For a Healthy Climate, Rainforests Count

From 1960 to the early 1990s, the Amazon underwent a transformation. People cleared vast tracts of land, anticipating a rapidly expanding cattle industry. Large areas of the rainforest were burned down, tropical ecosystems were devastated, and African grass was planted to create pasture land for the herds of cattle, purpose bred and raised to sustain the North American appetite for beef.

The amount of land needed to raise each animal in the tropics’ former forestland gradually increases; as the soil erodes under the grazing, up to five times as much space will be needed after six to eight years as at the formation of the ranch. But land developers are not dissuaded by this. These ranches allow developers to gain land title to the land, with the promise of high profits.

Cows graze for ranchers’ interests where tall trees once stood

So the assaults on the forests continued through the 1990s. According to scientists at the Smithsonian Institute, between 1995 and 2000 almost two million hectares of rainforest a year were destroyed. That’s the equivalent of seven football fields of land bulldozed every minute, primarily to create more room for ranchers.

Today, in addition to the financial allure of cattle flesh market, there is incentive to take land to grow crops for biofuels. Environmental journalist George Monbiot tells us bluntly that biofuel is wrecking what’s left of the world’s forests. “The UN has just published a report suggesting that 98% of the natural rainforest in Indonesia will be degraded or gone by 2022,” writes Monbiot, who notes that the planting of palm oil to turn into biodiesel for the European market “is now the main cause of deforestation there and it is likely soon to become responsible for the extinction of the orang-utan in the wild.”

Photo of a young orang-utan, from the website of Borneo Orangutan Survival.

What can we do to stop the decimation of these forests? Clearly we should avoid buying snacks and other products made with palm oil, as most palm oil is just not sustainable. We should take the train, when we can, instead of the car. Even an act as simple, yet mindful, as bringing our own chopsticks to a Chinese restaurant is an important part of saving trees and the many animals who are vulnerable to habitat loss.

And then there is opting out of animal products. Because of animal agribusiness, trees are cut down and animal habitat is destroyed. Moreover, traditional livelihoods that enable communities to feed themselves directly are being lost. A vegan commitment is something we can all do today to show respect and care for the environment on which all conscious life depends.

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