deforestation

Two researchers say the damage to the world’s tropical forests may not be as bad as first feared. Because population growth is slowing in many countries and people are moving to cities, the pressure to cut down primary rainforest and use marginal land for agriculture is falling, according to Joseph Wright of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and Helene Muller-Landau of the University of Minnesota.

The rate of Amazon deforestation has accelerated. This year is worse – almost 12,000 km sq were deforested this year (until July), which is the equivalent to the size of 20 Torontos, including the city’s suburbs. That rate is about 4 per cent higher than last year. It’s the first increase in four years, according to Brazilian officials.