Catastrophic Palm Oil

About the Amazon rainforest:
Our rainforests are dying; the Amazon rainforest in particular. 20% of the world's oxygen comes from the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, covering over five and a half million square kilometres (1.4 billion acres). The Amazon is located mainly in Brazil (over half) and also in some South American countries including Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana, Bolivia, Suriname and French Guiana. According to "Earth Facts", the Amazon rainforest is home to 10% of the world's known species (including the cougar, anaconda and jaguar) and 20% of the world's bird species. It is home to around 2 and a half million different insect species as well as over 40,000 plant species. Around 80% of the food we eat originally came from rainforests. Some of the more popular examples include coffee, chocolate, rice, tomatoes, potatoes, bananas, black pepper, pineapples and corn. There are around 3000 fruits found in rainforests, and in the west we make use of around 200 of them. However, indigenous tribes make use of over 2000. Tropical rainforests only cover around 6%of the earth's surface but are home to more than half the world's planta and animal species. About 30% of our carbon production comes from burning the rainforests.
What will happen if deforestation continues?
Over 20% of the rainforest has been destroyed since the mid 70s and if rainforest destruction continues, we will loose the rainforests within the next 40 years according to scientists. An area of 50 football pitches each minute since 2000, and increasing, is being destroyed. If the Amazon dies, so do we. The Amazon is nicknamed "the lungs of the world" as without the Amazon we would suffocate and global warming will be greatly increased because the trees soak up all the carbon dioxide and give us fresh oxygen and 60% of our fresh water. Between May 2000 and August 2005, Brazil lost more than 132,000 square kilometres of Rainforest-an area larger than Greece -and since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometres (232,000 square miles) of Amazon Rainforest have been destroyed. If the Amazon is continuously destroyed then the millions of plant and animal species that are yet to be discovered, never will be. over 70% of anti-cancer drugs come from plants found in the Amazon. Scientists believe that the undiscovered plants have also got natural anti-cancer properties. It yields more than 25% of western medicine.

If the "lungs of our world" dies than millions of species will become extinct or have no home, food supplies will become short, local tribes will become homeless and animals further up food chains will suffer from the extinction/pollution of animals further down. Pollution and global warming will greatly increase causing damage to the air, earth's ozone layer, water and therefore impacting humans and other animals.
Causes:
So, why is the Amazon being destroyed? For paper? Yes, but for many other reasons as well including: agriculture, cattle-ranching, soy farms, mineral extraction, dams, colonization projects, urbanisation, road creation and palm oil.
Even though the soils of the rainforest are nutrient deficient and acidic, farming is still taking place and so the Amazon cut down for land to keep the cattle on and grow the crops needed. Agriculturalists burn hundreds to thousands of acres of land, instead of 2-10 acres which is only needed, and leave it to dry out as burning releases nutrients from vegetation produces a layer of nutrient-rich material above the otherwise poor soil. The cleared area is quickly planted and supports vigorous growth for a few years, after which the nutrient stock is depleted and large amounts of fertilizer are required to keep the operation viable. Fertilizer can wash into local streams, affecting fish and aquatic life as well as local tribes who think the water to be safe. When the land is deemed insufficient to farm on, it is allowed to grow back some shrubbery and cattle graze on it. Unlike usual, however, only few cattle can graze as the soil no longer has its natural properties. For each pound of beef, around 200 square feet of rainforest is destroyed. Farmers use the rainforest to rear cattle for cheap beef that they sell to North America, China and Russia. The land is also used to grow soya beans to feed cattle. McDonald's was found to be growing soya beans for animals and chickens used in their products and chicken nuggets by Greenpeace in 2006.
The World Bank and other large companies invest money in developing countries to build dams to generate electricity. In order to do this the rainforest is often flooded. The dams built do not often last long as the vegetation under the water starts to decay and make the water acidic. This often leads to flooding and all the animals, vegetation and villages that the water floods become polluted.
Oil companies destroy the Amazon whilst trying to retrieve oil from the ground. To get to the extraction sites big roads have to be built through the untouched parts of the forest. Pipelines have to be constructed and these often rupture and spill oil everywhere therefore harming the surrounding wildlife, villages and vegetation.
The Amazon is also being destroyed for mining. Diamonds, aluminium, copper and gold are often found below the rainforest ground. The rainforest has to be removed for the minerals to be extracted. Poisonous chemicals are sometimes used to separate waste from the minerals, for example mercury, which is used to separate gold from the soil and debris with which it is mixed. These chemicals often find their way into rivers, polluting water supplies which local people depend on, killing fish and other animals that feed on them.
A lot of the fruit and vegetables that are tropical are grown in the Amazon because it is hot enough there.
Logging is believed to be the second largest cause of deforestation. Timber companies cut down huge trees such as mahogany and teak and sell them to other countries to make furniture. Smaller trees are often used for the production of charcoal. Vast areas of rainforest are cut in one go and the most valuable trees are selected for timber, leaving the others for wood chipping. The roads that are created in order to cut and remove the timber often lead to further damage to the rainforest.
Palm oil is the biggest cause of rainforest destruction. 66 million tons are made annually. Palm oil is used globally as it is very cheap and has very useful properties for processed foods. Palm oil can be found in nearly every product and is very difficult to avoid as it is the most commonly used vegetable oil. It can be found in products such as frozen pizzas, biscuits, margarines, body creams, soaps, makeup, candles and detergents. Almost half of the palm oil imported into the EU is used as a biofuel. The Amazon has the perfect conditions for the growth of palm oil trees.
How can we reduce the use of palm oil?
It will be quite hard to stop consuming as much palm oil but the easiest thing that can be done is to read the labels of products and try not to buy any products that contain palm oil. Get involved with petitions and donate to organizations that are trying to do the same. It would be also ideal to buy sustainable wooden furniture, make sure the companies you buy from (especially paper-based) are sustainable and refrain from eating tropically produced beef and fruits when they are not in season or from the Amazon.
References:
https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/topics/palm-oil
http://www.rainforestconcern.org/rainforest_facts/why_are_they_being_destroyed/
https://www.organicconsumers.org/old_articles/corp/amazon0410.php
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/0811.htm
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_destruction.html
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2005/oct/21/brazil.conservationandendangeredspecies
http://savetheamazonrainforest.com/web_folders/faq_answers/
https://www.onthegotours.com/blog/2012/11/top-10-facts-about-the-amazon-rainforest/
The picture may be found on the Greenpeace website.