What came to attention is the intense forest loss in South America: but not necessarily in the highly researched Brazilian Amazon! Evidence from Paraguay and Bolivia, for example, showed that the highest forest loss has been occurring in the subtropical forests of the world.
This GIF image shows the drastic change 2000-2012 in Paraguay, but please also pay attention to the zoom on the whole South American continent. Highlighted in red are areas that were converted by anthropogenic processes - it will shock you and justify the relevance of this blog further.
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Great graphic! But you're right, with so much emphasis on Brazilian deforestation perhaps we forget about other countries in the region. Do you think that opens the door for them to get away with even more deforestation? As they probably don't have the international pressures that Brazil might have?
ReplyDeleteYes I think that is true - in fact Brazilian anti-deforestation laws are only seriously enforced with the labour of the transnational organisation "Imazon". Paraguay may have those same laws as Brazil but the lack of international attention leaves them unfulfilled.
ReplyDeleteHowever, we must not forget that the largest percentage of South American tropical forest still lies within Brazil. So in absolute terms the hectares lost are considered "more important" in their impact (on regional climate, biodiversity etc).