Deforestation in the Amazon

The Amazon rainforest is a 1.4 billion acre of forest land in the Amazon basin of South America, which is almost half the total area under the tropical rainforest in the world today. Undoubtedly the most flourishing biodiversity spots on the planet, the Amazon rainforest is home to as many as 90 percent of the plant species and the animal species in the world. This rainforest spans across nine South American nations, among which Brazil constitutes the major share with 60 percent. Other than being the largest, the Amazon rainforest also boasts of being the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest. These and other such Amazon rainforest facts may make you believe that everything is well and good in this region, but the deforestation statistics have a totally different picture to show.

Amazon Rainforest Deforestation
Even though deforestation is a phenomenon common to forests throughout the world, the rate at which it is occurring in the Amazon Basin is indeed a matter of concern. In Brazil alone, 450,237 miles of forest has been cleared to make way for various human activities, including farming and settlement. Environmentalists fear that if the deforestation continues at this rate, half of the Amazon rainforest will be lost within next two decades. This will, in turn, have drastic effects on the biodiversity of this region. Other than the loss of numerous Amazon rainforest plants, the deforestation will also result in loss of habitat for numerous animal species endemic to this region, and eventually drive them to extinction.

Causes of Deforestation
Human settlement and development of the land are the two main reasons for deforestation in this rainforest. The fact that nobody was allowed to venture into the deep forest of the Amazon basin before the 1960s made sure that the rich tracts of this rainforest remained intact all this while. After colonization, however, things changed drastically. As human settlements began to flourish, the region was subjected to large-scale agricultural activities. The fact that the soil in Amazon Basin doesn't retain fertility for long periods made the farmers practice slash and burn method of agriculture. This was a big blow to this biodiversity spot, as human encroachment upon the forest land increased in a bid to use more land and increase agricultural production.

The government incentive programs to promote agriculture also added to the woes of the Amazon rainforest. Similarly, logging in the denser regions of the forests resulted in construction of new roads, which gave people direct access to the otherwise untouched areas of the rainforest. All these factors did help in strengthening the agricultural economy of the South American nations, but led to severe depletion of forest cover in this region. In Brazil, which constitutes a total of 60 percent of the rainforest, the sudden boost of soybean production tempted the farmers to go for the same at the cost of the Amazon rainforest. As agriculture developed, this tropical forests biome was also cleared to make way for human settlement inside the rainforest.

The need of the hour is to find solution to the problem of deforestation in the Amazon, and ensure that it is strictly implemented. In order to curb deforestation in the region, the administration has to come up with concrete wildlife conservation measures, like creation of protected areas, and taking strict action against those indulging in illegal clearance of the forest. With one-fifth of the forest cover already lost in the last five decades, it won't take much time to clear off the entire region. If we don't put in any efforts soon, we will lose the Amazon rainforest within the next century, and the numerous endangered rainforest animals and plants species endemic to this region will become extinct.