AMAZON FORESTS



. . . .About 25 sawmills operate near Tailandia, and inspectors in recent weeks have found that most -- in one way or another -- violate the law. Since Feb. 25, the inspectors have levied more than $2 million in fines here, confiscated more than 8,000 cubic meters of illegal timber and destroyed more than 800 unlicensed charcoal-producing ovens. Those destroyed ovens alone would have consumed about 23,000 young trees in one month, according to average production rates.
All of that represents a minuscule fraction of the deforestation in Brazil, where most of the Amazon forest is located. After three years of declining rates of deforestation, cutting has spiked sharply nationwide. The 2,700 square miles cut in the last five months of 2007 followed the clearing of 4,300 square miles during the previous 12 months, according to government figures.
Demand for the illegal wood and charcoal is only one factor contributing to the cutting. Brazil's Environment Ministry places more of the blame on farmers who clear forest plots to create soybean fields and cattle ranches. Officials say that ranching and farming are responsible for up to 80 percent of total deforestation nationwide. Brazil is the world's leading beef exporter, and a recent agricultural boom has it poised to surpass the United States as the world's top soy exporter.
The combination of factors has made illegal logging a consistent economic opportunity for the millions living below the poverty line. Enforcing the law is spotty at best for regulators, who can monitor only a small fraction of the Amazon region at a time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MOST . .OF . .THE . .CHARCOAL . . .IS . .DESTINED . . .FOR . . THE. STEEL . .MILLS . .OF . . CHINA . .AND . . THE . .USA. . . . . . . . . . .SO . .THE . . MORAL . .HERE . . .IS . . . . . .LOOK . . . IN . . THE . .MIRROR . . .AND . .YOU'LL . .SEE . .WHO . . .IS . . CAUSING . .THE . .DEFORESTATION . . IN . . THE . . AMAZON . . . RAINFORESTS. . . . . . . . .NEWS . . .SNIPPET . . .COURTESY . . OF . .WASHINGTON . . POST . .MARCH 21-2008.

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