Quote:The fact is that the vast Amazon Rainforest, which covers an area larger than all of Europe and produces one-fifth of the worlds oxygen, is shrinking at an accelerated rate. An estimated 25-thousand square kilometers disappeared in 2002, or an area about the size of Belgium. And theres every indication that at least that much will be lost again if not more when final numbers are tallied up at the end of 2003.
Indeed, hearing that destruction of the Amazon can still be reversed may sound rather utopian to the average onlooker who reads what he comes up with after that simple search we mentioned above. The threats to the Amazon rainforest are numerous, serious, and they appear to be mounting expanding not just because of human greed and a severely inept and insufficient Brazilian government presence, but also because of new climate challenges and global market demands. Technology is also a factor, as it permits greater efficiency in the clearing process.
Delving into the Amazon jungle as a topic these days will yield everything from age-old slash-and-burn land clearing for subsistence farming purposes and illegal logging, to huge high-tech soybean plantations advancing on virgin forest. Rules and restrictions are generally thrown out the window, and there are never enough inspectors to enforce them in the first place. And when there are, corruption takes over and the free for all continues.
In the past, gold prospectors were blamed for polluting jungle rivers with the mercury they use to separate gold pellets from silt, but now we find and Dr. Fearnside explains this in detail that building dams can be an even more dangerous ingredient in the Amazons mercury problem. That bit of information only adds to existing concerns, because Brazils current federal administration is bound and determined to pursue increased development in the Amazon region. Its plans include several major projects in the rainforest, including, yes, new dams and highways soon to be paved.
Still, Prof. Fearnside believes the Amazon is not doomed. We caught up with him in Manaus, and he agreed to try and put todays threatened Amazon Rainforest into perspective for InfoBrazil.coms global audience. Questions were prepared by InfoBrazil editor and founder Adhemar Altieri, and answered by e-mail. We thank Prof. Fearnside for taking the time to examine so many different, but intertwined Amazon-related topics and perspectives.