Rainforest plays an important role in sustaining life both inside and outside the forest. By absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen in their vegetation, rainforest helps regulate the global climate, water cycle and deters the global warming.
Environmentalists estimated that the global rate of deforestation stands at 31 million hectares per year. If deforestation continues at this rate, the world's tropical rainforests will probably be wiped out by the year 2030 and many species of undiscovered plants and animals that might provide mankind with a cure for the worst diseases might disappear together with the rainforest. This has been recognized as one of the world's most severe ongoing ecological and economic crisis. .
It's The Economy!.
The cause of deforestation in any country is tightly interlinked with a country's economy. Most developing countries have huge international debts to pay off thus they tend to have little or no expenditure to spend on environmental protection. A competitive international economy requires investments from multinational companies and local investors to help the government in poorer tropical countries pay off international debts, to develop the country's industry and to raise funds for projects. .
Government in countries like Brazil and Indonesia deliberately set up schemes that offer attractive tax incentives, other subsidies and leeway to encourage both local multinational timber, mining, and oil corporations to 'colonize' the rainforests. On the other hand, many multinational corporations (MNC) convinced rainforest countries to sell logging concessions to their company, on the basis that they would that they would improve the country's economy and would adopt environmental friendly policies when working in the rainforests.
In reality, these companies seldom adopt environmentally friendly policies to help preserve the area. National governments also seldom conduct stringent checks to enforce the country's environmental laws upon these companies because their country's economy is dependent on their investments and do not want to scare them away.
