How to PROFIT by SAVING the Amazon Rainforest
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- Опубліковано 28 жов 2018
- When I was in college, a sustainability professor had us read a paper proposing an alternative to tradition farming practices. It was really rather simple: don't clear the land, just collect the fruits that grow here naturally.
Today we're diving into the economics and reality behind this paper to see if you really can profit off saving the Amazon Rainforest.
music by: www.bensound.com/
There is one problem though, those fruit prices are based on current demand. Increasing the supply will decrease the price, especially because they are mostly sold locally and not in the global market.
This is true, that's simple economics, but if any sort of government established a trade system to export local fruits, creating a greater demand, the process could still work.
@@AtlasPro1 Fair. Unfortunately these jungle fruits are less resilient for transport and have a lower shelf life than the fruits we're used to.
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Are we taking account of population increase which would increase demand?
Atlas Pro also you forgot mentioning bees honey, a profitable business.
There is one major problem on this
the amazon is not exactly a forest you can walk around
the idea is not bad
specially the látex part
but picking fruits? in the whole amazon? i don't think that would work
and that would reduce A LOT the potential of it
because most of it would remain unused
15franti I see this video more a conceptual suggestion than direct reality- bottom line is the Amazon needs to be saved, but people will only do it if they can profit
Yeah I lived in the amazon for a year with natives and this is completely impossible unfortunately. It's so sad what is happening.
@@AA-Ashley What were you doing there? Were you a missionary? Saving lives? OMG
@@carambola08 Wildlife conservation in eastern Ecuador. =)
I saw this channel on Reddit today, amazing quality for such a low sub count. You just gained a subscriber, you deserve it keep up the good work
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Oof... this is rather poorly timed... RIP Amazon
Yeah maybe not the BEST time to have released this oh well
what are you doing here? Reddit curious video stalker?
Are you really knowing better, I absolutely love your videos and I very much apreciate that a big youtuber like you came to one of my favorite channels, keep up the good work
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Shut the fuck up, idiot
the locals will know better than anyone.. it's about time the disadvantaged people groups have the support of governments, to sustainably harvest the natural resources while also not disenfranchising those same people who live there..
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Out of curiosity, what's the reasoning for removing 40% of the timber as labour, but not doing a similar reduction to the non-timber production?
Harvesting from the forest would require extensive labour costs as well, no?
The reason from the study was that’s timber needs to be transported by large trucks over roads, while typically fruit collectors just carry baskets and walk, eliminating the need to pay for transport. Transporting also usually includes several middle-men, who each need to profit along the way, and therefore take from the overall revenue.
@@AtlasPro1 From an investor perspective though, even if fruit pickers can transport the fruits themselves, they still need eat (and thus to be paid). Moreover, there's no economic reason to keep anything other than the fruit trees around. They can make more money by chopping down the timber-producing trees and replacing them with additional fruit trees.
This kid doesn't know economics.
@@justinyoung5291 My thoughts exactly. In addition to the logistics it takes significantly more labor to pick trees than to cut them. Also you will never get to harvest 100% of what the tree produces, harvesting wild forest trees my guess is you"d get about 60-80% on top of that at least another 10% would likely spoil before reaching the market (thats not even taking into account the horrible logistics situation in the region). Thats a 50-30% cut even before the cost of labor and logistics.
@@AtlasPro1 Yes but those fruits can only feed the locals. If they are exported that is just as labor intensive as lumber. There are other resources like Guyasa for example. Some of the best tea on earth (stronger than coffee). There's tons of other resources that can be sustainably harvested. We need to find them!!
So uh, maybe this video could use an update in lieu of recent events.
I'm sorry, but what's the market and demand for this? Let alone the labor and transport costs which he was glad to factor into the calculation for lumber but ignored for all of these fruits.
The Amazon should be preserved, but this argument isn't going to convince anyone.
Look I am drunk on jaeger but I STILL noticed that 40% was deducted from consumer pricing for lumbering for labour, but nothing was deducted from consumer pricing for the labour costs of picking fruit a fair few meters up in a WILD sown hectare of land. That's pretty BS if you want to objectively compare costs.
