Apr 02 2009
Building Walls to Save Forests
I read in the newspaper yesterday that the government of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro is going to build ten-foot walls around the slums of that big city in order to protect the nearby urban rainforest from further deforestation. This is wrong on so many levels that it makes my head spin. But I can’t think of a better issue to ponder today, as the G20 tackles the world’s economic woes.
Naturally, as a guy who has made woods wandering the central focus of his life, I’m all for preserving forests wherever they may be. That’s why I get this sick feeling when I read stories like this one. The Rio government is pandering to the likes of me – to affluent, nature-loving people in Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere, who are deeply concerned about the mass extinction of plants and animals as well as global warming. Yeah, they know how to package it.
Reality check: the burgeoning slums in question have destroyed 500 acres of urban rainforest during the last three years. Since 2000, about 150,000 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest have disappeared. Quite a difference, I’d say. Besides that, isn’t the term “urban rainforest” something of an oxymoron?
Using the Internet, I dug deeper into this matter only to learn that the project managers think this wall will significantly reduce the drug-related violence spreading from the slums to the city’s richer quarters. How convenient. Two solutions for the price of one.
Yes, Brazil is one of the countries attending the G20 summit. With the world’s tenth largest economy and a population of nearly 200 million, it’s force to be reckoned with, no doubt. But when I read about walls being built around slums to save urban forests, I can’t help but wonder who’s in charge there and what their priorities are. Looking out for their poorest citizens isn’t at the top of their list, obviously.
The world is small and getting smaller. What happens in a rainforest thousands of miles away affects those of us living here. What happens to the Brazilian people affects us, as well. Both the economy and the environment are global, so we should care about what happens in faraway places. But in the Age of Information, bullshit travels at the speed of light. We would be wise to keep this in mind the next time the politicos here, at the G20 summit, and elsewhere tell us what they are doing to make things better.
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