Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 16, 1990 TAG: 9004160079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: AUDREY OSBORNE SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
"I think deforestation is necessary," said Nilson Crocia, geography professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Refice, Brazil. "It's difficult to stop because it offers a promising side to poor Brazilians and helps the economy."
The Amazon is the world's largest tropical rain forest and has evolved into a source of economic security for the Brazilian government and its people, he said last week during an appearance at Radford University's Heth Student Center.
In fact, the trees extracted from the forest are now the chief cash crop exported from Brazil, leaving coffee exports second, Crocia said.
He said he realized the critical consequences of deforestation, mainly the greenhouse effect. But Crocia said only 7 percent of the Amazon forest has been cut down. And many areas of the Amazon are federally protected.
"Natural reforestation occurs in 10 to 15 years, anyway," said Crocia, who is spending a month at Radford University to start an exchange program between Radford and Brazilian universities.
Tree cutting actually has helped the poor people living in cities build homes for themselves in the countryside, Crocia said.
Nearly a third of the Brazilian people still live in small towns and villages, so their dependence on the trees has grown as the birth rate in Brazil has increased. The trees lower the cost the government has to spend on housing for its people.
An additional benefit of clearing the forests has been the large profit Brazil has reaped from selling to the United States and Japan.
They are willing to pay high prices for Brazilian lumber because developed countries are seeing a shortage of forests and wood in their own countries, Crocia said. These countries often set up production plants and replant trees to foster more growth of the Amazon, he said.
Tree towns spring up along the Amazon frontier as a central point to cut and haul the lumber between the months of August and November, right before seasonal rains hit.
Crocia's visit to Radford is sponsored by the university's honors program. The professor will teach a Latin American Honors geography class with John DeWitt, a Radford geography professor.
During the past 18 months, Radford has signed exchange agreements with the University of Santa Catarina and the State University of Paraiba in Campina Grande.
by CNB