Deforestation as land cover change: VCE Geography

For 7 marks you must name a precise location and then explain two causes, showing clearly how they are interconnected (one drives or reinforces the other), not just listed separately. A useful split is roughly 3 marks per cause plus 1 mark for the explicit interconnection.

Using the Amazon: "In the Brazilian Amazon, the two leading causes are cattle ranching and road construction. Cattle ranching clears forest for pasture because beef exports are profitable and land is cheap once cleared. Road construction, such as the BR-163 and the Trans-Amazonian Highway, opens previously inaccessible forest to settlers and machinery."

The interconnection: "These causes are interconnected because new roads provide the access that makes ranching viable deep in the forest, while demand for new pasture creates pressure to build still more roads. Clearing therefore spreads in a self-reinforcing pattern along the road network, producing the fishbone deforestation seen in satellite imagery."

Markers reward a located example, two genuine causes, and an explicit causal link between them.

Part a (6 marks): explain two environmental impacts at a named location, roughly 3 marks each, with a clear cause-and-effect chain. Using Borneo: "First, oil palm clearing destroys habitat, fragmenting rainforest and pushing endangered species such as the orangutan towards extinction as their range shrinks. Second, removing forest cover increases carbon emissions, because burning and decomposition of cleared vegetation and drained peat release stored carbon dioxide, adding to global warming."

Part b (6 marks): name a response to one impact, then evaluate it using a criterion such as effectiveness, scale or sustainability, giving both strengths and limitations and a judgement. "A response to habitat loss is the RSPO certification scheme and protected reserves. Strength: certified sustainable palm oil and reserves such as Tanjung Puting protect core orangutan habitat and give producers a market incentive. Limitation: certification is voluntary, enforcement is weak, and clearing continues outside reserves, so on balance the response slows but does not halt habitat loss, making it only partially effective."

Markers reward two developed impacts, a named response, balanced evaluation and a clear judgement.

Part a (4 marks): name a precise location, then outline one environmental impact and one social impact, about 2 marks each. Using the Amazon: "Environmental impact: clearing for cattle ranching causes biodiversity loss and soil erosion as the protective canopy is removed. Social impact: Indigenous communities such as the Yanomami lose land, hunting grounds and cultural sites as the forest they depend on is cleared."

Part b (6 marks): take the social impact and discuss one issue and the challenge it creates, exploring causes and consequences. "An issue arising from the loss of Indigenous land is conflict over land rights between Indigenous groups, ranchers and loggers. The associated challenge is that governments struggle to enforce land protection across the vast, remote Amazon, where illegal clearing and weak monitoring leave Indigenous reserves vulnerable. This threatens both the livelihoods and the cultural survival of forest peoples, and resolving it requires demarcating and policing reserves, which is costly and politically contested."

Markers reward a located example, distinct environmental and social impacts, and a discussion that links the issue to a genuine challenge.