Lumber and Mining Corporations: Nope. Not Enough profit. Too much money. Easier to destroy than to save
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I think you are really underestimating the labour involved in harvesting fruit from wild trees.
definitely.
yuo have to consider many people living in these Regions are not very ritch ore educated
with a bether infrastructure plants and other species could be descovered, befoer they disapeer (cause of clearcutting) and used for medicine and devellopment
wait why do you think cutting timber has costs for labour and machinary but the harvesting of non wood products don't?
Not a good video for several reasons
1. the 40% deduction for logging was arbitrary
2. nothing was deducted for picking the plants
3. You're making the assumption that the price for plants will remain the same even though producing more will keep the price down thus less profit (not to mention the plants are used for more the local economy)
4. you can't just pick whatever plants and sell and ship across the world the plants and veggies we have in our stores today are heavily modified for modern stores. Like being modified to be looking good, have a good self life, survive the trip to other parts of the world etc... something that can't be achieved with natural plants in the wild. Especially since the entire point is to keep the forest the same.
I'm not against the idea of keeping the amazon forest I think the logging isn't worth it either but your ideas aren't profitable if compared to logging at best a light alternative to lessen the blow not logging will have on the economy. Maybe you're on the right track here but picking plants alone isn't going to be enough who knows a little bit more brainstorming and perhaps we could think of someway to discourage logging of the forest other than obvious ones.
We already know about this problem that his calcalucations aren't 100% accurate but you will surely earn way more money from something lasting eternally than one-time logging and then using for farming and cattle is very damaging to the environment globally. Not only do you save animals, plants and oxygen but also stopping global warming. I am pretty sure that with modern technology we can transport the fruits very far easily and many would be interested to try exotic fruits. As he said in the ending, the humanity is too stupid to use brain and rather uses something that needs no skill and doesn't see the damage to the world for 1-time thing.
Ok so I was watching Knowing Better's live wich lead me to his youtube subscriptions, wich lead me to your channel. And you really do a great job, I can't believe this channel doesn't have more subscribers!
Thank you! Glad to have you :)
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Why don't we just save it because its 20% of the earth's oxygen and 20% of the earth's water? Sure has a lot of medicinal plants that aren't synthetic medications.
The 20% oxigen number is false, the actual net production of oxygen it sends to the atmosphere is more like 5%, an even still it's hard to know exactly. Not saying the rainforest isn't important, weather patterns would end up totally fucked up causing massive droughts just as an example, but at least we need to use accurate information when discussing the topic.
@@Aipe97 dog
The oxygen rate is actually actuate. Unfortuanetly, most of the rainforest is owned by private corporations or farms, not government. And, the current Brazillian President has reruced restrictions on deforestation, since farming is more economically beneficial. However, the land they are burning down and using for agricultural purposes is not very fertile, lasting only 3-5 years before farmers have to burn more of the rainforest to obtain more land. The economical benefits do not outweigh the enviormental costs.
@@livvywrisinger9952 If you're referring to the 20% of oxygen is accurate, then no it isn't. If we only count oxygen produced on land it would be around 16% but most of the earth's oxygen comes from the ocean so taking that into account the amazon produces way less percentage from the total. And plants not only produce oxygen, they also consume it during the night making the net extra oxygen produced way smaller. I originally said that it was around 5% but other sources have said that its close to 0%.
It's not like I have researched the topic at length, but I found this after a simple google search: www.yadvindermalhi.org/blog/does-the-amazon-provide-20-of-our-oxygen
As I said, preserving the Amazon rainforest is actually really important, but running out of oxygen is not a real concern.
Also I didn't comment on the 20% of (presumably fresh) water, but that number also sounds very suspicious, however I have no knowledge to disprove that so that's why I didn't say anything. But neat little number like "20%" usually don't happen when doing that kind of research.
@@Aipe97 True. Oceans produce more than 60% of the O2 on earth...
California wildfire - media news everywhere
Amazon wildfire - (nothing)
I found out about what happened to the Amazon rainforest throught facebook shares... not on news in TV🙁😑
The world's media are centered in California. That's why the whole world knows when we have an earthquake or fire.
It's not exactly a wildfire though, it was an intentional decision made to clear out extra land.
