There are several players that try to manage the Daintree. Some are huge NGO’s while others are smaller town councils, or even individual people, trying to make a difference. There are a variety of different threats to the Daintree. There are threats from tourism, threats from logging and deforestation, threats from a property boom leading to increased in migration, and even threats from climate change. Consequently, these threats could cause a disruption in the nutrient cycle, and cause species like the endangered cassowary to become extinct. This has caused many players to try and make a difference.

Although the whole of the wet tropics area, including the Daintree, has UNESCO world heritage status, it is still under threat. One player that is trying to stop the threats is the Wet tropics management authority. This organisation was formed in 1990 and aims to effectively manage the wet tropics area and ensure it remains as untouched as possible. This is achieved through several functions. Its major functions are to develop and implement policies and plans that allow people to integrate with the wet tropics area while protecting the biodiversity it was made a heritage site for. Its other major function is to research and monitor the site to increase knowledge on the importance of the site. These functions help to make this authority a key player in maintaining the integrity of the world heritage site.

Another key player is Douglas shire council. This local council for the region which contains the Daintree rainforest is in charge of deciding planning permissions, and in general dealing with other issues the people who live there may face. Many of their decisions were in favour of protecting the rainforest. For example in 2000, it was voted that the population of 1200 was to be slowly reduced. This would help balance economic growth in the area with biodiversity. It is also in charge of setting prices for tourists such as the price of the ferry crossing into the rainforest. Therefore this council is integral to managing the issues the locals have and balancing the economic growth of the wet tropics area, with maintaining the biodiversity the area naturally possesses.

A final player involved in managing the Daintree is Australian Rainforest Foundation. This ‘not for profit’ organisation is involved in research and education of the rainforest. It has two major projects that help them achieve them. Operation Big Bird is a scheme set up to protect endangered species such as the cassowary. This will be achieved by creating a 250Km wildlife corridor through the rainforest, allowing species such as the cassowary to move and breed in relative safety. Its second project is the implementation of ‘buy back’ schemes. These schemes ‘buy back’ land from those who originally bought it in order to protect it and reduce the available land for development. These two projects help to indicate that the role played by the ARF is to conserve the rainforest and ensure the area isn’t over developed.

A Second area under threat is mangrove forests all over the world. However a particular place which has many issues is south east Asia, particularly Thailand. Issues that face the mangrove forest mainly involve the clearance of them. Mangroves are cleared to make way for massive shrimp farms, or just plain deforestation for the wood. This has caused over 50% of world mangrove forests to be lost. The destruction of mangrove forests leads to a removal of the ecosystem. this consequently affects other species. Mangroves are a natural nursery for fish, providing safety from larger predators. The loss of mangrove forests presents a problem that needs to be dealt with. This has created many players trying to help.

The first player involved in managing the mangrove forests in Thailand is Yadfon. This is a small organisation set up in 1985 to help fishing communities. It has a ‘grass roots’ approach to achieving its aims. This means it works with the people to sort out the problems in a way that both benefits the locals, while making a significant difference. For example Yadfon helped the fishermen of Chao Mai to revive the coastal fisheries. Mangrove destruction from deforestation and loss of sea grass through the use of drag nets caused the fisheries to become less productive. However since Yadfon intervened, the issues have become much less severe.

Another player involved in the management of mangroves is wetlands international. Being another ‘not for profit’ organisation it doesn’t have the economic motivations a regular organisation would have. Instead it is interested in conservation and wise use of the wetlands. It has several  ways of achieving its aims. Through schemes such as mangrove replanting and teaching the locals effective use of water, this player has established a role in teaching the locals how to use the mangroves sustainably.  

So to conclude, in the two area discussed there are real issues that need addressing. Many players have taken up the task and have all assumed varies roles to best combat the issues. For the Daintree rainforest both state controlled organisations, and outside organisations have assumed roles to do with management and conservation of the forest. This results in a protection of the biodiversity. In the case of the mangrove forests in Thailand, a more ‘grass roots’ approach has been assumed. They have worked to restore the natural fish stocks by teaching the locals how to sustainably farm the area. Overall this has had a great impact on the biodiversity of the area. However with climate change posing a larger threat than ever, even better management may be needed in order to secure the security for these area for future generations.

