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 Map can be found at www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/south_america/brazil/ |
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DAY TWO: BELEM •INVITED SPEAKERS: DR. JOHAN ZWEEDE, TROPICAL FOREST FOUNDATION PAULO BERRETO, IMAZON BETO VERISSIMO, IMAZON •TRAMONTINA SAW MILL TOUR |
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The city of Belem
Cool links: http://www.tropicalforest foundation.org
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'Boom and bust' logging was a key concept in the day's discussions. In this detrimental cycle, logging companies continuously move west, pushing back the frontier of the Amazonian forests. In order to survive, these companies must move quickly, extracting as much wood as possible from the forest frontier before other companies can lay claim on it. Behind them the loggers leave hundreds of thousands of hectares of deforested land. The 'boom' refers to the sudden and large economic boost that occurs in logging towns at the leading edge of the frontier, as the largest and most valuable trees are harvested. Inevitably, however, the towns and businesses that form during these times are left behind as the wave of deforestation continues west. These towns are then hit with the 'bust' phase of the cycle, during which local economic conditions fall precipitously to a level of poverty below that which was present before the boom.
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