These hasn’t been much good news recently, and that trend continued with a disturbing recent report in the Guardian.
“Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon surged to record levels for the month of April, nearly doubling the area of forest removed in that month last year – the previous April record – preliminary government data has shown, alarming environmental campaigners. In the first 29 days of April, deforestation in the region totalled 1,012.5 square km (390 square miles), according to data from national space research agency Inpe …”
If you need a reminder as to why this matters, here is a short extract from the Procurement with Purpose book.
“The effects of deforestation include the risk to biodiversity, as the plants, insects and animals of the rainforest, for instance, are increasingly threatened. Forests also provide food, fuel and construction material for indigenous people. In some countries, children miss school as they have to travel further to find firewood if natural forest has been replaced by a palm plantation.
Loss of trees can affect water quality, and there is emerging evidence that converting forest to agricultural land reduces rainfall in the region. Deforestation not only removes vegetation that contributes to removing carbon dioxide from the air, but the act of clearing the forests also produces greenhouse gas emissions in itself. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says96 that deforestation represents almost 20% of greenhouse gas emissions and is the second-leading cause of climate change (after the burning of fossil fuels).”
So there are many concerns about the scale of deforestation we are seeing in the Amazon. There are laws in place, but they are not enforced strongly, and this being Presidential election year in Brazil, that enforcement is even weaker than usual, the report suggests.
But are we being hypocritical? Lots of the developed world chopped down its own forests to fuel the industrial revolution hundreds of years ago. Do we have any right to tell Brazilians to slow down their own economic development for the sake of the forests?
It is a dilemma, and I suspect that there will have to be a pressing economic case before Brazil and the Brazilian people decide to stop chopping down the rainforest. “It’s upsetting people in Europe and the USA” is not a good enough reason, and neither unfortunately is the long-term, altruistic “you are contributing to future climate change that will almost certainly have disastrous results for humankind.
It has to be something that affects Brazil itself, you feel. Maybe it could be an ecological and / or climate disaster in that country itself. That’s quite possible as no-one really understands exactly what the impact of the loss of the rainforest might bring. It could be a recognition that in the long-run, Brazil could gain far more from tourism if it preserves its beauty and wonder. It could be economic bribery from rich nations, putting money in to preserve the Amazon, and making sure any agreements are followed on the ground. Or it could even be other countries taking economic action if Brazil does not halt the destruction – sanctions against the country, perhaps?
Unfortunately, I am not sure I can see any of these possibilities becoming real in the near future. The “best” chance might actually be some huge disaster for Brazil, not that we should wish that on anybody.
There is good news from other regions, where tree planting is increasing forested land – although we have to be careful of unintended consequences (see our articles here and here). But the Amazon is unique, in terms of its ecology and its impact on global weather patterns. It cannot be replaced by more trees in Wales, Canada or China - and thousands of living species will disappear for ever along with the forest. So if you have any influence, directly or through your supply chain, please do what you can – it's not going to be easy, it might not even prove possible at all, but the loss of the rainforest will be a disaster for the planet and its people.