How Much of the Amazon Can Be Saved?
Introduction:
The forests of the Brazilian Amazon once covered 5 million square kilometers, an area half the size of the United States. The Brazilian government has developed an ambitious economic and social development plan for the Amazon called Avança Brasil [www.abrasil.gov.br/index], which represents a real effort on the part of the government to slow down the damage to Brazil's rainforests, but i still has many important deficiencies. Many of the proposed development projects will tend to benefit the wealthy, while colonization projects will encourage further migration into a region that is already experiencing exponential population growth.
We spoke with Scott Bergen about some of the issues involved in slowing down environmental degradation in the Amazon.
