Tragedy of the Privatized Amazon

Everyone knows the Tragedy of the Commons, right? (If you don't, click http://www.bunnygame.org/ to play a game demonstrating the concept. And even if you do know the concept, play it anyway. It's cute.)

Well, it would appear that our old friend Garett Hardin may not have been so correct about individual owners protecting and preserving their privatized land. At least, this much can be said for Brazil. The Amazon in Brazil is being deforested at a ludacris rate. According to mongabay.com, between '03 and '04 "...26,000 square kilometers of forest - an area larger than Israel and since 1978, over 530,000 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed"

This is mainly because the Amazon is considered to be a resource of Brazil. Economic and political instability in this country cause it to, logically, turn to natural resources for revenue and population distribution. This strategy, on the other hand, is having a negative effect on the Amazon rainforest.

Considering it's potential benefit to mankind, the Amazon should by all means be protected. It supplies a figure around 10% of the world's oxygen, and is full of plants and animals that could, in the future, lead to the cures for various modern diseases. A resource as important as the Amazon should be protected and considered a common good.

Unfortunately, Brazil does not agree with this notion. And well they shouldn't. The Amazon makes up more than half Brazil's land, and it is just like any other resource to any other country. If they wish to exploit it, that is their soverign right. You don't see America getting pissy at Iran for exploiting it's natural deserts for oil; why should Brazil be bothered? The Brazillian government has enough issues, especially with the recent gang riots in wealthy Sao Paulo. It's no wonder they're not keen on our environmentally fair restrictions.

So, where does this leave the world? In a position where the Amazon can't be saved until Brazil is. To fix the environmental exploitation in Brazil, we must fix the root cause of it's waste: economic and social problems. Once Brazil does not see the Amazon as it's only means of escape from a rock-and-hard-place situation, perhaps they can focus on preserving it.