“The Emerald Forest” is kind of a spiritual sequel to “Deliverance” as both were directed by John Boorman. Each deals with man’s tearing apart of nature for their own needs, and of how nature has its own set of rules which forces outsiders to the edge of survival. They also take place in a wilderness where the rules of law and justice cease to exist as its inhabitants live by their own. Also, they contain characters that have never been exposed to civilization as we know it. The subject of man vs. nature makes for a fascinating subject, and it’s entertaining to see Boorman take it on again.

“The Emerald Forest” is based on a true story and was released back in 1985, back when the term meant something. Powers Boothe stars as Bill Markham, an engineer who has moved to Brazil with his family to complete the construction of a large hydro-electric dam. This of course necessitates large areas of the Amazon forest be cleared to make room for agriculture and living space. While on a picnic with his family, his son Tommy suddenly gets abducted by an indigenous Indian tribe. Bill ends up spending the next ten years of his life looking for Tommy just as the dam he’s working on nears completion. He ends up finding him alive and has long since become fully integrated with the tribe known as the “Invisible People.” But will Tommy end up going home with his real dad, or stay with the tribe which has become his way of life?

I remember seeing commercials on TV for this movie, and the fact that it was “based on a true story” made it seem all the more frightening at the time. To be stolen from your family is a terrible fate that happens too often (or so the news media would have us believe), and it’s the last thing anyone should go through. The interesting aspect of “The Emerald Forest” however is how Tommy seems to enjoy being part of this tribe which has given his life a meaning which he wouldn’t necessarily get in the real world. This makes the conflict Bill and the tribe especially fascinating; he’s entitled to be angry at these people for kidnapping his son, but it’s not like he’s been treated badly by the tribe. Issues like this are usually black and white in that we know who the bad people are, but that’s not always concretely clear in “The Emerald Forest.”

In the process of looking for his son, Bill comes across a rival tribe known as the “Fierce People” whose leader shows his admiration for the hunting skills Bill shows off with his machine gun (a weapon they are unfamiliar with). As a result, they give him a head start to run for his life before they hunt him down. He is fortunate enough to run into his son Tommy who has long since become a warrior like the Indian family which “adopted” him, and he takes his father to safety where the “Invisible People” take care of his wounds.

The scenes which show the tribe and the rituals they perform are among the most fascinating scenes in this movie. Boorman really makes us feel like we are observing something we would not be as likely to see in person as we watch Tommy becoming a man. These are not just a bunch of actors trying to recreate what tribes of Indians did before and after white men stole their land, they look like the real deal. Plus their description of Bill and those like him as “Termite People” as like those pesky creatures they destroy the land they come in contact gets at the universal truth of life. Man’s attempt to create a new way of life ends up laying waste to our past.

Actually, the one actor who deserves the most credit here is the director’s son Charley Boorman who plays Tommy. Much of the movie’s success really hinged on his performance as a stranger to the world he has been abducted to. If you didn’t believe how sincere Tommy was to win the tribe’s respect, then “The Emerald Forest” would not have worked as a movie. But Charley is utterly believable and sucks you into his character’s reality without a second thought. It’s one of those performances where the actor becomes his character as opposed to just playing them.

Powers Boothe is one of those actors who are impossible to cast as a pussy or a wimp. I mean you could, but would you believe him as such? He’s always played tough guys who never go down without a fight, and here he plays a good guy who is no different. It’s hard to think of another actor who could have embodied Bill Markham better than him. Perhaps Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger could have, but then it would have become a completely different movie.

In “The Emerald Forest,” Boothe not only has to show the intense dedication this father has in finding his son, but he also has to believably portray a man who is more of a match with the wilderness elements than any other stranger to this environment could ever hope to be. He succeeds on both fronts as the tribe accepts him despite their differences with one another, something that isn’t easy. Boothe also has to convincingly portray a man who has to go against what he does for a living to protect his son and his way of living. Looking at this makes you realize just how underrated of an actor Boothe is after all these years.

Director Boorman along with cinematographer Philippe Rousselot provides the viewer with beautiful scenery throughout. Much of it was filmed in Brazil, and we get to see sights that all these years later may not even exist. Just as with “Deliverance,” Boorman wants to explore this part of life before it vanishes forever, and he was lucky to get it on film.

Like any movie that’s “based on a true story,” much of it has been fictionalized for dramatic considerations. This results in it having a shootout in which Boothe has to team up with the tribe which took his son so they can rescue their women who have been stolen into slavery. In some ways it feels like a cop out for the movie to reach its conclusion, but it does have the added bonus of them dealing with another Indian tribe whose ignorance of guns has been exploited to their benefit. It seems to imply that any person who encounters the real world is more likely to corrupt themselves than advance their way of lige. This saves “The Emerald Forest” from turning into any other action movie.

