Threatened rainforest habitats

Endangered rainforest habitats

Incidence

Every year 11 million hectares of tropical rain forest are lost through commercial and subsidence pressures, a rate of 1% per year. A general consensus is that 45% of the original tropical rain and monsoon forests have been destroyed.

Tracts of forest in the Caribbean and Central America are being cut down at a rate of 1 to 3.5 percent a year. US ecologist John Terborgh estimates that as many as half of all birds that winter south of the United States go to just five countries—Mexico, the Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic—where most of the mature forests are now cleared to make way for farms and pastures.

Counter-claim

The so-called “threat” to rainforest habitats is vastly overstated. With modern technology and expanding agriculture, human progress should take priority over preserving vast, unused forests. The economic benefits of development far outweigh the sentimental value of untouched rainforests. Concerns about biodiversity loss and climate change are exaggerated; humanity has always adapted. Worrying about threatened rainforest habitats is a distraction from more pressing global issues that actually impact our daily lives.