Up to 1960, the Amazon rainforest was still conserved. However, there has been a massive invasion of its forest for the last 40 years and the trees have not been the only “victims”. Hundreds of species (animals and still unknown insects) have disappeared. The forest clearing started in the 70’s when roads were under construction. The situation got a little better in the 80’s and then got worse again in the following decade. In 2002, 10,700 square miles of lands were deforested. Roads construction, trees cutting intended to produce wood and development of agriculture and cattle-breeding are the main causes of such clearing. |
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Indigenous forests are being cleared at an alarming pace all over the world. The demand for noble wood has been increasing yearly but the supply has been decreasing sharply. In turn, the world population has been increasing at a 100-million-people rate every year. FAO (United Nations - Food and Agriculture Organization) predicts that there will be an increase of 50% in the demand of all types of wood in less than 15 years. However the demand is going up, the supply is going down as long as it depends on investments and on the required time for the tree to grow. The rise in noble wood price is strictly proportional to both the clearing of forests and to importer countries’ more stringent laws. There is no substitute for high quality wood. Several environmentalist groups have fought real wars against an increasing deforesting. The worldwide wood industry will undergo a deep change in the near future under the pressure of these groups – mainly in Europe, due to the implementation of a law that allows importing wood only from farms that support sustainable forestry management practices on the very few remaining forests. The immediate impact of enforcing such a law would be to highly value those sustainable managed farms, which are certified by well-known institutions. |