John Boorman’s career as a director has taken him all over the critical map from classics like “Deliverance” and “Hope and Glory” to duds like “Zardoz” and “The Exorcist II: The Heretic.” “The Emerald Forest” stands in the middle of all his movies as it’s really good if not quite great. I’m glad I finally got the opportunity to see it even though it took me 27 years after its release to do so. It’s also nice to watch a movie “based on a true story” which actually feels like it is. You really don’t get those kind of movies today.

* * * ½ out of * * * *

Other articles by Ben Kenber:

“Deliverance”

Based on a True Story and Worth Watching

“Encounters At The End Of The World”

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He had the opinion that this plan would ruin the jungle and the environment of the locality.

In the beginning he was alone but afterwards the locality people also started joining him.

The government kept Mark in jail for few weeks to keep him silent. Not only threaten him with police but also made him expel from his house by pressurizing the owner.

But all these troubles could not shake his courage. 47 year Mark took his case in the court; there it was proved that this plan is against the environmental safety policies of the government.

During all this it was revealed that Gabon will get only 10% profit from this plan. Because of these consecutive attacks the Gabon’s government compelled keeping the contract on hold.

The residents of Ivindo initially thought that this plan would bring many employments and infrastructure but now they agree with the Mark’s opinion.

Mark determines this change in the attitudes as his big win.

Look at the Mark’s courage that despite being handicapped took tussle with the government and at last compelled it bending on knees.

By Muhammad Irfan Zafar

Content Writer

        It took us more than five hours drive from the city to reach a rural area in Laguna where Mount Banahaw was located. Mount Banahaw was known as a mystical forest and it was the source of very clear and cold water of the falls. And at the foot of that Mountain lies the midst of rainforest where a very beautiful falls called Majayjay can be seen. The water from the falls was so refreshing as it was cold and we need to adopt to that temperature to be able to enjoy our swimming time in there. And we know that  we need to observe responsible tourism in a rainforest to keep the beauty of the place and maintain the cleanliness of the falls. Specially that there are lots of tourists visiting the rainforest and the businesses of the locals there depend their income from those tourists coming.
        
        Some ways how we follow responsible tourism in a rainforest are making sure that we put our garbage on the proper bins and never throw anything on the falls. And when we set our tent,  we make sure that we place it on the designated area so that we would not destroy any small plants or affect any creatures on the rainforest.  We also make sure to clean our place when we packed up already to ensure that no thrash will be left by us. We can really be responsible tourists and be able to preserved the beauty of rainforest for others to enjoy it too.

Exploitation of the Amazon

People clear the Rainforest for many different reasons:

·       Agriculture

·       Houses

·       Roads

·       Logging

·       Mining

·       Construction

·       Use of income

·       Food

·       Medicines

People may want to exploit the Amazon because it brings benefits to Brazil and it’s population. Exploiting the Amazon provides food, jobs and money and all in all, make Brazil a wealthier country.

Agriculture: Positive benefits of clearing the Rainforest are split into Small-Scale and Large-Scale farming. Farming on a small-scale provides food for the Amazon villagers, but on a large-scale, it can be sold and bring in income and provide jobs for the growing population.

The land for the agriculture gets cleared by either shifting cultivation, by ingenuous tribes, or large-scale clearance which destroys the Rainforest and does not grow back. Shifting cultivation involves a small area of land being cleared and then the remaining vegetation being burned, providing nutrients for the soil, from the ash. The soil will then be fertile for a few years and when the fertility is exhausted, the tribe will more on and the Rainforest will be regenerated.

However, large-scale clearing does not regenerate. The Rainforest is cut down and left and the damage is so bad and immense, that the trees and vegetation do not grow back. It also often leads to deforestation. This breaks the Eco-System and habitats are destroyed.

Mining: The mining industry is highly important to the expanding of the Brazilian economy. Minerals known to have been found the Amazon are diamonds, aluminium ore, iron, tin, copper, lead and gold. The incoming population often work in the highly competitive and packed gold mines on a very low wage. The mercury and sediment, used in mines, gets washed into the Amazon Rivers which pollutes them. They have also been polluted with oil, litter and human waste. All around the mines, vegetation and habitats have been destroyed. However, larger companies have been taking steps to protect the environment, by careful planning and replanting.

