Why Is Deforestation Allowed?

The practice of deforestation is obviously a contentious one, with no small number of people furious that it is allowed to happen. Yet, it is allowed to happen nonetheless and this happens despite the controversy and the anger that it provokes. The big question is “why?”. And the answer is not that difficult to find. It is hard to stop deforestation because many of the world’s rainforests are in equatorial regions with little financial muscle.

Therefore when a major global company with an interest in developing the land for their own purposes waves a check at a government with little spending power, it is difficult for them to resist. If a country has a lot of money, it is easier to turn away the companies offering financial inducements to remove a beneficial resource. Although it is more financially beneficial long term to develop and harvest the resources for a continuing income, short term thinking dominates when you are already in debt to the world’s banks.

It is not just a story of governments with small budgets needing the money and reluctantly trading in resources for money, of course. In some cases, governments are just greedy. Whatever the case, though, the fact remains that until more companies are persuaded to spend their money more responsibly there will be many governments who are prepared to sacrifice the long term good of their country for financial expediency. It is to be hoped that there will be more green-friendly companies with the muscle and the initiative to ensure that rainforest resources are used correctly.

The Financial Truth About Deforestation

Anyone raising concerns about deforestation is likely to find that people will try and shout them down with claims about “standing in the way of progress” and “not living in the real world” financially. But it is a little known fact that by keeping a thriving rainforest rather than taking what you can get from it and leaving it a wreck, you can make more money. This is something that needs to be said loud when arguing with an enviro-skeptic. It needs to be said loud, and often. The statistics are telling.

Recent statistics have shown that if rainforest land is converted to allow the raising of cattle, the land and operations will yield $60 an acre. If timber is harvested from the same land, it will be worth $400 an acre. However, if the same land is used for harvesting, taking its renewable resources in a sustainable way, it will yield more than $2400 per acre. So now who’s not living in the real world? Now who is standing in the way of progress?

The fact is that it is by pointing to the financial viability of saving the rainforests that the debate can be won conclusively. It takes a little bit more preparation to harvest natural resources than it does to cut them down and sell them off, that much is true. But once the preparation work has been done, there is only one side of the argument that is ignoring financial reality and it is not the environmental movement.

The Perils Of Short-Term Thinking

One of the major reasons that deforestation happens is because it is very easy for companies to do it. As there is little financial cost involved in chopping down trees compared to other ways of sourcing raw materials, it continues to happen. But what is rarely confronted is the fact that if the rainforests were left standing, they would be of more financial value to the world – if they are left as they are, it is possible to harvest what they provide. If they are cut down, we have that much wood and then nothing.

It is hard to get a multinational company to think this way. The short-termist way of looking at things is one that appeals to these companies because it allows them to meet their targets, pay their bills and take the biggest share of the market. When they have exhausted this natural resource, they will all be looking for another way of doing things – but they assume that something will turn up, and don’t particularly worry about what it will be.

This kind of short-termist thinking is damaging for the planet and for those companies, because assuming that something will turn up is no way to run a business for the future. Once the natural resources are gone, this planet will be struggling for a way to keep on an even keel, and the consequences for all of us could be dire. Many companies are now looking further forward, but the battle is far from won so we must keep a focus on the survival of the planet.