Notredame fire everybody loses their minds, Amazon wildfire nobody cares
In America perhaps, the californian fires didn't make the news in europe, but the amazon sure did
One of the best videos on UA-cam I have ever seen! Thumbs up my friend! :)
how do we mass produce non-wood products? The terrain is rough and machinery can't possibly do this.
why aren't you accounting for the cost of labour to pick the non-lumbar products?
Two words:
Supply
Demand
Who's here because of the fire
Great video! keep em coming!!!
This is a much needed video, thanks
Another thing to be considered is that you can cut part of the trees if it's done sustainably.
Your videos are great, you are my fav YT channel right now. Can you however include some of your sources in the description?
3rd or 4th time watching this
this will forever be on my watch later list until i can make it a possibility
Someone contact Wendover productions : we can lure him in here by asking how long an AIRSTRIP or how large an AIRPORT could be built in the forest if cut down. He'll manage get the most recent and accurate numbers for this whole topic, and conclude picking up fruits would be less damaging than an airport x)
Also, wow... sub'd. So damn interesting.
Wow, congrats on passing 2K subs!
Thank you! We're picking up a little steam now :)
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sorry but you did not retract labor tools costs for gathering the the fruits. neither the education that might be then required for getting the world, to know why those fruits should then end up in a global market.
Replanting trees is a thing too, there fore making cutting the trees, and replanting the trees that then generates most value, lets say cutting the trees, replanting the trees with the fruit that generates the most, harvesting the fruit every year and cutting the trees every decade or so.
just so that you don't have to search in the lethal rainforest for some fruit that requires experience from tradition rather than industrial-efficiency.
cool video tho!
and convincing.
This is a rather brilliant video!
Ur very creative and I severely respect ur intelligence and regard for the ecosystem (not that my random opinion matters).
Interesting videos, channel will grow significantly sometime I'm sure
glad you enjoyed!
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apart from your very deeply foolish fear of nuclear power, the absence of any talk of hydrogen as the ONLY other viable energy source of the so called renewables, I absolutely LOVE this channel. top notch stuff keep upt he great work.
That was a great segment.
you forgot mentioning honey from bees, a very profitable business.
So picking fruits requires no deduction for labor?
Great video. I would like to add that Logging is also an issue because of Demand. These nations fill a gap in the market. If the wood dries up that means no furniture, houses, books etc.
Perfect Recycling is important if we wish to eliminate logging entirely.
Industrial hemp can replace wood completely as a building material.
Thanks and your presentation was awesome. However, for those interested on why none of these very constructive factors are ever applied, I will tell you the truth behind the destruction of the Amazon cause I live there. The political idea of environmentalism is used by government officials to control everything that can be reaped.
I visited an older gentleman who owns 50 hectares of rain forest who lovingly calls it his forest sanctuary and guides tourist around it for just a few dollars per hour. The government had total control of what it considers the forest and forced him to let foreign lumber companies down his older trees for the sake of the nation. The corruption in South America is horrible.
My family had titles for over 2400 hectares of beautiful rain forest. In the 80’s cocaine producers simply threatened us with death so we would not show ourselves in that land. The government turned the land to the drug dealers because of abandonment. Police, what police?
A neighbor tried to give his land to a “widowed mothers and orphans” organization he was immediately imprisoned so that the land would be left abandoned and reclaimed by the mafia (cocaine producers).
The environmental laws prohibit the cutting of large trees even by the land owner unless proper permission is obtained. Well, that permission is never given to the owner just the logging mafia.
So friends of the environment, you see, it is not about what is a better benefit to the world or the community it is about what can be stolen by the horrible people in the environmental side of the government.
Freezing and shipping the fruits on the river could help. Also they could be sold for much much more as bio from amazon in the North.
