Sustaining the Amazon The a

Sustaining the Amazon: A Critical Review

The article, Sustaining the Amazon, describes various socioeconomic and ecologic shifts within Brazilian Amazonia. It concedes the inevitability of the region's economic development. In addition, the article promotes the concept of sustainable progress. For instance, it describes how various researchers are trying to reconcile the change with conservation. While such efforts are certainly well intended, they also seem very optimistic.

The Amazon contains roughly five million square kilometers of tree cover. It is, in fact, the world's largest continuous expanse of tropical rain forest. Holloway (1993) asks the question, "Can scientists reconcile the inevitability of economic development with the preservation of the forests" (Holloway, 1993, p. 91)? The question certainly considers a very complex situation. As Sachs (1991) notes, "the internal challenges posed by the development of Brazilian Amazonia are as vast as the size of this immense area" (Sachs, 1991, pp. 32-35)."

One thing that most scientists do agree on, however, is the fact that rain forests will eventually be developed. Toniolo & Uhl (1995) describes how the region's population has increased from 2,562,000 in 1960 to 10,146,000 in 1991 (Toniolo & Uhl, 1995, pp. 959-973). This high rate of growth has been fueled by migration from other parts of Brazil. At present, forests are being felled at a rate of 1,800 hectares (about 4,500 acres) every hour.

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sustainability, from an environmental, an ecological, and a social perspective" (Holloway, 1993, pp. 90-99). In general though, sustainable development involves meeting human objectives and preserving the forest at the same time. Such ideas are not new. Sachs (1991) states that "a new form of civilization based on the sustainable use of renewable resources is not only possible but essential" (Sachs, 1991, pp. 32-35). The reduction of protectionist barriers in industrialized countries might result in increased trade, and thereby enhance Third World countries' ability to protect their natural resources (Sachs, 1991, pp. 32-35). One researcher mentioned by Holloway (1993), biologist Thomas E. Lovejoy, has been addressing these issues for decades (Holloway,1993, pp. 90-99). For example, in the mid-1980s, Lovejoy came up the concept of debt-for-nature swaps. The biologist suggested that conservation organizations repay some of Third World nations' foreign debt in exchange for conservation. If implemented, the swaps would alleviate debt and strengthen the countries' economies while maintaining biodiversity. Yet another approach employed by Lovejoy has involved publicizing the financial promise of biodiversity. Lovejoy an

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