Dear Editor,
Brazil is an excellent example of how poverty and inappropriate government policies have led to massive deforestation in the Amazon. Beginning in the mid-1960s, large numbers of landless peasants began moving into the region in search of land and employment. The government attracted them to the region by providing generous tax and credit incentives.
The settlers found that the soils in the region were fragile and could withstand intensive cultivation and livestock management for only a few years. By the 1970s deforestation in parts of the Amazon, particularly Rondonia, had reached alarming proportions. By 1998, almost 25 percent of Rondonia’s tropical forest had been cleared.
Despite the vast amounts of forest cleared and the numerous agricultural and ranching operations in the region, Amazonia is still desperately poor and contributes only 3 percent of Brazil’s national income.
In 1988 alone, Brazil may have burned as many as 20 million hectares of forest and scrub, an area the size of Nebraska, to clear the land for farming and cattle ranching. The fire caused massive air pollution and probably accounted for about one-tenth of all carbon dioxide emissions from human activities during 1988.
Brazil our neighbour has always experienced extensive flooding with about 20 percent of its land area under water during an average year.
Now in recent years, flooding has increased enormously. Today in the United States of America some states are under water, including large portions of cities. Many believe that such catastrophic flooding is caused by loss of vegetative cover in the forest and upland areas that used to absorb rainfall and moderate the flooding.
Before the rain forest is exploited, forest land should be classified as to its suitability for agriculture, timber production, wildlife protection and other uses. Forest unsuited for sustainable agriculture should not be cleared for cropland or cattle ranching, but should be used for other purposes, including watershed protection, sustainable production of forest products, species conservation, and recreation.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
