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"Amazon Rainforest could become a desert" click here
Read this alarming article (published in the UK Independent 23 July 2006) that warns of new and potentially catastrophic consequences of drought to the forests. Please click the link above.
The current situation
Everyday thousands of acres of rainforest
are burned to make space for cattle grazing and (unsustainable) agriculture,
whilst further precious forests are lost as a result of intense logging activities
and mining operations.
Cattle ranching is now believed to be the biggest contributor to deforestation
in the Amazon and is estimated to destroy 200 square feet of rainforest for
every pound of beef produced.
Rainforest plantations, where tropical crops like bananas, tea, coffee and
sugar cane are grown are unsustainable. After just a few years the soil becomes
infertile and fresh areas of forest need to be cleared to establish new plantations.
Timber companies continue to cut down rainforest trees at alarming rates to
supply mahogany and teak to furniture manufactures around the world.
Mining operations in search of the gold, diamond and oil deposits that are
believed to be contained under the rainforests are also contributing to there
decline. New roads and oil pipelines to and from rainforest refineries are
destroying environments that have been untouched for millions of years. Worse
still, leakages from oil pipes that have split and spillages of poisonous
chemicals used to separate the precious minerals from waste materials are
polluting the rivers and killing the wildlife.
Here are just a few reasons why the rainforest must be protected:
Rainforests regulate
our climate and the Amazonian forests are believed to store over 50% of the
earth's rainwater. Without rainforests recycling huge quantities of water,
droughts will become more common causing widespread famine and disease.
The trees in rainforests
are crucial to cleaning our atmosphere. They absorb carbon dioxide and provide
the oxygen that we need to breathe.
More than 25% of
modern medicines originate from rainforest plants and these have been derived
from just 1% of the plants.
Rainforests are
extremely complex eco systems that have been established over many millions
of years and once they are lost they cannot be replaced.
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© LetsBuytheRainforest.com 2006