They can’t see the forest for the trees
World’s rainforests are mostly found in a belt around the Equator of the Earth covering about 6 % of the total surface. Today rainforests are endangered, because people have destroyed half of the total amount of originals. The speed is very fast: about 100,000 hectares are cut down each day.
More than half of the world’s animals, insects and plants are living in rainforest areas. Each year 50,000 species die out. Rainforests play a unique role because of their influence on the earth’s weather pattern. They recycle water, oxygen and carbon and they also have an impact on wind and rainfall as well as on temperature and humidity.
The decline of the rainforests threatens indigenous people. The number of tribes in rainforest areas has dropped from 250 to 90, and the number of their languages has halved.
There are many different reasons for the accelerating disappearance of the rainforest. One main reason is the poor economic situation of a country, which reflects shortsighted decisions. In many countries the government owns about 80 % of the forests, so it depends on decision makers if the forests stand or fall.
The other main reason are multinational companies, which take advantage of the biodiversity. They exploit natural resources such as wood, paper and oil leaving the damaged land for the locals. Local residents are also logging the trees but they do it for cultivation purposes. Another big destroyer of forests are mining operations. Also intensive production of inexpensive meat for the western world accelerates the progress of deforestation and soil erosion.
The consequences of logging the trees are enormous. It contributes to global warming and greenhouse effect, causing local environmental problems, e.g. flooding and air pollution. When the number of indigenous people declines, both cultural heritage and thousands of years of knowledge about rainforestecosystems disappear.
If nothing is changed, the rainforests might disappear by 2040. People should understand the value of living rainforest. Citizens in industrialized countries have an essential role to play in saving the world's forests. As the largest consumers of wood and paper, our daily decisions determine the direction of wood industry. We should also move towards “fair trade” that supports the locals instead of multinational companies. Locals would also benefit from education and training related to sustainable cultivation of land.
11.5.2004 Terhi Hytönen
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