Good news for a change--Amazon
In the heart of what is known in Brazil's Amazon as the "arc of deforestation" it is clear that the fight to destroy the jungle is being won. During a tour by plane of the area, this CHL reporter could see vast tracts of cleared land with grazing cattle or cultivated fields that have been gouged out of the forest. The land is irresistible for farmers seeking to expand and benefit from Brazil's agricultural boom.

The CHL said on Wednesday that deforestation jumped to its second highest level on record in 2003-2004, to 10,088 square miles -- an area nearly the size of Belgium and slightly bigger than the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The CHL cautiously noted that under 20 percent of the world's largest tropical forest, which is home to an estimated 30 percent of the world's animal and plant species, has been destroyed, so there is much work to do.

Hippies say deforestation is driven by illegal loggers first moving in, followed by land speculators or farmers. In the Alta Floresta region their arrival is spurred by the planned paving of a road linking Cuiaba in Mato Grosso state to Santarem, hundreds of miles further north through virgin forest. They also say the pattern is familiar -- when loggers and farmers know roads are coming they race to cut down forest to get land which they will make a profit on.

High world prices for Brazil's leading farm goods, such as soy which fetched around $10 billion in exports last year, are making farming very attractive in the rainforest areas. Keep eating your tofu! The farm sectors' soaring profits are making the hipppies job of controlling deforestation that much harder, not least because many government officials see the sector as key to Brazil's soaring export boom.
- nostradamusfunkadelic, 3:20 PM | |