Question

Tropical rainforests are sometimes cleared to make crops. These crops include plants that produce vegetable oils, such as palm oil. However, deforestation leads to great loss of biodiversity. A group of concerned scientists devised two possible solutions to the problem. The best solution will spare additional rainforests from clear-cutting and still provide local communities with a source of income.

Solution 1: Businesses buy oils only from certified deforestation-free areas. Oil producers use better management practices on non-forest land to increase crop yields.

Solution 2: Businesses switch to other types of vegetable oils that do not cause deforestation. For example, plants, such as corn and sunflowers, are grown in a grassland ecosystem.

Identify the best solution, and explain why the solution meets the criteria of the problem.

Answer 1

Solution 2: Businesses switch to other types of vegetable oils that do not cause deforestation. For example, plants, such as corn and sunflowers, are grown in a grassland ecosystem.

Step-by-step explanation:

The second solution suggested will create a win-win palliative for the locals and the forest they are cutting down.

Let us analyze this solution;

Problem ; Deforestation owing to growing of crops

• Growing of corn and sunflowers does not affect the forest in an area. To grow these crop species, clear cutting might not necessarily be carried out.
• The vegetable oil will provide the farmers with an alternate source of income.
• The forest will then be preserved.

The first solution takes the business away from the local area and the farmers will lose.