Final Paper Part Two

Part II: Major contemporary concerns and sociological analyses

One of the stories that I found very interesting was a piece CNN did recently about deforestation in Panama. Raul Mezua who is an Embera tribesman in the area where forest is being decimated told CNN that the rainforests are apart of his language and culture. That it is much more than just trees and resources for people. But things are taking a turn in terms of the people responsible for forests being cut down. According to the article; places that once were booming with business from farms and cattle ranching our now places where forest flourished originally. Scientist say that rainforests that were once cut down can actually grow back faster if they are left untouched. Scientist Joseph Wright says, “After about 20 years the forest will be about 60 feet tall”. He also believes that the re-growing of tropical rainforests is going to help a lot with removing the excessive amount of carbon dioxide that is in the Earth’s atmosphere. But this is not the whole answer to the deforestation problem. According to the director of Panama’s Museum of Biodiversity, creating new forests is not exactly the same. He believes that if society would just let rain forest be that basically this would be ten times better than grown a whole new forest. Once you cut down the original you loose certain plants and species that you may never be able to get back. Reading this piece really reminded me a little bit of the movie “Avatar”. I’m not sure if you have ever seen it; but in terms with Raul it’s almost the same story.
I learned a lot from this article. At the rate that forests are being destroyed, the cure for certain diseases, or the discovery of new species is drastically being depleted. “More than 7 million hectares of forest were destroyed globally each year between 2000 and 2005” (CNN). This article to me is very saddening! I really didn’t care that much about deforestation before looking into this for my paper. I didn’t realize whom many lives it can affect not talking about the people who benefit from tree’s resources. It’s amazing to see what people will actually do for money and business. The locals or the people that depend on the rainforests are being pushed out of their land. But for some reason I am not surprised because as we all know “history repeats itself”.
Another reason why a lot of forests are destroyed is because there is fast growth with the international fast food chains. Fast food chains are a big factor when trees get cleared because of the fact that animals and cattle need land. Cattle are primarily the main source of meat to allot of these fast food chains. Therefore you need acres of land for cattle grazing, thus a lot more forests are going to be destroyed.
In the article The Choice: Doomsday or Arbor Day the author Jocelyn Stock Andy Rochen stats that, “Beyond the major causes of deforestation lie some supplementary ones that too stack the odds against forest around the globe. Acid rain and the building of dams have their share of harmful effects.
The race to produce cash crops such as fruit, spices, sugar tobacco, soap, rubber, paper, and cloth has given cause to many to try to farm them by using soil and other products that can be retrieved by destroying the forests. Even those in industrialized countries may participate in the destruction of forests in the 3rd world. The need for products in industrialized countries drives production in other poorer, less developed countries. This production is at the cost of the trees and the services that they provide”.