Student Publications
University of Houston
151C Communications Bldg
Houston, TX 77204-4015
713.743.5350

©1991-2007
Student Publications,
All rights reserved.

Last modified:

Contact:
ktruitt@uh.edu

Opinion

Save the rainforest and save yourself

Sarah Morgan
Opinion Columnist

Logging in the Amazon rainforests isn't at the top of the list of things to worry about for most people. It's far away from our daily lives and routines. We don't know anyone who lives there, nor will we ever, most likely, go there ourselves.

But last week, an American nun gave her life trying to protect the Amazon and the people who live there, and at least 2,000 people in this sparsely populated area attended her burial service. 

Dorothy Stang, a 73-year-old woman originally from Dayton, Ohio, had lived in the Amazon for decades, advocating sustainable development and fighting illegal logging and clear-cutting. On Feb. 12, near Anapu, Brazil, Stang was working at a settlement when gunmen approached her and shot her six times while she read Bible verses to them. What on earth is going on over there, and why did Stang fight so hard to stop it? The answer is deforestation.

The Amazon, the largest of the world's rainforests, has already lost about 20 percent of its 1.6 million square miles to development and farming. The problem isn't so much that the trees are being cut, but the rate at which they are being cut and the wasteful methods used. It is estimated that from August of 1999 to August of 2000, an area roughly the size of four million soccer fields was cut or burned. This was a 15 percent increase over the previous year. 

The rainforests are home to more than 30 million species of plants and animals -- half of the Earth's wildlife and at least two-thirds of its plant species. It is believed the Amazon alone stores over half of the Earth's rainwater. Less Amazon means more droughts. Also, more than 25 percent of our modern medicines originate from tropical forest plants, though currently we only use about 1 percent of these plants. And I'm not just talking about a little something to stop the sniffles. These plants are used to cure leukemia, protect people from malaria and even help people with high blood pressure, which I'm sure people in the fattest city appreciate. Imagine what cures could lay in the other 99 percent of those plants. And some believe that the indigenous people who live in the forests might know a little something that we don't about those amazing plants, but deforestation is running them out of their homes, killing some of them in the process.

The main cause for deforestation is clear-cutting for cattle ranching. I know you carnivores don't want to hear it, but that hamburger you're eating could be partially responsible for rainforest destruction -- 200 square feet per pound of meat, to be specific. And of course, oil plays a role in this too. Oil drilling in the rainforest is another tree killer. Then there's the obvious culprit -- furniture and other wood products.

So what are we supposed to do about it? Being aware of the problem and being a conscious consumer is probably the biggest thing that any of us can do short of moving to Brazil and getting over our fear of snakes. Cut back on your beef intake (your heart will thank you anyway), pay attention to the type of wood products you buy and think about where that gas comes from that's going into your car.

The bottom line is that if something isn't done about the outrageous rate of deforestation going on, there will not be any rainforests left. Some estimate that, at the current rate, this could happen in as little as 50 years -- a time when many of us could be in serious need of some magic rainforest plants.
 

Send comments to dccampus@mail.uh.edu