What Loggers Want

Logging companies began moving into the Amazon basin in the 1960s. Loggers harvest trees from forests for use in wood products. These products range from paper to fine furniture.

The Rainforest Is a Source of Valuable Hardwoods

A great variety of trees grows in the Amazon rainforest. The most valuable are hardwood trees such as mahogany and rosewood. Furniture makers all over the world use the beautiful wood from these trees.

Unfortunately, these valuable trees are scattered throughout the rainforest. This makes it hard to find and cut just the hardwoods. Instead, loggers clear-cut whole patches of rainforest. This means that they cut down all of the trees in an area. Once all the trees are removed, the loggers move on to another patch.

Logging companies argue that clear-cutting is the only way they can make money. But clear-cutting is also a major cause of deforestation. The larger the area that is stripped of its trees, the longer it takes for the rainforest to grow back.

Logging also leads to other types of development. Logging companies build roads deep into the rainforest so that they can move logs by truck. Settlers looking for land follow these logging roads into the forest. Once there, they claim land for farming and ranching.

We Need Trees to Help Brazil’s Economy

Many groups oppose clear-cutting of the rainforest. Loggers reply that they are helping Brazil’s economy grow. Logging, they say, creates jobs for people in the forestry industry. It also provides wood for Brazil’s furniture factories and paper mills.

Lumber companies also argue that they have made forestry a valuable economic activity for Brazil. In 2005, Brazil exported more than $5 billion worth of wood. The money earned from these sales is helping Brazil to pay off its debts. It is also making life better for many people.