We are all smiles in the beautiful weather as we walked through the area but in reality, there is nothing much to smile about. Residents have been deforesting the area and building farms to replace the forests. This practice has long term negative impact on the environment.
Notice the patches of grassland between the forest. These forests are known as fragments of the original and much of the land is used for grazing, after the trees have been removed. Its looks beautiful but there is so much more to what is seen.
This is a shot of a sloth high up on a tree, away from its predators. It lives in these trees and have been seen in the past year. These are interesting creatures and are an important of the animal life in this region.
For many people all over Brazil, economics is more important than the environment. This is usually the case with people who are more concerned with survival or those more concerned with their economic well being. A common practice is the planting of Eucalyptus tress on the hillside where the forests have been destroyed. The trees are harvested by cutting and burning after which they are sent off to the cities to be used.
The Araucaria trees are mainly large trees with a massive erect stem, reaching a height of 30-80 m and are a very important part of the forests in Brazil, specifically in the Atlantic Rain Forest.
I guess this can be viewed as a very nice picture but notice the bare treeless hill behind me. This is pasture land that has been purchased and is currently being reforested. On both sides are fragments of forests that this new forest will eventually bring together.
Walking through the edge of a forest as we venture out to observe the landscape and the results that human impact has left on it.
