b'SURFACE WATERPhoto: Luisaazara / Shutterstock.com BrazilProductive reforestation through theBrazilAerial view of a large monoculture soy field eating implementation of agroforestry systems: vegetable bedsinto the tropical rainforest. Monocultures lower biodiversity (lettuce, cauliflower, tomato, etc.) between tree beds. in a given area in favor of greater crop yields.Burn It DoWn Wildfires are a natural part of many ecosystems,In contrast, ancient relatives appear to have practiced such as in Australia, but theres nothing naturalsomething similar to agroforestry, a method where about most fires in the Amazon. The Amazon is notcrops are grown among the trees to keep the soil supposed to burnfire is not part of the naturalhealthy and biodiversity high. 2 system, and nothing is adapted to fire. Natural fires can occur in the Amazon, but they are typicallyThe use of more sustainable land clearing methods small and extinguished quickly by rain. 1 by modern farmers could help reduce the need to clear more land in the future. Amazon soil is old and The vast majority of fires in the Amazon are startedweathered, acidic, infertile, and easily compacts by farmers to clear land for agriculture and pasture.due to radiation from the sun. When farmers cut This practice is not new, but there is a differenceand subsequently burn vegetation in the Amazon, between modern and classical methods. Modern- it does temporarily enrich the soil. However, these day Amazon farmers set out to completely flattennutrients are leached or become unavailable after the forest with their slash-and-burn practices.just a few years. 3Farmers are ultimately driven to burn new areas of forest, thus intensifying the need for deforestation. Koala Catastrophe An estimated 25,000 koalas were killed when fires raced across Kangaroo Island on 1/9/2020 . 8Whos Minding the Planet? 7'