What can de done to save the Amazon rainforest in Brazil?

Excerpt from: http://www.mongabay.com/saving_brazils_forests.html

(above link is obsolete)

"Between May 2002 and May 2003, Brazil lost more than 24,000 square kilometers of forest - an area larger than Israel and since 1978, over 500,000 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed. Why is Brazil losing so much forest? What can be done to slow deforestation?"

I think we all realize the importance of the rainforest and have been hearing about it's rapid destruction in the last few decades. There is no doubt that this is a situat ion is becoming more critical and we need to do something about it NOW! Can we acknowledge that what is being done today is not enough, simply because of the fact that destruction continues at an alarming pace? When I told a friend about this problem, she said that in California they were successful with a drive to protect the forests there from further logging. Yes, they may have been successful to draft a legislation to protect the forest in a local region, but if they haven't done anything to change their habits on a 'personal level' by reducing their overall consumption of wood products, meat and Amazon agricultural products, then what happens is that the problem resurfaces in another region.

This is evidenced by the demand and pressure to harvest wood in the Amazon as seen by continued deforestation. The demand for wood products and agricultural items is coming from consumers in industrial nations, and therein lays the solution. A real protection of the Amazon rainforest won't happen until people demand less of the products coming from there. The simple truth is: as long as people are consuming and thereby producing the demand, then this pressure EXISTS and the products WILL BE supplied.

To heal anything or affect a real change, one must determine and deal with the root cause. This is true, whether it's ones personal health or the health of a system. The established paradigm of healing these days is to treat or alleviate the symptoms, without dealing with the underlying cause, meanwhile the system gets sicker as the real cause is not dealt with. It is just like taking an aspirin for a headache, you might get temporary relief, but if what has caused the headache is not changed, then the headache will come back usually stronger, after the pill has worn off. Some people might get a temporary good feeling when they buy an acre of rainforest or donate some money, because they feel they have done something to make a difference.

The parallel between these two examples is that taking the pill is the easy way out, not requiring that YOU MAKE A CHANGE in your causing behavior! The other parallel is that the health of the system continues to decline, because the cause is not being dealt with. How can we be certain that this bought acre of land is actually being protected or that the money donated actually goes into protetcion and not just into the pocket of the administrators? Do you want to know that your donation might have had no effect, because as long as there is money to be made then greed will be the deciding factor? I sense most would prefer to take off their blinders and look at the situation objectively to realize the truth.

There is only one way to stop the destruction of the rainforest and it is in YOUR HANDS. Everybody can make a real CUMULATIVE difference and all you have to do is reduce or eliminate your consumption of the products that are putting pressure on these regions. Do you homework and find out what exactly is being done with this land, what is being grown and what pulp, paper and wood products are being made with the trees. Then look in your own living space and see how you are contributing to the destruction. Only after you have asked these questions and received answers, will you be able to take a concrete step that will make a real difference -- you can start with your roll of toilet paper... See the article on toilet paper.

 A step we can all take right now is to pass along these kinds of information to our friends and family and also to inform ourselves about the facts. One could append to this article, information you found out coming from your own questioning, including products that come from the rainforest, and which ones you eliminated and/or found alternatives for. This kind of information puts power into the hands of people to affect a real change.  From: Tropical Rainforests: Their Wonders and the Perils They Face (link is obsolete)Today deforestation in the Amazon is the result of several activities, the foremost of which include:

1. Clearing for cattle pasture

2. Colonization and subsequent subsistence agriculture

3. Infrastructure improvements

4. Commercial agriculture

5. Logging

How are your consuming habits contributing to these problem areas?  

~ Betsy ~