I think a lot of the issues folks are having with this idea is that they are assuming that the "Fruit picking" wont be an industry in this example. In the fruit picking, trees will be cut down, land will be cleared. However a bigg issue with say Palm oil is that it is a monoculture. If farms used a inter-farming method they are likely to have better results using natural cycles to fertilise and polinate the farm. Rather than a letext farm next to a fruit farm next to a nut farm , mixing them into controlled strips would allow for less costs on pestisidea and fertlizers by encouraging animal habitats and allowing for natural predation. Any crop that is farmed is modified so we can assume the same would be true here. Picking the fruit will be industriallied with machine help rather than some bloke with a basket. Fruits could be prepared locally allowing for travel, dried or reduced to sugars or oils for example.
thank you for this video
Thanks for watching!
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thx for the idea
While I appreciate you bringing up the increased investment from harvesting, there is one massive thing you're missing. The people who are cutting the trees aren't the same as the people raising the cattle. They don't care what happens to the land after they've cleared the land; it gets sold just like the lumber and the profits from both get re-invested back into clearing more forest. It's this positive-feedback engine that is driving the deforestation, not any assessment of long-term viability.
A lot of cattle ranchers are actually using fires to clear forest too
Picking fruits in the jungle is very labor intensive, which is the largest cost. And, if you ramp up production of perishables like fruits, you'll kill the local market and will have to add a shipping cost to get the products to market somewhere. It might be cheapest to pay them not to farm. Or, set aside land and start tree planting projects. Don't panic about the lost oxegen, that can be easily produced. It's the damage to the rain and the land. And, it takes a long time to grow tree replacements.
This is really good!
Lets not forget, some logging companies have meathods for logging sustainibally. In a way that follows the natural death of trees, protects the forest, and still turns up a profit.
You should share this video, people
There's probably a probem with the expiration date of those fruits, here in the north of Brazil we eat some of those, they're really abundand but rot in not more than one week after harvest
So does just about every consumable product. Thats not a problem if a proper supply network/transportation is established
This is the future
And it doesn't look good
They raise Brahman cattle in Brazil without hormones. and water isn't an issue due to all the rain. Lots of agrochemicals are needed though since they need to grow seeded pastures.. Though cattle are often just place holders. One reason why is that in Brazil due to the soy moratorium, soy can't be planted immediately. So cattle hold the land until it can be flipped to soy. The land holders who cleared the land using the timber to finance the clearing eventually flip the land to soy growers for a large profit. This is also true with mining for gold, aluminum, tin, etc. Land is grabbed, and then cattle are placed on the land until the land is purchased by a mining company again for a huge profit. Most of the hydroelectric damns built are used to power mining operations. To build these damns roads are extended aand a lot of workers are brought in. Most (80%) of deforestation occurs within 30 miles of roadways. . Your analysis completely ignores these different drivers.
The timber companies: *why should I trust an American tall guy who called my mom big*
People that are don't get how this can be possible, try to research for 'agroforest'. It is a cultivation technique that not only get its profit from a sustenable forest but also make this profit more equally distributed to society, creating more jobs and distributing profits not only to a few already millionaire cattle raisers, but for the entire comunity.
I think the only thing I felt was missing, was using profits via forestry, rather than clear-cutting, but I guess the numbers might have been hard to come by regarding method vis-a-vis expense pr.specie.
Really well done video though (like most I've seen). You considering Patreon or something like that down the line?
Me: darn, its so Boeing today...
Atlas pro; may I give you a new and fresh video?
Me: *thirsty eyes lit up*
Personally, I think that the sustainable utilization of wildlife resources such as through jaguar hunting. Southern Africa has a similar system and now has an especially high concentration of wildlife.
SOMEBODY GET THIS VIDEO TO PEOPLE IN BRAZIL
as a brazilian I say: YES, PLEASE!!
Yes… because I’m sure that some of the poorest people on earth want nothing more than to be told how to manage their natural resources by an armchair ecologist thousands of miles away that likely has no experience with tropical permaculture systems.
Brosimum species produce fruits, seeds, lumber & latex. Some Brosimum actually produce calcium carbonate with aid of soil microbes.
I know the timber industry is expensive, but it feels like your 40% decrease was just pulled out of the air. I feel like even if you didn’t deduct that percentage, sustainable methods will become more profitable in 3 years. So I’m wondering where you got 40% and why did you include it?
40% was taken from studies done by Food and Agriculture Organization, where estimates for logging and transport costs were anywhere between 30-50% of the total value of the timber. It seemed like a lot to me too, but those are the reported numbers.
