Environmental Injustice - Amazon Rainforest DeforestationSimon Fenigstein & Orr SelaI decided to

I decided to talk about deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest which is the largest in the world and holds more animal species than anywhere else. Since 1978 over 750,000 square kilometers of the Amazon Rainforest have been destroyed. Until the 20th century deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest happened mainly due to local farmers who cut down trees to produce crops for their families and local villages. Until that time the rainforest had a sustainable “life” with the villagers, the farmers didn't cut down too many trees at a time, so the forest could regrow itself with no problem at all. All this changed in the 20th century when the population around the forest grew very quickly. Now the deforestation was driven by industrial needs and large scale agriculture. Since then and until now nearly two thirds of the rainforest were cut down and all of this was to increase the number of farms, to enlarge little towns that surround the forest, to create dams and to dig minerals.

The environmental injustice that is happening right now in and near the rainforest is huge. Near the Amazon Rainforest are poor towns and villages. Before the entrepreneurs came, the villagers could use the forests resources for their own use and have a sustainable life with the rainforest. But now all of that changed. The industry keeps cutting trees and destroying animal habitats for money and because the government isn't strong enough and doesn't care about the villages, the villagers are treated poorly, barely have access to clean water and food, live in extreme poverty, and at the same time one of the most bio-diversified places on earth is being destroyed and will never be the same again.

Today, Amazon deforestation isn't just a national problem but an international- ecological and environmental problem. Over the years different organizations and governments have managed to assign 31% of the rainforest as protected areas where logging and deforestation aren't allowed. But the problem hasn't been solved yet and millions of acres are being cut down every year. So, we need to keep working for a brighter future!

35 species of animals in the Amazon Rainforest become extinct each and every day.

There are around 40,000 plant species, 1,300 bird species, 3,000 types of fish, 430 mammals anD 2.5 million different insects!

The Scarlet Macaw is a beautiful bird that often gets caught and sold lowering there natural population in the Amazon.

The Amazon is found in South America, spanning across Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.

The Amazon river is 6,400km, it is the second longest river in the world.

The Amazon Rainforest is the largest in the world and holds more animal species than anywhere else in the world

Around 400-500 native Amerindian tribes call the Amazon rainforest home. It’s believed that about fifty of these tribes have never had contact with the outside world!

With 20,000 total members, the Yanomani tribe is the largest tribe in the Amazon Rainforest. They live in Northern Brazil and near the border of Southern Venezuela.Many Amazonian tribes believe in animism, a belief that animal spirits inhabit all animate and inanimate things.