the phenomenon from satellite images? Satellite image of Brazilian Amazon in 1975 1975 1986 Satellite image of Brazilian Amazon in 1986 Deforestation carried out along roads, developing ‘fish-skeleton’ patterns Undisturbed forest 1992 Satellite image of Brazilian Amazon in 1992 (Credit: NASA)

10. © Oxford University Press 2009 How can we identify the phenomenon from satellite images? 1992 (Credit: NASA) What changes had been taken place in the rainforest cover? The rainforest cover in the Brazilian Amazon had been shrinking between 1975 and 1992. Roads were built into the rainforest, where forests were cleared along them.

11. © Oxford University Press 2009 How about the situation in other rainforests in other parts of the world? Changes in tropical rainforest cover throughout the world Source: Washington DC: Global Forest Watch Congo Basin: relatively slower rate, but still significant South-east Asia: most seriously deforested Amazon Basin: deforested in an alarming rate

12. © Oxford University Press 2009 What has happened to tropical rainforests? Are tropical rainforests disappearing rapidly?

13. © Oxford University Press 2009 What has happened to tropical rainforests? Do you know? 423290 8.14 56.10 69210 4.92 56.98 280720 24.08 46.46 14140 2.02 53.49 7110 1.16 53.32 40550 6.46 53.47 20860 6.62 63.60 8540 6.24 14.98 47780 6.92 32.80 2550 1.12 65.70 The Amazon Basin holds about 1/3 of the worlds’ rainforests. Another 20% are located in Indonesia and the Congo Basin.

14. © Oxford University Press 2009 What has happened to tropical rainforests? Each second: About 1 hectare of rainforest disappears (= the area of 1 Hong Kong Stadium) Each minute: About 60 hectares of rainforest disappears (= the area of 60 Hong Kong Stadium) Each day: About 86 000 hectare of rainforest disappears (about 0.8 times of Hong Kong’s total area) Each year: About 31 million hectare of rainforest disappears (about 282 times of Hong Kong’s total area)

15. © Oxford University Press 2009 What has happened to tropical rainforests? More than 2/3 of the world’s tropical rainforests are damaged by human activities. Deforestation refers to human extraction of resources by cutting trees down. The scale? Tropical rainforests once covered about 12% of the Earth’s land surface but now they are reduced to 5% today.

16. © Oxford University Press 2009 Why do people remove the rainforests? How should rainforest resources be managed and conserved? What can we do to help protect and sustain tropical rainforests?

17. © Oxford University Press 2009