destruction of the Brazilian Amazon
... Amazon destruction The amazon rainforest is one of the largest areas of natural wild rainforest in the world today but it is threatened with destruction like never before and this makes the struggle to fight the destruction of the Amazon rainforest one of the most important conservation issues today. Since the 1990s alone there has been a reported 40 per cent increase in deforestation in the Amazon. ... Solving the problem of Amazon rainforest destruction is very difficult and most people see the need to protect the remaining forest while at the same time improving the lives of the people who depend on it A new study in the journal Nature says that the rate of destruction of the Amazon rainforest is two to three times greater than previous estimates based on satellite analysis. ... They measured forest losses at 1,104 sample points from a light plane and on the ground, and interviewed over 1,500 mill operators and landholders in the Amazon region. ... Nepstad says that some 17,000 square miles of the Amazon forest were lost to cutting and burning in 1998, about three times the official Brazilian government estimate of 5,700 square miles. ... Destruction of the Amazon region is one of the biggest concerns of environmentalists and is also among the most contentious political issues in Brazil. The Amazon is believed to contain more unique species of plants and animals than any other part of the world. ... But international initiatives to protect the Amazon must contend with the economic and political ambitions of Brazilians who wish to capitalize on the enormous resources of the region.