What Is The Bottom Line?
When deforestation is talked about, there is no shortage of doomsday scenarios. What is the worst it is going to get? Will there be a day when the world has no rainforest left at all? Will the time come when we realize that there is nothing for it but to stop deforestation by force or by law? What is the bottom line when it comes to deforestation? And will we turn back before it is reached?
The truth of the matter is that there is still some rainforest extant in countries which can afford not to sell off rainforest land, and the governments of these countries are aware that selling off that land, although it might provide a quick financial boost, would not be seen as a positive move. So there is some rainforest land that is likely to always be safe. That said, the majority of rainforest land is still in countries that can ill afford to refuse the cash incentives of global corporations, and there is a real concern that it may still be plundered.
One positive sign is that Brazil, one of the most densely forested countries worldwide, has recently experienced major economic growth and the political will in the country is minded to retain the rainforests. The bloc of the four fastest-growing economies on the planet is called “BRIC” - Brazil, Russia, India and China. This will hopefully see Brazil secure an economy that does not need to sell off environmentally beneficial land. It is to be hoped that this will hold back the amount of land being sold.