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You deserve to be subscribed 🙏
Can they use it as tourist attraction and use bamboo for building houses
Couldn't we start organised plantation of those fruit trees to make it easier and increase revenue? Or is it better to be a gatherer?
it is much better to make organised plantations.
Ooof Amazonas is burning. This video should get more attention
i like your videos. good job.
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It's depressing you have to convince people they can profit by doing the right thing like saving the Amazon
I'm looking for more minds like you to give me hope to keep living on this planet. Humans are fucking toxic parasitic creatures who only care about themselves.
Wood pulp can be used for a lot of things! No need to cut down the trees.
there is a problam about assuming that trees only genarate money once the problam of the harvesting is that once you cut down an area you just move on to the next
You can also cut some wood without destroying the whole forrest, you know
You can cut some woods and reflorest some parts in a sustentable form
@@pedrogontijo3379 Yeah, sadly people rather go for a non sustainable, instant gratification
The way to preserve the Amazon is to make locals profit from its biodiversity by incentivizing the development of a South American fine chemicals industry.
which already exists
Soo all we need is a way to make a powder of one of those fruits and market it as "super food" to be sold in eco stores around the world for $10 a baggie. That would dramatically raise profit. Or educate people that buying Brasil nuts actually really gives an incentive to protect parts for the trees have a real complex interaction with the animals and other plants around them so they can only make the nuts if it all works making orchards impossible.
Atlas Pro, do you happen to know of any NGO's that specialize in training locals to do exactly what you are suggesting? If so, please let us know so we can donate and help make them more visible. This can really make a huge difference!
Even with your mistakes, i still think that this video is the best one that tryed to adress the problen of amazon deforastation. While generaly people say, "Just stop it, deforastation is bad" which is:
A-Unreasonable to ask to a country that have a GDP per capita that is only 20% the one from a developed country. And:
B-Hipocritical becase the ones that say that are generaly from developed countryes where 70%+ of the local vegetation have been laid down for catle and crops. ( With the exeption of Japan, but what Japan havent destroyed in the surface they have destroyed in the sea ).
Lets save the amazon rainforest!!! Spread the word please!!!
EU ACABEI DE ENTREGAR TEU NOME E IP PARA AS FORCAS ARMADAS DO BRASIL. VOCÊ ESTÁ SENDO RASTREADO AGORA PELO GOVERNO DO BRASIL AGORA.
It is not that simple though, it is also about demand, and wood is always in demand, and big markets are not interested in unique fruits that are not apples, oranges etc.
Also fruit cost money in transportation, farmer training costs money, changing machinery costs money, and harvesting fruit is also a costly thing when it is not in rows like farming. Unfortunately, it is still much more economical to cut trees.
This video was uploaded five months ago and I am the first one to comment, can't believe this video doesn't have over a million views
I guess their should be a thing known as 'forest tax' which should be paid to countries which have the important rainforests. Such as Brazil, Congo, Indonesia and Phillipines, so that they get a revenue in some way and we get oxygen to breathe and a bearable climate to live.
The root cause of the problem is the twin economic systems of free market capitalism and state socialism. As long as the scale and mode of production and consumption is not dealt with, there can be no real change. The only ecologically benign model of economics is the one proposed by Prof. Schumacher.
Economics is key because it is ultimately the driving force behind policies, investments and other important parameters. Therefore, even if, say, people switched from harvesting timber to harvesting fruits from the Amazon rainforest, it would maybe delay the Amazon rainforest's destruction a bit, but would put more pressure on the rainforests of the Congo basin in Africa as well as those of Southeast Asia.
every forest is essential whether amazon or indian western ghats
Was the cost of labor added to those values?
you took off 40% for timber labour and capital costs but imagine how expensive it would be to refrigerate the fruit and have it approved for human consumption by regulators.
hey, are you american or are you by any chance german, but learned english super super well? because i think i sometimes hear a bit of an accent
Haha I’m 100% American, but you’re not the first person to tell me this. A parent of mine may have partially grown up in Germany, so you might be onto something 🤷🏼♂️
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And how much are you subtracting for the cost of picking the fruit?
it's going down i'm yelling timber
Real Amazon rainforest is dying almost without notice so in near future the only one Amazon would be that corporation? Damn.
