Ecological destruction of the Amazon

Amazon has changed, tell the ECO coordinator of Greenpeace's campaign Antario Paulo, in a modern Wild West. «People who come here trying to make as fast as money can, to leave the region soon.» So, illegal loggers succeed in recent years, soybean growers.
The result? The rainforest last year fell by 26,130 square kilometers!

the rainforest of the Amazon, the «lung» warming, declined in the past year by 26,130 square kilometers because of deforestation. The period August 2003 - August 2004 was the second worst year for the Amazon since it began to measure the disaster. The negative record occurred between 1994-1995, during which destroyed 29,050 square miles of forest.

Recently, the Brazilian government announced that it plans to ban the felling of six months to a year in order to slow the destruction. The ban does not apply in the case of companies with the necessary documents for responsible forestry.

The economic crisis in Brazil has turned the Lula government to growing soybeans. In addition, the mafia who wins the «use» (see destruction) of the Amazon has created a climate of terror in the region.

According to campaign coordinator for Greenpeace in the Amazon, Paulo Antario, the problem of destruction of the rainforest began three decades ago, illegal logging and the seizure of public land. The loggers can cut as much wood before the competent bodies to take control prevent, impose fines and confiscate their equipment. Open roads in the forest where «clean» one area, move to another. Then take action by farmers cows and soybean growers, who use the roads opened by loggers and installed in the already devastated by loggers areas.


«Soy has been the main cause of deforestation the past year. A new risk emerged in the last three to four years », points out Paulo Antario. Soybeans are the main agricultural product exported by Brazil, mainly to the markets of China and Europe and last year returned to the country 10 billion U.S. dollars! With the emergence of mad cow disease, its demand has increased huge, and the rich countries frequently ask for meat from cows fed with soy instead of animal feedstuffs. With the development of technology, scientists have found ways to produce different varieties of soybean to low latitudes in the Amazon region. This has attracted producers from the southern part of Brazil where land is very expensive. Selling their land, producers gathered a lot of money and bought vast areas in the Amazon (in some areas even one hectare of public land sold illegally for three dollars!). Eventually, the producers of soybeans stopped settling in areas already ravaged by loggers and began to convert from direct areas of forest to crop.
What happens when a tree is lost in the Amazon


Dozens of species of fauna (invertebrates-insects, spiders, worms-and vertebrate animals - from frogs to birds and mammals) and flora (klimatis, epiphyte, orchids, creepers) hosted on each tree in the Amazon. He has shown such that a tree can host up to 72 species of ants. It all these species depend on the tree to find food. When therefore it is cut or burned, most species of the animal before leaving completely destroyed. Others live and die.


As a species based on others for food and shelter but also to play, the destruction of one could lead to disruption of the reproductive process and the difficulty of foraging in a number of other species. «If all this happens when a tree is lost», we were told by Greenpeace, «imagine what can happen when trees are lost every 29 minutes, as was the period from August 2003 to August 2004!»

Amazon numbers

• The scope is 4 million square kilometers, of which the rainforest occupies 3.3 million square kilometers. The rest consists of Savannah and other ecosystems.
• Nine countries are crossing the Amazon: Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. Brazil has the largest part.
• 6.848 kilometers are along the Amazon River, along which the distance New York - Berlin.
• 15.000 around rivers cross the Amazon forest.
• In the Amazon region is 20% water the whole world, 30% of the biodiversity of the planet, around 5,000 recognized species of trees, 300 recognized species of mammals, more than 1,300 recognized species of birds, from 2500 to 3000 species, 10 to 15 million species of insects, 21 million people and over 400 different indigenous tribes.
• In one hectare of tropical forest are over 200 species of trees.
• Echoun recognized in the Amazon region 650 species of plants with medicinal properties and economic value.
• 57 threatened species including the jaguar (Jaguar), living in the Amazon.