Amazon Deforestation Slows: the Struggle Continues

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According to the BBC, the Brazillian government has just announced that the rate at which the Amazon rainforest is being destroyed slowed by as much as 20% between August 2006 and July 2007. Good news indeed for us TreeHuggers it would seem. And it’s not the first time we’ve heard the news that deforestation is slowing. We’ve even seen some reports that global forest cover is set for a resurgence. We, however, are not convinced that we’re out of the woods, so to speak, just yet given the continued destructive behavor of some well-known companies. It looks like the BBC is inclined to agree when they take a slightly closer look at the figures:

…another environmental organisation - Greenpeace - says the government is celebrating an achievement from the past and that more recent satellite images suggest deforestation is starting to rise again. Some analysts had already warned that recent falls in deforestation could be explained by a drop in market prices for products such as soya and meat and that once these rose again, land clearance would start to increase.

Nevertheless, while the significance of the numbers is in dispute, they do show one thing – the rate of destruction is not a constant, but alters with the economic, social and political conditions of the time. It’s up to us all then, to ensure that the conditions of the time favor reforestation and conservation in the strongest possible way. ::BBC::via site visit::