Ecosystems under threat

• People use ecosystems for farming, grazing, timber, mining, dams and tourism. These uses can damage them.
• In the Amazon, major causes of deforestation include cattle ranching and building dams. Oil palm plantations are also planted where forest was cleared.
• Examples to know: the Belo Monte dam on the Xingu river and the Carajás iron ore mine in Pará, both in the Amazon. Indonesia and Malaysia together make over 80% of the world's palm oil.
• After clearance, the soil can lose nutrients because the trees that held them in the cycle are gone.
• Local effects include lost habitats and less biodiversity. Global effects include less carbon dioxide absorbed by trees.
• Hot semi-arid grassland is under threat too. In the Serengeti over 80% of the land has legal protection, yet the ecosystem is now only about 60% of its original size because of human encroachment. Conserving it matters for wildlife and for tourism income.
• Management options include ecotourism, protected areas and debt-for-nature swaps, where part of a country's debt is cancelled if it protects its forest.
• Different stakeholders want different things, so managing an ecosystem often involves a trade-off.

Deforestation

Clearing forest, for example for farming, dams or timber.

Ecotourism

Small-scale, low-impact tourism that employs local people and protects nature.

Debt-for-nature swap

Part of a country's debt is cancelled in return for protecting its forest.

Conservation

Protecting an ecosystem and its species.

Sustainable management

Using an ecosystem in a way that does not harm it for the future.

Stakeholder

A person or group with an interest in what happens to a place.

• Writing 'animals lose their habitat' and stopping. Follow it through: habitat lost, so species die or leave, so biodiversity falls.
• Describing what has been done to manage an ecosystem when asked why management is difficult. Give the problems, such as cost or conflict between stakeholders.
• Saying 'sustainable' means good for the environment now. It also means it can carry on for the future.
• Saying ecotourism is sustainable because it brings lots of tourists. It works when it is small-scale and employs local people.

7 questions, 13 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.