An argument capturing the attention of many is whether or not preserving the rainforest is in the best interest of mankind. Some argue that preserving our ecosystems diversity is crucial to conserving cultural diversities, while others argue that good land for crops and grazing is more important for our growing economy.
The rainforest has a striking amount of believers with several different reasons for fighting to preserve its existence. The arguing groups range from Economic, Protection Against Evolving Pathogens, Ecosystem Services, Aesthetic, and Ethical. Some have hope that in preserving our rainforest we may discover more ways to curve diseases and create more medicines to sustain life. Unfortunately there’s no evidence that this is even possible, so it makes it a hard case to fight.
After all of my research, I would say I am in favor of the best argument being that it eats up much of our carbon dioxide while creating much of our oxygen. If we cut down all of our trees to create grasslands for crops and livestock, where will our oxygen come from? The rainforest is responsible for regulating temperature and weather patterns far beyond the forest. As well as creating clean air for us to breathe.
The opposing argument is in favor of farming land to meet the needs of our fast growing population. They argue that without that land we may not be able to meet the nutritional needs of our economy. Farmers have to move after exhausting the nutrients in the soil, which generally doesn’t take much time at all. They claim it is more ecological to use this area for farmland as the profit more than covers the cost of conversion and because it’s easier to protect livestock because they can be separated by barriers from a source of infection.
It’s much easier to get caught up in one side of the story but hearing the opponent’s side can make finding a conclusion to what you would fight for that much harder! Is there really a “right” or “wrong” stand? I believe that’s for the experts to decide. Converting a rainforest into farm land may meet today’s needs, but what about our children’s future? Cutting down rainforest that could sustain life for thousands of years to come only to fulfill a few years of crop growing could be non-beneficial to the future, or could it be? We have to include the facts of soil erosion and climate change when making our decision as well. We could always use the forest to our advantage and learn to eat alternative vegetation. Americans are well known for being wasteful in what we may believe to be infinite resources, but in reality, nothing is unlimited and we must care for what we have. We all need to know the facts and make a decision on what we will do to be sure there’s a future for others.
