This incredibly complex ecosystem is worth saving. At the start of the new millennium, almost 8,000 square miles of forest were destroyed, and by 2010, it is estimated that the number will double. From 2000 to 2006, the Amazon rainforest lost an area larger than Greece. The deforestation of this vital habitat isn’t slowing down. But what exactly is deforestation and what can be done to stop it?

Throughout many tropical countries, deforestation occurs due to the actions of poor subsistence cultivators. But in Brazil, only one-third of the deforestation can be linked to that phenomenon. The commercialized land clearing brought on by government practice and World Bank projects has been the major driving forced behind this forest’s annihilation. Landowners were once thought to be the culprits. But once the numbers were released that over a dozen acres of rainforest were destroyed every minute, it became evident that big business had taken up root in one of the world’s most pristine habitats.

Income made my rainforest materials have a relatively low tax rate, making these materials evermore valuable. The clearing for cattle pastures and colonization, combined with the timber being sold and commercial agriculture are all contributing factors to deforestation. When a large area needs to be cleared, expensive machinery and man-powered labor efforts are pushed aside to use nature’s deadliest enemy against the forest: Fire. Instead of cutting enough trees down to clear a sizable area, fires are set and destroy thousands of more acres than intended.

The only possible way to stop this practice is to declare the Amazon rainforest sacred and heavily penalize any inhabits that aren’t native. Instead of government profiting from the forest’s destruction, the attitude needs to switch to preservation. Currently, there are a few activist groups that work to stop the deforestation. Unfortunately, their efforts are not nearly enough to prevent thousands of square miles from being destroyed every year.