Student 35

Global Issues

October 4, 1999

 

Once a vast sea of tropical forest, the Rainforest today is now scarred by roads, farms, ranches and dams.  The Rainforest has long been a symbol of mystery and power, a sacred link between humans and nature.  It is also the richest biological incubator on the planet.  The rainforests cover less than two percent of the earth=s surface, yet it supplies over twenty percent of the world=s oxygen, and are home to fifty to seventy percent of all life forms on our planet.  It has been called the ALungs of the Planet.@  In less than fifty years, more than half of the world=s rainforest have fallen victim to fire and the chain saw, the rate of destruction is still accelerating.  Seventy eight million acres per year (an area larger than Poland) is being destroyed every year.  It is believed that by 2050 the rainforests will be completely deforested.

 

Distinguished scientists estimate an average of one hundred thirty seven species of life forms are driven into extinction every day, or fifty thousand each year.  Rainforests are also important to a healthy planet and its ability to support life.  They regulate earth=s climate, contain edible food crops and other resources and prevent famine.  A standing rainforest supplies more economic wealth than if it were cleared away, yet deforestation continues.  The primary land uses are cattle ranching, plantations, and small farms.  Habitat destruction is the leading cause for species of extinction, due to commercial logging.

 

While the rainforests occupy less than seven percent of the world=s land area, they are home to more than half of the world=s plant and animal species.  It is suspected that there are as many as fifteen million undiscovered species.  Scientists estimate that one rainforest species becomes extinct every fifteen minutes due to the loss of its habitat.  Being a wildlife biologist, this deeply saddens me to know that thousands of animals are dying out before we have a chance to know they exist.  Massive deforestation bring with it many ugly consequences - air and water pollution, soil erosion, malaria epidemics, the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the eviction and decimation of indigenous tribes, and the loss of biodiversity through extinction of plants and animals.  When roads are cut through the rainforest, animals are separated and can=t cross over to breed.  Species are lost or even forced to leave the rainforest to spread disease to other animals that aren=t immune to their diseases.  This causes problems in other habitats and the effect spreads.  The magnitude of the loss to the world was described best by Harvard=s Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist, Edward O. Wilson, over ten years ago.

 

AThe worst thing that can happen during the 1980's is not energy depletion, economic collapses, limited nuclear war, or conquest by a totalitarian government.  As terrible as these catastrophes would be for us, they can be repaired within a few generations.  The one process on going in the 1980's that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by the destruction of natural habitats.  This is the folly that our descendants are least likely to forgive us for.@

 

The rainforest is being destroyed for the income and profits it yields.  If all of the treasures of the rainforest are harvested sustainable, the rainforest land has much more economic value today and more long term income and profits than if just timber were harvested or if it were burned down for cattle or farming operations.  Its resources are renewable and sustainable.  This way it provides value not only today, but year after year for generations.  These sustainable resources are the true wealth of the rainforest - not the trees.  The solution to saving the rainforest and the animals it contains is to make consumers see the forest and the trees by creating a consumer demand and market for these rainforest products, as long as we renew it and don=t abuse it.  It has been said that destroying the rainforest is like burning down a library before we even know what it contains.  Experts agree that by leaving the rainforests intact and harvesting its many nuts, fruits, oil producing plants, and medicinal plants, the rainforest has more economic value than if they were cut down to make grazing land for cattle or timber.

 

Rainforests have evolved over millions of years to turn into the incredibly complex environments they are today.  A rainforest represents a store of living and breathing renewable natural resources which have for ages, by virtue of their richness in both animal and plant species, contributed to wealth of resources for the survival and well being of man.  It has taken only a century of man=s intervention to destroy what nature has so intricately designed to last a lifetime.