Ruining the Rainforest :: Environmental and Health Concerns

Ruining the Rainforest
by author Stephanie R. Kinnon

When we think of the Amazon, most of us conjure images of a lush, leafy, humid forest, home to an exotic array of tropical species. We envision a peaceful place –the soothing quiet broken only by the call of a bird or the gurgle of a stream. Unfortunately, the Amazon most of us imagine is quickly disappearing.

By 2030, 60 percent of the Amazon could be destroyed if current deforestation practices continue. Increased demands for soy production and cattle ranching have led to rapid destruction of one of the world’s most treasured rainforests. Read on to find out what’s threatening the Amazon and how it could affect you.

The Amazing Amazon

The Amazon plays an integral role in keeping the earth healthy. The rainforest the river supports directly impacts our climate, provides us with oxygen (approximately 20 percent of the world’s supply), absorbs and holds carbon, impacts the world’s water cycle, and potentially contains cures to diseases within its unexplored species. But all of its contributions to the health of our planet are in jeopardy if current deforestation practices continue.

“The Amazon along with other major intact forest areas on the planet such as the Canadian boreal forest, the rainforests of the Congo basin, the Russian boreal forest and the Indonesian rainforests are essential to the future health of the planet,” says Richard Brooks, forest campaign coordinator with Greenpeace Canada. “The tropical rainforests, including the Amazon, stock large amounts of CO2 on an annual basis. When these forests are removed, burned, or cut, or the health of these forests is impacted in a significant way, we lose key regulators of global climate.”

Threats to the Amazon

The most recent burst of destruction and deforestation in the Amazon has been inspired by the rapid expansion of soy farming and cattle grazing. Global demand for soy products, beef, and timber have skyrocketed, fuelling the degradation of South America’s famous forest.

“The expansion of soy production is a relatively new pressure on the Amazon rainforest, but highly destructive,” says Brooks. Areas of the Amazon are first logged for timber, then slashed and burned to make way for pasture or cash crops, he says.

Greenpeace and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), a government agency, both monitor the rate of deforestation in the Amazon. INPE uses satellite images from two different systems. The first, called PRODES, is used for yearly qualitative analysis and provides the official annual rate of deforestation. The second, called DETER is aimed at helping officials in Brazil detect deforestation (nearly in real time). Every two weeks this system produces an image that informs the Brazilian Environmental Agency of areas of new deforestation. Aside from these two systems, Greenpeace, which has been working in the Amazon since 1988, has its own satellite mapping team in the Amazon. They also have an on-ground investigation team and they use aerial surveillance in order to investigate and expose criminal deforestation.

Destruction on the Rise

Destruction of the Amazon has doubled to new record levels. After three years of declining deforestation, as reported by the Brazilian authorities, increased demand for products such as soy and beef is behind this recent surge.

Between 2005 and 2007 global prices for soy and beef products dropped, resulting in less pressure to clear land for their production. But renewed demand for these products is causing deforestation to forge ahead at a record rate.

In 2004-2005 there were 1,200 million hectares of soy planted in the Amazon, according to statistics from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. In 2006-2007 the area increased to 1,540 million hectares–an increase of 20 percent.

Logging timber for domestic and international markets and the expansion of sugarcane production for the biofuels industry are also contributing to deforestation. A recent push by the United States to subsidize biofuels made from corn is yet another factor; according to Greenpeace American farmers are replacing soy crops with corn, inflating both the demand for soy and its global price.

What is Being Done?

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Stephanie R. Kinnon is a Vancouver-based freelance writer. Her work has appeared in Readerâ€™s Digest, Chatelaine, Her Sports, The Washington Running Report, Northwest Runner, and IMPACT Magazine.

Source: alive #311, September 2008

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