43 million hectares of tropical rainforests are calculated according to Environmental Organization WWF In the last few years it has been destroyed in 24 particularly badly affected areas. The WWF announced in Berlin on Wednesday that it was based on satellite data from 2004 to 2017. The Amazon has the largest losses with 18.3 million hectares in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Guyana. To put this in perspective: Germany has an area of 35.7 million hectares.
The WWF emphasized that consumers in Germany were also partly to blame for deforestation. »For the cultivation of feed soya, cocoa and beef, which are imported into the European Union, forests are often destroyed. All the sixth part traded in the European Union contributes to deforestation in the tropics, ”the press release stated. “Instead of pointing fingers at governments and farmers in deforestation centers, we have to touch our noses as well,” said Susanne Winters, forest program manager at WWF Germany.
He explained that the rainforest is a health precaution for humans and nature. For example, they store carbon and are an important habitat for animal and plant species. “We need to stop deforestation immediately, otherwise life as we know it will stop,” was cited as Winter.
The so-called deforestation hotspots also include the forests of Borneo (Indonesia, Malaysia), Paraguay, Argentina, Madagascar and Sumatra. About half of the remaining forests at the center of such attractions are also severely fragmented, for example by roads or arable land. “It makes the forest more susceptible to drought and fire and weeds out the animal species that live there.”
What the French President wants to do against deforestation
French President Emmanuel Macron has again spoken in favor of growing soy crops in Europe. “The dependence on Brazilian soy will support the deforestation of the Amazon,” he wrote on Twitter Tuesday evening after a visit by organic farmers in the Tilly community. “We are in line with our ecological ambitions, we are fighting to produce soy in Europe.” Macron had previously called for “protein sovereignty” for Europe.
Europe imports soy from Latin America – specifically from Brazil. In 2020 American journal “Science” study published The first determines the amount of complexity of European consumers in the deforestation of rainforests in Brazil: approximately one-fifth of the annual exports of soy and beef from Brazil to the European Union are related to illegal deforestation in the Amazon region and in Cerrado Savan.
Despite restrictions on clearing and slashing and large-scale military operations, 2020 stands again Large areas of rainforest in the Amazon region in flames. Thousands caught fire in August and September alone. “Slash and burn is currently officially prohibited, but it continues uncontrolled. Environmental authorities have been left unemployed, police officers hardly controlled and there is no consequence of the breach, «Juliana Miyazaki of the Society for Threatened People commented on the blaze in Brazil. »Forest fires begin mostly with illegal harvesting. It deflects, the wood dries, then fires. This frees up new areas for economic activities such as agribusiness. “
Environmentalist rightists are following the policy of the President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro Responsible. The destruction of the Amazon jungle by fire has increased dramatically since it began its term in January 2019. Bolsonaro doubted man’s responsibility for climate change. He drastically cut financial and human resources for environmental protection.
The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest on Earth. It contains large amounts of climate-damaging greenhouse gas. carbon di oxide (CO () stored. That is why it is very important World climate. It also includes a wide variety of species.
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