The footage from the Brazilian rainforest appears strange figure. The picture shows the blue glow and a bit from her alien.

Real evidence of the existence of aliens, or is it a fake?

A few shots, you get two British tourists, who recently visited the region of Manaus. A short video was then obtained from this pair of writer Mike Cohen, who is devoted to the issue of paranormal phenomena.

Quote:

Michael, who runs the paranormal website allnewsweb.com, said: “This is highly compelling footage that will be hard to discredit.

information with video:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3886122/Alien-filmed-in-Brazil-rainforest.html

Little more than six percent of the earth’s surface is rainforest, yet within them are more than half of the world’s plant and animal life.  These areas are called rainforests because of the immense amount of rainfall every year.  The climates within the rainforests are normally hot and humid, which helps the plant species grow thick and lush.

There are rainforests on every continent in the world except Antarctica.  There are also large masses of rainforest located in the Hawaiian Islands, Belize, Fiji, Madagascar, and other tropical islands in the world.  Some of the products that we use every day come from these rainforests like vanilla, chocolate, coffee, rubber, nuts, hard woods, and tropical oils that are found in shampoos and other personal products.  Deforestation has become an unusually complicated topic because of the harvesting of these valuable resources. 

The purpose of this article is not to give one side of the deforestation issue an advantage over the other, or the other way around for that matter.  Nor is there any purpose in shocking the reader with statistics and scare tactics on the rainforests, environment, or ozone layer.  Rather, this article is written with an entirely different purpose in mind altogether. 

When I began writing, I was focused mainly on one Internet site.  The problem with that is that there are always at least two sides to every story; in a story such as this one with international implications, there are many facets.  When I began gathering information for this article, I thought that I was simply reporting what I read, and though I cited the source of this information, I didn’t realize that in writing about it the first time, I wasn’t giving justice to a whole other side of the coin.  The other side is the truth. 

I’m not saying that the source of my material is the truth or not the truth.  When I decided to change the article in its entirety, I did so after speaking with a very trusted friend.  There was no advice for or against the issue at hand, but merely that I should investigate further and make sure that the source I was quoting was not a proprietary source for one side of the issue or the other.  I took that to heart and am very grateful for the insight. 

In the 1980’s, logging companies in the northwest were put on an alert status and investigated, watched and reported about in various newspapers.  The articles were not especially kind to the men and women trying to do their best working in a field that, by design, was a source of contention because it was the logging industry; taking from the earth an important resource.  My experience is limited on this subject due to my age when I was located in the northwest and also because I didn’t personally work in the industry.  I did, however, have several friends and a few extended family members working in the logging industry and gathered information about the issues from them. 

Logging and clearing land changes the landscape even when handled in the correct fashion.  It’s simply untrue that logging won’t make the land look or behave differently.  However, there are ways of replacing important resources when those resources are needed for the use of man in every day life, including trees.  They are gifts of the earth.  The problems come when man forgets that they are intended for use and not abuse.  This complacency also causes a sort of trickle-down effect for all others harvesting these products, even when they are doing it correctly and legitimately, with permission and license from their respective governments.

Think back to reports of the deforestation of the Amazon in every newspaper in the world.  There are even a few movies that have been released on the subject.  The real concern is that the ecosystems contained in the rainforests are critical to the climates of the world; so much so that disturbing the acreage could create changes in the temperatures across the equator.  This statement doesn’t include the millions of species of flora and fauna that live and eat there.  They need the four layers of the rainforest in order to survive.

At this point, the real purpose of this article will become clear.  It is in the reporting of activity that those who read the reports can become emotionally involved.  Newspapers and magazines, electronic magazines and free-style articles are all written for the purpose of getting someone, their reader, to understand and believe in their point of view.  Before drawing a conclusion, this same reader should do more digging.  Investigation doesn’t have to take a lot of time and it is an important step; one that shouldn’t be ignored if the reader wants the whole truth and not just the amount of truth the writer gives.  In some instances, the writer hasn’t done enough digging; something this writer should have done before beginning the first draft of this article. 

In the last twenty years, satellites have been capturing images of logging and harvesting in the Amazon rainforests.  Are these images part of a problem in the Amazon or are they simply the images of a logging operation that is legitimate, working with a permit from the government and with permission to do so?  Is this a one-time cutting or is it a poaching operation?  Has this logging company replanted to give the rainforest new life in the future?  These are questions a person must ask before becoming angered and joining a group with extreme ideals.  There can be no harm in finding answers to these and other questions before taking such a step.

