Amazonian Exploitation and Devastation

While the search for gold and the latex rubber boom were certainly devastating to the indigenous people of the Amazon, they did little to degrade the environment and pale in comparison to the exploitation that was to come. Deforestation is measured in square miles, not acres. Such is the scale of destruction. To date, an estimated 230,000 sq miles have been affected, with another 11,000 sq miles added every year. Man has removed 20% of the rainforest and shows no signs of slowing the pace.

First to suffer were the trees. When it was discovered that the bark of the Chinchona tree contained quinine, a substance that lessened the symptoms and susceptibility to malaria, the tree began a decline to near extinction. The species was saved only by the process to synthesize the compound in the 1940’s, oddly by employees at Polaroid, who found it also was an excellent light polarizer. Next, a similar fate befell the exotic Amazonian hardwoods, like mahogany, ebony, cocobolo, rosewood and teak. The demand from North America and Europe for the gorgeous woods, created a rush the cut every tree possible, regardless of size. While the harvest was vast, clearcutting was not common and the main deforestation in this regard is caused by construction of the access roads required to get the wood to market.  In sum, this has only accounted for about 4 – 5% of the total.

Next came the big one – cattle ranches. About 80% of Amazon deforestation has been done to produce an ever increasing quantity of beef and leather. While Amazonian countries like Brazil have given lip service to controlling the rampant deforestation by the cattlemen, most of the politicians involved are either owners or investors. This makes Brazil the largest beef exporter in the world, shipping over 2 Million Metric Tons (4.5 Billion pounds) a year. It is the only major exporter that has to clear cut and burn land for beef production. Oddly, the US will have no Brazilian beef since that country vaccinates its herd against foot & mouth disease. Only outside refusal to consume Brazilian beef will stop the devastation, as the industry will continue to rape the environment for profit.

Another growing cause of deforestation is soybean production. While it currently accounts for only about 5% of the denuded land area, it is increasing rapidly. Worse than cattle ranching, it rapidly depletes the soil, resulting in an environmental wasteland that is slow to recover.

Other Amazon exploitations include : oil and gas extraction, mining for gold and precious minerals and hydro-electric dam projects. While all are small potatoes compared to cattle ranching, the greater environmental harm of the first two is caused by pollution. Again, the affected governments all pass legislation to prevent the toxic pollution, but none truly enforce them – probably since the governments are populated by owners and investors in these industries.

The effects of deforestation are well known and I’ll not belabor them here. Decrease in oxygen production, increase in greenhouse gases (CO2 and methane), lower rainfall and perhaps most importantly, loss of biodiversity from eco-system and habitat destruction.

The systematic destruction of the Amazon rainforest must stop if we are to prevent its total demise.