Record losses in the Amazon region

It is a sad record hunt with uncertain consequences: from one year to the next, rainforest loss in the Amazon region is increasing at an ever greater rate. This year has already reached the highest level for 15 years. In September alone, there were 1,455 ^km2 – which is almost twice as large as the city of Hamburg.

A devastating development

If things continue at this rate, the Amazon rainforest could reach a dangerous tipping point in the coming decades: Then it will no longer just be humans who are responsible for the dwindling of the forest with hundreds of thousands of slash-and-burn clearances every year, but the destruction will be driven forward by itself. This is because the bare areas disrupt the water cycle of the otherwise contiguous forest areas to such an extent that more and more trees die.

The run-off election between the incumbent right-wing president Bolsonaro and his challenger Lula da Silva at the end of October will play a decisive role in determining the direction in which deforestation progresses. Regardless of this, it is all the more important to give value to the local forest through sustainable management and to preserve it in the long term.

Protect through use

At Betterwood, we act according to this principle. Our supplier from Brazil only fells three trees per hectare in 35 years. Light machines are used for selective timber harvesting in order to carry out the harvest gently. In addition, over 13% of the total area of the managed forest is designated as a protected zone. An example of sustainable forestry that offers a real alternative to the economically motivated clearing of land for agriculture and mining.

With the purchase of certified tropical wood from certified origin we in Europe can make an important contribution to preserving the ecosystems in the Amazon. In connection with this, Biomaderas GmbH (whose online store Betterwood is) supported an official call for the expansion of FSC-certified areas in Brazil last year. The open letter “ Amazon Initiative “, signed by sustainable timber importers from Europe, calls on local authorities to conserve more forest area by extending concessions with responsible, sustainable management.