Essay about Farming The Tambopata Reserve - 1078 Words

Tambopata Peru is one of the poorest and most underdeveloped regions of Latin America. The area is home to undernourished children, lack of secure work and education. There is an imperative need not just for Tambopata, but all of Peru to increase its economy and enable the access of basic needs to its citizens. While the area of Tambopata has many arguments for its potential use, sustainable soybean cultivation is the best approach to improve Peruvian infrastructure, economy and future preservation of natural areas. There are many potential land uses for the Tambopata Reserve. One of which, that gains much environmentalist backing, is slash and burn agriculture. While this method of agriculture has long traditionally been employed and†¦show more content†¦In the same study, 3.3 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions will be lessened by 2020 through sustainable soybean production. These methods allow for a reduction in overall costs due to decreased overhead in both machinery and herbicide applications (Green, 2010). Perhaps the greatest benefit of using conservation tillage soybean production over other potential land uses is the consecutive insurance of high yields in small areas. Due to these high yields per hectare, more land can be saved for the Tambopata Reserve and its inhabitants. Additionally, if soybeans that were raised within the reserve were taxed, money can come back into the park to aid in its prosperity and protection of the local soybean market. Many guidelines have been implemented in neighboring Brazil and Paraguay to ensure both economic growth and rainforest protection that could be implemented in Tambopata. If soybean production were undertaken in Tambopata, the crops would be raised under World Wildlife Federation and the Nature Conservancy’s guidelines of â€Å"Forest Friendly Soy† (Schnoecker, 2007). This means that at least eighty percent of farmers land must be preserved as forest to make up for the twenty percent farmed. The World Wildlife Federation recently awarded Paraguay with the â€Å"Leaders for a Living Planet† award in recognition of their â€Å"Zero Deforestation Law,† which prohibits the conversion of forested to agricultural