Desertification And Deforestation

Desertification And Deforestation

The Amazon Rainforest is probably the most important region that is threatened by deforestation. With over four million squared kilometers it is roughly the size of the United States. The Amazon spreads across nine South American Countries and contains one-fifth of the Worlds fresh water and one-third of the known living species. The land is home to hundreds of indigenous groups and is considered by many to be “the lungs of the planet”.

Most of the Amazon is still pristine, but the region is being destroyed at an alarming rate. Over 8 million acres of the rainforest are lost every year. Between 1978 to 1996, 12.5 percent of the irreplacable rainforest was destroyed.

Eighty-five percent of the trees that are being cut down are old growth. Old growth forests are forests that provide a crucial habitat for wildlife, cleanse toxins out of the air and water, are the home to the cultural heritage of many indigenous groups and are the source of many useful plants. Only twenty-two percent of the world’s old growth remains intact. In the United States, less than four percent of its old growth forests are still standing.

Brazil contains 65 percent of the Amazon Basin. The deforestation rate in Brazil makes up 36.1 percent of the total biozone area lost each year. This is the highest in the world. Indonesia is second with 8.7 percent. This is the reason that Brazil is the focus of most political and social efforts to perserve primary tropical and sub-tropical biozones.

One of the main causes of deforestation in the Amazon is the logging industry which produces plywood and mahagony products like toilet paper, rayon, camera film and cigerette filters. E...

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