Destruction Of The Tropical Rain Forests: Part 2

They forests are one component in an intricate ecosystem that has developed over millennia. Destroying forests undermines a major part of the biological diversity of the planet. Once forests are removed, many plant and animal habitats can no loner exist. Of the millions of plant and animal species on earth, about 40% are native to the tropical rain forest. It has been estimated that from one to twenty-four species in the forest become extinct every day.

After the forests are burned, the new farmers and ranchers, unused to caring for the soil of the rain forest, fail to employ conservation practices. Topsoil, which is so susceptible to erosion in warm, wet regions, is easily washed away or depleted. In fact, in Brazil, farmers are finding that agricultural yields and the quality of cattle decrease rapidly after the first year of production.

In other parts of the world, especially in the developing countries of Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines) and in Africa, major hydroelectric projects and logging operations are going ahead with little concern for the global effects of depleted forests. Only recently has it been discovered that when forests are cleared on a grand scale, more sunlight is reflected off the earth’s surface. Wind currents and rainfall patterns are disrupted. There is now evidence the forest clearance leads to desertification in some area.

In addition to the perceived need for forest exploitation in developing countries, there is at the same time an enormous demand in the developed world of North America and Europe for tropical hardwoods (mahogany, teak, ebony, and rosewood) and for imported beef derived from cattle that now graze in what was once a tropical rain forest. In addition, the pharmaceutical industry has long depended on tropical medicines will be limited by forest depletion and species extinction.

The destruction of the rain forests is a tragedy that yields no long-term benefits. The world is fast approaching the end of a period in which resources were cheap, readily available, and lavishly used. Too much is at stake for us to sit idly by while the Amazon burns.