Spirituality and Ecological Hope

Fostering Ecological Hope

Today from Margaret Swedish:

We get a lot of bad news, so it’s important to report the goods news.   International pressure has been building to get Brazil to take action to stop the destruction of the Amazon rainforest – which because of illegal logging, development, and drought is near the point-of-no-return, of death

One of the leading causes of rainforest destruction in recent years, however, is soy production.  Acres upon acres have been bulldozed and put under agricultural production.  Greenpeace has been leading an international campaign to stop the destruction.

Now an agreement has been reached whereby two leading grain processors will stop buying soy from land recently put under cultivation in the Amazon rainforest for two years to allow time for binding rules to be adopted to cover operations in this critical bioregion.

Will this save the forest, one of the most significant ecosystems on earth?  Not clear, but it is an important step.  For one thing, it will give the government more focus to go after the illegal logging that is a major plague for that rich ecosystem.

Meanwhile, however, the forest remains under severe strain because of the second year of devastating drought.  The drought is considered by many scientists to be result of the heating of the planet leading to the climate changes that are altering weather patterns and increasing evaporation of the moisture needed to make rain.

Let’s remind ourselves: the death of this rainforest is not a local catastrophe — it is the death of a  natural wonder that is source of life and breath for all of us.  Its death will likely accelerate many of the major ‘drivers’ leading to climate change.  It is critical for all of us that efforts to save the forest succeed.