In preparing to write this article, I admit that I was one-sided and didn’t bother to check other sources for my material.  The images I saw were disturbing, to say the least.  It was the images that caught my attention at first, but then the words that accompanied these images made me angry.  It wasn’t until I spoke with my friend that I began to see that this might have been the intention of the author of the website that I visited.  The realization that I had given in to these emotions due to what the writer wanted me to read made me angry in a new way.  Had I been given the truth or had I been given just enough so that I’d see the issue the way they wanted me to see it?  I have a feeling that the latter is true.    

There very well may be a problem with deforestation in the rainforests of the world, particularly the rainforests of the Amazon.  In fact, I am very sure that there is.  Selective logging is a real practice.  My question is this: is selective logging a legitimate operation performed by companies in Brazil and other Amazonian countries with permits and good practices that allow hardwoods to be harvested with as little disturbance of the surrounding trees and areas as possible?  And are these companies becoming targets of environmental groups that report only those findings that further their own causes or are these images really those of poachers trying to take advantage of a resource field, not knowing and possibly not caring that they are being viewed by others? 

There are good practices in harvesting and logging products from the rainforests of the world.  There are companies that do it legitimately and correctly and can have great satisfaction in knowing that they’ve been able to harvest usable goods from the earth and then subsequently replaced a valuable, renewable resource for the future.  My point is this: as a result of reading disturbing material reported on these and other activities, take great care in collecting data and factual material before drawing extreme conclusions about one side of the issue or the other.  In this, there is more of a balance and anger can be avoided altogether. 

I have listed below the links of the two sites I visited.  The first I used simply to learn about the layers of the rainforest and the second link is the written account of selective logging.  Feel free to peruse at leisure, but please heed the advice given to me and get more information before drawing any conclusions.      

http://www.srl.caltech.edu/personnel/krubal/rainforest/Edit560s6/www/whlayers.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/revealed-the-true-devastation-of-the-rainforest-511847.html   published 2005

In the 1980s and 1990s, Borneo suffered a stunning transition. Forest-clearcut forest to the point that never happened in human history. Borneo rain forest move to industrialized countries like Japan and the United States in the form of furniture for the garden, paper pulp and chopsticks. Initially, most of the wood was taken from the northern island of Borneo, then forests in southern and central island of Borneo.

Today the forests of Borneo are but a shadow of the legends of the past and threatened its sustainability.

Is Borneo We still will remain green until the next generations we start growing up ..?
Only the desire and determination we will answer all of that …!

Not the time for us to split defense but this time we combine embroidery to go to Go Green Borneo Island.

Rain Forests is made up of many tall trees. It has a warm climate and rains alot, some RainForests have rain more than an inch a day! RainForests are found in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Central & South America. They are located in the Tropic, the region between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. The largest RainForest is the “Amazon RainForests”.

What does a “RainForest” need to make it a “RainForest”:

-The location should be in the “Tropics”

-Should Recive more than 80 inches of rain every year

-Should have a Canopy

-Should have a high level of biodiversity (life)

-Symbotic Relationships (When 2 different species help each other, for example, ant builds nest along plant, ants   nest provides protection)

Why are RainForests important?

The reasons RainForests are important:

-Protect against Droughts, Flood, and Erosion

-Help keep the world’s climate stabilized

-Provide home to many organisms

-A huge source for medicine and foods

-Support tribal people

-Keep the water cycle balanced

-A fun/intresting place to visit

Why are they disapearing?

Why they are disapearing:

-Gives wood

-Replace it with farms

-Support home for poor farmers

-Cattle/Live Stock

-Road Construction

How we can save them.

Some steps for saving rainforests:

-Support Companies that minimize the enviorment

-Restore damage by planting a tree on the damaged RainForest

-Establish parks to save WildLife and RainForests

-Teach others about the importance of the enviorment

-Encourage people by telling them to perserve the enviorment

In recent years a lot has been said about the massive deforestation of the Amazon, the effects of global warming on the largest rain forest on the planet, and about the destructive action of the people on this piece of bad land. There are always measures to stop these actions were also the best and the photos below show a reality that many try to hide, perhaps the desire to minimize the effect on audiences around the world and the fact that the Amazon rainforest is dying …

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