DEFORESTATION

Most of what we hear about the Amazon concerns deforestation and the frightening pace with which this is taking place. You come across all sorts of figures about how bad it is: a football field a minute, or an area the size of Rhode Island every year, or whatever. But these numbers don't really mean much—what we do know is that a lot of rainforest is being lost, along with the plants, animals and peoples' ways of life. In western Amazonia, there remain huge tracts of intact forest, still pristine. That's where most of the photos in this web site come from. The destruction tends to be worse further east, downriver as you approach the large cities in the Brazilian Amazon. For ideas about getting involved see our rainforest conservation links pages.