Amazon Network
working to conserve the rainforest through education and activism

 

Mission Statement The Plight of the Rain Forest Our Proposed Solution
" Man
is
part
of
nature
and
his
war
against
nature
is
inevitably
a
war
against
himself."

- Rachel Carson

Rain forests form the very foundation of human existence. Yet an area of the rainforest half the size of the State of California is destroyed every single year. This is our mission:

The Amazon Network works to conserve those luxuriant ecosystems through education and activism. The primary cause of rainforest destruction being commercial logging we have formulated a strategy of discouraging international trade in tropical timber. Our primary focus is on the Amazon River basin.

The Plight of the Rain Forest

Rainforests rank the highest in biodiversity among the ecosystems of the planet. They cover less than five percent of the surface of the earth; yet they are home to one half of the plant and animal species. They provide one third of our oxygen. The majority of the staple crops that we consume today originated in the rain forest; so did the medicinal herbs that are the basis of modern pharmaceuticals.

Despite their vital role in his life man is destroying the tropical jungles at the rate of a hundred acres a minute. In the last twenty years alone, more than 12% of the Amazon was decimated. Commercial logging is the root of the problem since the logging roads also provide access for cattle ranchers and slash-and-burn farmers.

Our Proposed Solution

We urge the heads of all trading companies who are involved in trade in tropical timber to realize that the potential benefits of the rain forests to humanity are far more than the value of the timber that they contain. They are the heritage of the human race and their beauty and biodiversity ought not be exploited for short term gain.

We hereby make a plea to the trading companies to exclude primary forests from their operations and limit their trade to timber and timber products obtained from sustainably managed second-growth forests.

Consumers are becoming increasingly eco-savvy. We demand that forest products be clearly marked with their place of origin so that we can exercise our right of choice.