Latin America’s Tropical Rainforests

A central problem facing many Latin American countries is how to balance competing interests. Some countries in the region are attempting to restrict economic development until they can find the right balance between economic growth and the preservation of the rainforests.

Rainforests help to regulate the earth's climate. They do this by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. As the forests disappear, however, much less carbon dioxide is absorbed. The carbon dioxide that is not absorbed builds up in the atmosphere. This buildup prevents heat from escaping into space. The temperature of the atmosphere begins to rise, and weather patterns start to change.

Although the world's rain forests cover about 6 percent of the earth's surface, they are home to an estimated 50 percent of the world's plant and animal species. Medical researchers are developing the processes needed to make use of the many plants that rainforest dwellers have harvested for thousands of years. The forest dwellers have used these plants to make medicines that heal wounds and cure disease. What is lost as the rain forests disappear is more than biodiversity and a stable environment. The rainforests also hold secrets of nature that might improve and extend the quality of people's lives.

Some people think that since the economic gain is at the heart of rainforest destruction, the affected governments should be paid to preserve the forests. One such plan is known as Debt-for-nature swaps (DNS).

Many Latin American nations are burdened by tremendous debt. They've borrowed money to improve living conditions, and now they are struggling to pay it back. In a debt–for–nature swap, an environmental organization agrees to pay off a certain amount of government debt. In return, the government agrees to protect a certain portion of the rainforest. Governments get debt relief; environmentalists get rainforest preservation.

This approach was successful in Bolivia. There, an international environmental group paid off some government debt in exchange for the protection of an area of forest and grassland. The movement to preserve the rainforests has many supporters in the region, as well as around the world. The battle to preserve the rainforests may be one in which everybody wins.

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