“Experts agree that by leaving the rainforests intact and harvesting it’s many nuts, fruits, oil-producing plants, and medicinal plants, the rainforest has more economic value than if they were cut down to make grazing land for cattle or for timber.” http://www.savetheamazon.org/rainforeststats.htm
New research shows that $60 per acre is generated when farmers convert their rainforest land into cattle operations; however, when renewable resources are harvested instead, the same land actually yields $2400 per acre. This means that companies, (when able to create a strong enough demand for their product), allow farmers to increase their revenues (which also tackles the cross-cutting issue of poverty), and also help to prevent prevent the damages that would have otherwised occured: biodiversity loss, climate change, and global warming.
In my last post, I mentioned one company that is committed to sustainable harvesting and fair trade products: Guayaki. Although they may still be small in size, I feel that their potential to make significant change remains strong. With sufficient demand from consumers, we can create a new source of income for the farmers: rather than cutting the rainforests down for timber sales, we can create a market (and therefore, an economic solution) for the sustainable harvest of medicinal plants, nuts, oil and other resources.
This is the kind of solution that requires a lot of momentum to take off, but with awareness and accessibility to such products, it’s nothing short of entirely possible.
Rainforests are more valuable alive than cut and burned; solutions should be obvious, right?
The dollar amounts generated from your research is really interesting. I had no idea that there was such a radical difference. Are the dollar amounts estimated by year or are they a one-time deal?
Excellent question msbeaker! The amounts generated from rainforest land vary from region to region, mostly based on the level of threat to that area. When looking at solutions to rainforest destruction, and land pricing, I came across some interesting information that stated that, when giving a donation, sometimes twenty-five dollars will protect one acre of rainforest, and sometimes it will protect twenty-five (http://ran.org/what_we_do/protectanacre/faqs/). This emphasizes that yes, rainforest are difficult to price, and their value flactuates with demand, environmental issues, and levels of resources being demandede. By buying sustainably, and choosing not to buy timber harvested from the rainforest, we increase the demand for sustainable products, and in turn, increase the land’s dollar value! I hope that answers your question a bit better, and I will do my best to keep investigating!
Here is a link to a great study done on Valuing a Sustainable Harvest in Ecuador and Peru. It actually gives you a break down of the revenues generated, and the side bars provide some really interesting information and resources. As you can see, their numbers vary from those provided in my post, but shows that location, resources, and level of threat all play important factors in determining a dollar value.
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/10study.htm