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Published October
2003 - Updated Feb 2006
LGVN Environment / Animals - Rain Forest Destruction
Brazilian Rain
Forest Destruction Sped Up by Illegal Soy Bean Plantations.
Palm Oil Plantations Destroying the last of the Indonesian Rain
Forests - Driving Orangutans to Extinction
The
destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil is being dramatically
accelerated due to massive plantations of soy. European consumers
are inadvertently causing the effect due to preference of non-genetically
modified soy instead of the American GM equivalent.
Areas
the size of Belgium in the Brazilian rainforest are being cleared
annually by illegal loggers. The logged land is then used to plant
non-GM soy beans. The Brazilians are making huge profits from this
illegal activity by tapping into the public demand for GM free foods.
Once the soy crops have been harvested, the land becomes useless
and nothing is able to grow in these areas again. The Amazon contains
one third of the world's plant and animal species. It's feared that
with this added strain on the destruction of the world's most vital
ecosystem, the forest will be completely lost in years rather than
decades. On top of this, the Brazilian government are now allowing
genetically modified soy beans to be planted in the south of the
country. Until now, the country had banned the growing of GM crops.
Looking-Glass
says:
The irony is that soy is a common food of vegetarians, many who
will be horrified to know that their protein supplement is causing
such devastating environmental damage to the rain forest and its
animal life. If the United States reverted to non GM soy plantations
then European soy product manufacturers would surely turn towards
to America as an environmentally acceptable alternative. In fact
research shows that the agricultural performance of GM crops is
frequently worse than non-GM varieties. So why are millions of acres
of GM crops being grown by the US anyway?
The public are advised to check the source of the soy beans in the
product before purchasing. Alpro, the manufacturers of Soya based
drinks and products based in Europe tell Looking-Glass and VeggieGlobal,
"We source our soya beans from Brazil, China, Canada and parts
of Southern Europe. The organic beans sourced from Brazil come from
established soya bean farms in the Planalto region, south west of
Sao Paulo. In all cases we only buy non-gmo soya beans which have
full traceability".
More News stories
about Brazil
... while the world can only watch in horror
As a country
of rich bio-diversity on which the entire planet largely depends
for environmental stability, Brazil continues to display an astonishing
disregard for both its natural habitat and animals ...more
News on the
destruction of Malaysian and Indonisian rainforest
Ordinary food
shoppers are unwittingly causing the extinction of rain forest animals
such as the much-loved Orangutan. One in ten of supermarket products
contain palm oil; from foods like bread, crisps and chocolate to
cosmetics, soaps, shampoos and toothpaste. Most mass-produced palm
oil is responsible for the accelerated destruction of precious rain
forests in Malaysia and Indonesia, home to the Orangutan, and around
5,000 of these intelligent apes are being driven from their unique
habitats in Borneo and Sumatra each year, as loggers make way for
palm oil plantations. ...more
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