When it comes to primary forests, the first thing that comes to mind is the Amazon, because it is home to the largest extensions of virgin forest that remain on our planet. More than 20% of the earth's animal and plant species live there, as well as twenty million people, including indigenous tribes (including various uncontacted indigenous groups). In the next article we will talk about the amazon rainforest.
A land difficult to recover
Although it is the green lung of the planet and seems indestructible, in reality the Amazon rainforest is a very fragile ecosystem, who lives in a delicate balance. For example, the land of the jungle is not very rich in itself, but it is nourished by decomposing organic matter: leaves, fruits, small animals … If the forest is cut down, that land is rapidly impoverished and later it is very difficult to return to its natural state.
It also affects the tribes
This is precisely what is currently happening with massive logging, carried out to take advantage of wood and, incidentally, install large farms for extensive agriculture and livestock. This also implies the displacement of hundreds of indigenous tribes, who for generations and generations have lived in the jungle and do not adapt to life anywhere else.
Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest: causes
There are many economic interests that play against the conservation of the Amazon rainforest:
- The breeding of beef cattle for hamburger meat.
- Extensive cultivation of soybeans.
- The extensive cultivation of palm oil.
It is not we ourselves who are destroying the jungle, with its jaguars and freshwater dolphins, with its large trees and bright flowers, with the traditional and unrepeatable ways of life that it houses … but we have our share of responsibilityWell, at the end of the day we are the final consumers of certain products that cause all that destruction. Before we eat a hamburger or drink a glass of soy milk, let's find out where they came from.
If you want to read more articles similar to The Amazon rainforest, we recommend that you enter our Ecosystems category.
