Anyone that knows me, knows that I can’t stand how our society so easily destroys nature. Do people not understand the importance of Tropical Rainforests? Do they understand how rain forests support many diversified ecosystems?
Deforestation has many wicked side effects such as water and air pollution, CO2 released into the atmosphere, soil erosion, and let’s not forget animal and plant extinction.
If we continue to destroy our planet’s rainforests we will have less air to breathe, less rain to feed our food sources, and way more global warming.
Is it too late? Can we turn the tide of our destructive path?
Here are three ways our society as a whole can fix this problem:
Conservation Laws
Our lawmakers need to make deforestation an illegal practice. Secondly, the laws need to be enforced if we’re to see changed. We also need money being spent on conservation. Governments need to step in and give grants to those that are making a difference in preserving ecosystems. A great example is Germany forgave a $400 million dollar debt to Kenya, when Kenya passed legislation to protect the enviroment. More countries need to follow in Germany’s footsteps.
Educate the Masses
Our planet has lost millions and millions of square miles of rainforest. Education is the key to protecting the little future we have left. If we start at the forefront – our children – if they learn early in their education that deforestation is killing us then as they grow into adults they will have a deeper understanding of the challenges it takes to conserve our ecosystems. However, it’s not just our children, there are many adults that need this vital education too.
We already have the resources to educate, and many educators are taking the leap forward, but it’s still too low of a percentage. It needs to be country wide or more importantly – worldwide.
Ecotourism
One of the best way to educate the masses is through ecotourism. I didn’t find my passion into trying to stop deforestation till I visited a rainforest in Brazil and saw a beautiful blue parrotlet. This “pocket parrot’s” home was slowly being destroyed by deforestation and it broke my heart.
As long as the ecotourism does not adversely affect the rainforest ecosystem we should be pushing more for it. In the last decade ecotourism has grown in 25 countries by 86%!
Ecotourism not only can save our forests but also provides jobs for those in the hotel industry, food and beverages, transportation, and those are the one’s off the top of my head.
What amazes me about Ecotourism is that it relies on healthy and efficient ecosystems, so this is a powerful incentive to protect our tropical rainforests.
We’re not going to stop deforestation till we are willing to put the effort in. Even though the problem seems insurmountable we do still have a chance to right a wrong.
