Sustainable Development

Why feeding the planet doesn’t have to mean sacrificing our forests

An aerial view shows a tract of Amazon rainforest which has been cleared by loggers and farmers for agriculture, near the city of Santarem, Para State April 20, 2013. The Amazon rainforest is being eaten away at by deforestation, much of which takes place as areas are burnt by large fires to clear land for agriculture. Initial data from Brazil's space agency suggests that destruction of the vast rainforest - the largest in the world - spiked by more than a third over the past year, wiping out an area more than twice the size of the city of Los Angeles. If the figures are borne out by follow-up data, they would confirm fears of scientists and environmental activists who warn that farming, mining and Amazon infrastructure projects, coupled with changes to Brazil's long-standing environmental policies, are reversing progress made against deforestation. Environmental issues will be under the spotlight as a United Nations Climate Change Conference opens in Warsaw, Poland, on November 11. Picture taken on April 20, 2013. REUTERS/Nacho Doce (BRAZIL - Tags: AGRICULTURE POLITICS ENVIRONMENT) ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 02 OF 55 FOR PACKAGE 'AMAZON - FROM PARADISE TO INFERNO' TO FIND ALL IMAGES SEARCH 'AMAZON INFERNO' - GM1E9BB0RXT01

Left unchecked, an area of forest the size of Jamaica will be lost every year. Image: REUTERS/Nacho Doce

Fraser Thompson
Director, AlphaBeta
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Related topics:
Sustainable DevelopmentAgriculture, Food and BeverageFood SecurityFuture of the Environment
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