Initiative to Connect South American Economies puts Rainforest at Risk

October 6, 2007

Scientist Tim Killeen of Conservation International (CI) has completed a study that suggests the plan to link several South American countries economies through new energy, transportation and telecommunications projects, puts the Amazon Rainforest at risk.

He has put together a report that outlines ideas on how to resolve the problem of environmental protection and economic development called, �A Perfect Storm in the Amazon Wilderness: Development and Conservation in the Context of the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA)� .

Problems that he foresees with the development of the region include logging, climate change, mineral exploitation, deforestation for agriculture, and the increasing use of biofuel crops such as sugar cane. The study shows there are three possible outcomes for the rainforest with the worst case scenario being the loss of the forest within four decades. He fears that the loss of the forest will make global warming worse as huge quantities of carbon are stored in the biomass of the forest. It is estimated that the forest would release twenty times the worlds total annual greenhouse gas emissions.

He argues that biocrops such as sugar cane should be planted on the 162 million acres of the forest that have already been destroyed, as opposed to cutting down more forest to grow the crop. Another goal he states is to begin fish farming for the locals so they can use the natural water that already exists within the forest.

Killeen report states, �A visionary initiative such as IIRSA should be visionary in all of its dimensions, and should incorporate measures to ensure that the region�s renewable natural resources are conserved and its traditional communities strengthened.