Good News: Rate Of Amazon Destruction Slows

The rate of cutting of the Amazon forest declined 25% in the year ending July 2006, and the rate of deforestation continued in a positive direction in the following year, Brazil's president Luiz Inacio da Silva says, according to press reports today.

The rate of deforestation in the Amazon is important to the world because deforestation is a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions. Trees that would otherwise absorb carbon from the atmosphere are cut or burned, releasing carbon in large quantities.

Brazil is among the world's top 10 polluters of greenhouse gases, because of this (the same factors make Indonesia an unlikely No. 3 -- behind China and the United States -- on the world's list of top emitters). In some recent years, forest chunks the size of New Jersey have been slashed and burned. Because of the poor quality of soil, areas cleared for farming are often quickly exhausted, leaving behind both barren patches and farmers eager to clear the next plot.

Environmentalists warned that Brazil's recent gains may have less to do with government policies than world markets -- and that a push to find a way to ensure that the forest stays intact, indigenous people make a comfortable living and Brazil's sovereignty remains intact is as important as ever.

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