Step 1 cut down the forest and sell its woody flesh. Step 2 plant new future sacrifices. Step 3, repeat steps 1 and 2. Step 4, profit.
This all come down to simple common sense, you have to stay around to understand why it didn't work like this.
Timber can be be collected quickly and last for a few months before shipped out and still keep its value.
Forest produce can only last so long, deeper you go, harder to get the produce out. They don't have regular access roads, no efficient equipment to harvest and haul. Moreover, even if you get the produce out you'll struggle to sell. Everybody nearby have the same thing, and people afar doesn't come into the forest and buy the produce at a high price. Shipping them to the rich consumer markets and allow for safe consumption cost a lot, and consumer typically loves cheaper products over more expensive.
Its solely down to the consumers that big corporations which mass produce at low unit cost thrive on, we just want cheap goods.
Want to support the forest? Get prepared to pay more for small volume forest produce that pays directly to the people collecting them, then we are talking.
Ps I'm from another tropical region which isn't in South America…
He changed the Video Bio for a reason!!
Knowing about is tree is hard and learning to use machines is easy really
What about land costs?
I am brazilian and the the major problem of the brazilian amazon is infrastructure. Roads are terrible and any railroad conecting it, you can search for TRANSAMAZONICA in youtube to see how extense and in bad condition are these roads , and once you get to the city of Manaus the capital of state of amazonas(This sate alone has 30% of the amazon ) there is any futher road and the transportation measure to get deeper in the forest is not caunted in quilometers or hours, but in how many days by boat through river. So the only source to these fruits get to the market before rotten is by plain once they arrive in manaus.
The economic model proposed in the video does not work because the local people would not find a market for these products unless some company make some contract with all the producers of the region to buy everthing they produce. Guarana is the best exemple of harvesting fruits from the amazon forest, the city of Maues is an exemple similar proposed in the video, but if you see a documentary of Maues, the city is extremaly poor
Forgot to mention that they do not harvest guarana in the forest, farmers clean some land and plant Guarana like a normal crop, but the brazilian florestal law in amazon territory only allows to clear 20% of the land, 80% of the land should be forest. If you disrespect this law the landower is suited in a millionary fine and cannot sell any product.
This a great channel! I should've known about it. Subscribe.
Lets save amazonia spread the word
Please!!!!
This is probably one of your most important videos, but the view count is so low. :(
Or a better solution is to focus on logging in the temperate forests of North America and North Eurasia where its easier to replant and grow faster instead from the Amazon or Indonesian Rainforests.
Ways of SAVING The Amazon Rainforest:-
1. Construction of large number of artificial islands across South America and shifting of farmlands into those areas for enabling Amazon Rain Forest to heal by itself with blessings of mother nature.
2. Strong implementation of death penalties on people, parties and groups indulging in activities of deforestation and poaching for cracking whips on defaulters behind destructionof Amazonian eco- system
3. Reclaimation of the useless Atacama desert into for purpose of expanding the Amazon Forest Cover.
4. Mass scale planting of saplings & seeds in areas of Amazon where the trees have been previously burnt and felt for rehabilitation of the damaged homes of the very own plants & animals & reducing the global temperatures by 5 degrees Centigrade each year.
Although there may be more ways of saving the Amazon Rainforest which I might have missed out. But what the bloody politicians of Latin American, Asian and African countries miss is the will to save the rain forests since they are too busy enjoying the luxuries of curroption and charlatan rule.
Well to get lumber from a forest you don't have to clear cut the whole area...
So....reject humanity cutting down trees, return to collecting fruit like monke?
That's why I eat only locally grown meat (don't care how many hormones, as long as its grown in eu with local crops and not on Amazon rainforest
We need Portuguese and Spanish subtitles for this video so we can show them
Wood prices go brrr
So where can we find these fruits? Let's buy all of it!
Still mostly only found in local markets :/
@@AtlasPro1 If these numbers are even half right, we should try to get some over here. If they could not be efficiently transported, we should buy products made from those fruits. Economic demand has to work.
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