history

The Amazon rainforest: history

Last edited 4 September 2001 at 8:00am
Illegal logging in the Amazon

Illegal logging in the Amazon

The world's ancient forests are in trouble. Only one fifth of original forest cover globally remains in large tracts, and almost half of that is under threat from activities such as mining, agriculture and, most importantly, commercial logging. Of the remaining ancient forests, the largest is the Amazon. The size of Western Europe - an area of 370 million hectares - the Brazilian Amazon alone comprises one third of the world's remaining tropical forests.