Films for the Humanities and Sciences - Preserving the Rain Forest

Preserving the Rain Forest

Humans came out of the African forest, and continue to live in equilibrium with the tropical forest in Africa, Brazil, and elsewhere—hunting, fishing, collecting plants. Trouble only begins when humans begin to cultivate plants in the forest, cutting down trees and burning brush; the soil is soon exhausted, and the would-be farmers move elsewhere. As long as this is done on a small scale, nature can heal the damage, as happened among the Mayas of the Yucatan. But population growth combined with greed and technological efficiency have long since outstripped the ability of the forest to regenerate itself and are boding ecological disaster. In counterpoint to the unimpeded destruction of the Brazilian forest, the forest of Tai, in the Ivory Coast, is an example of a tropical forest habitat that is being used as a natural reserve and as a site for controlled agricultural and industrial activity. (24 minutes)

Tell a Friend!

Your Name:
Your Email:
Your Friend's Email:
Your Message:
We respect your privacy and will not use your friend's address without permission.

Item#: PAE2339
Copyright date: ©1991
VHS ISBN 978-1-56950-045-3

Part of the Series : Man and the Biosphere


VHS	$99.95
DVD	$99.95

Prices include public performance rights.
Only available in the US, Canada, Australia/New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta and South Africa.

Related Titles

The Tropical Rain Forest

Most forests are in the tropics, on either side of the equator. Temperatures are high and rainfalls are heavy and not seasonal. This program looks at the ecosystem of the rain forest: the height of the trees and the adaptation of leaves to heavy rain...(more details)

VHS	$99.95
DVD	$99.95

Ecology of the Coral Reef

This program looks at the ecosystem of coral reefs. It examines the natural disasters that threaten them, like severe storms, or the proliferation of a species like the starfish, which is ravaging the Australian Barrier Reef-perhaps a natural event, ...(more details)

DVD

$99.95

Coastlines

They appear like permanent lines on maps, but coastlines are in constant flux, eaten away by erosion and extended by deposits of sand and stone carried by water. This program looks at the vegetation that is gradually established; at the continental s...(more details)

DVD

$99.95

Wetlands and Pinelands

This program is devoted to a study of wetland ecosystems, from the Pine Barrens of New Jersey to areas of Mexico and Belize, where government regulation and environmental planning are recognizing the role of humans in the ecosystem-demonstrating that...(more details)

VHS	$99.95
DVD	$99.95

Life in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands

This program explains what a desert is, why it occurs, what kinds of plant and animal life it sustains, and how that life is adapted to-or adapts to-the lack of water. The primary focus is on the effects of growing populations in arid or semi-arid re...(more details)

VHS	$99.95
DVD	$99.95

See additional titles in Weather & Climate | Ecosystems | Environmental Problems & Management