Xref: utzoo sci.bio:5088 soc.misc:2261 misc.misc:12308 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!rex!ames!ncar!csn!boulder!alumni.colorado.edu!william From: william@alumni.colorado.edu (William Hughes) Newsgroups: sci.bio,soc.misc,misc.misc Subject: Rain Forest Destruction Message-ID: <1991Jun1.213133.2781@colorado.edu> Date: 1 Jun 91 21:31:33 GMT Sender: news@colorado.edu (The Daily Planet) Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder Lines: 67 Originator: william@alumni.colorado.edu Nntp-Posting-Host: alumni.colorado.edu The following letter was written by a group of students at Centennial Jr. High School in Boulder, Colorado as part of a class project in Biology. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Citizens of the World, We are a concerned group of people who would like to address the problem of rain forest destruction. Do you realize that 50 acres of rain forest are being destroyed every minute? That's 26,280,000 acres each year. At this rate, scientists calculate that by the year 2000, there will be little or no rain forests left in the world. This is a major problem. because the rain forests contain more than 50% of the world's animal species. Did you know that the rain forest loses one species per day? In Brazil and Costa Rica alone, it is estimated that in the next quarter century, 1.2 million plant and animal species are at risk of being forever wiped form the face of the planet. Many of these species may be the answer to diseases such as AIDS and cancer. Furthermore, the rain forest provides clean air to help clean up our already polluted atmosphere. This is also a major problem, because the rain forest helps control the world's climate. The rain forest is being destroyed for cattle ranching, commercial logging, and tobacco production. Iron and ore mining is also a problem, because this industry is chopping down rain forests to be replaced by mines. This problem is being caused by multilateral development banks (MDB's) who loan 22 billion dollars to third world development every year. Other companies which exacerbate the situation are private bank such as Citicorp, Wells Fargo, and the Bank of America who loan over 3 times what the MDB's loan. Coca-cola is also part of the problem. There are other reasons that cutting rain forest isn't the best solution to space or logging problems: deforested land needs large inputs of water, pesticides, and fertilizers. Besides the land turns to desert after 1 - 10 years. Also, there are many large-scale projects that use large areas of land, but employ few people. However, there are solutions: programs that let you but acreage of rain forest - and nobody can legally use that land for any purpose, except you. One such program is available through the Rain Forest Foundation. You can purchase l acre for $100, or one-half acre for $58. You will receive a signed Certificate of Acknowledgement, and a map pinpointing your acre of rain forest, plus a Rain Forest Foundation T-shirt. For details, call toll free 1-800-542-1800 or write The Rain Forest Foundation, P.O. Box 757, Plainville, Connecticut 06062. We hope that you are more informed about the rain forest situation, and thanks for taking the time to read this document! Concerned students at Centennial Junior High Boulder, Colorado 80304