Amazon, Rainforest and the miserable animals

According to January 2008 Greenpeace report Amazon deforestation rate is high again although local officials claim the opposite. Greenpeace assumes that in 2007 from August – December, 7000 sq. km of the rainforest has been destroyed.

Consequences are desperate animals now looking for new habitats into nearby towns. Treehugger blogs on this.

Corn is increasingly used as a source of biomass fuel, ethanol. Otherwise known as ethyl alcohol, ethanol (CH₃CH₂OH), is considering high as alternative energy source for petroleum. Therefore US agribusiness is replacing soy for corn. Moving from US farms, soy plantations are expanding in South America.

This new ‘agricolonization’ is pushing the local farmers and cattle ranchers to clear more forests in the Amazons. Consequence is the loss of habitats for the animals in this rainforest. In search of new habitats, snakes are entering into the town Belem situated at the mouth of the Amazon River. Authorities have captured 21 snakes from inside the city including a 3-meter long anaconda.

It’s time to act now and keep pressuring the Brazilian government to take immediate actions against deforestation and save one of the world’s most invaluable treasures. It’s easy to destroy 1 sq. km of forest in few hours but needs many decades to grow it again.