Letter to Representative

As well known as it may have been, and is, the tragedy is its apparent irrelevancy. The deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon is a terrible happening. When it became abundantly clear within the last few decades that many of our modern practices were no longer sustainable, even more so within the past few years with the introduction of global warming, the environment finally had a significant importance to the world, and not merely a handful of individuals. If not for its beauty, then for the sake of ourselves, it should be protected. By sustaining our forests, we further sustain ourselves. By keeping our forests healthy, especially the enormous forests such as the Brazilian Amazon, we keep the environment balanced and as self-sustaining as we can, which we later benefit future generations. And the way in which we are currently managing this resource, especially in the Amazon, is not even close to being sustainable in the long term, and most certainly damaging to our futures, in one way or another.

Back in the 1970s, Brazil accelerated its rate of deforestation, for a variety of reasons, most concerning personal profit. Since then, there have been periods of peaks and wanes in the history of deforestation of Brazil. However, what has remained consistent is the staggering amount revealed at the end of the year that further compounds the problem. Whether the amount deforested may drop or rise, regardless it will be a massive loss for the Amazon. The issues surrounding the process revolve around a few key factors, the most major concerning general land clearance. There are several reasons for the deforestation, chief among them being that cattle companies need the land the Amazon currently occupies to expand their pastures, because the more cattle they get in the process of expanding their business, the more land they need to graze them. In order to do this, the trees must be cut away, and the landscape altered to suit their needs, thereby negating a chance for the forest to make a comeback anytime soon. There are laws that prevent such rampant deforestation, but the situation in Brazil is such that there is no substantial amount of manpower available to prevent destructive logging. Compounding this issue is the need for farm land in Brazil, most commonly for the soybean. And on top of these, illegal logging, while certainly not the largest attributor to the situation, a rampant factor in the continuing destruction of the Amazon.

However, it seems that even with the Amazon being in so much suffering, the whole problem seems to be somewhat forgotten, an afterthought. While awareness is still somewhat of an issue, there are other methods to solving this problem. I suggest one of two possible solutions. One solution involves unifying of some of the world’s largest meat producers. By doing so, it becomes simple to enact and nullify bans, depending on the situation in Brazil. The other solution requires financial support to the Brazilian people, and not directly to the government, because of the suspected corruption. This solution gives subsidies to the people and companies that currently log the Amazon, to not continue. By doing so, it gives the Brazilian economy a means of another income, and provides the government and people with a window of opportunity to bolster protection and laws involving logging of the Amazon.