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Illegal Logging in Thailand: Described by a Christian Science Monitor
Reporter
"Nobody knows exactly how many square miles of the rain forest in southern Thailand have been ravaged by the
logging industry.
From the perspective of a small group of people struggling their way across the wasted hills, it seems as if the
whole world has been blasted to dust and ash and twisted stumps.
From horizon to horizon the land was gray and white, the soft round contours of the hills broken by jagged lines:
the refuse of limbs, unsalable trees, and torn-up soil left by the loggers.
Within minutes, we were soaked with sweat and laboring for breath, even the pu chuay, who is well experienced at
traveling in this type of terrain.
There was no cover from the tropical sun; there was no sign of life. No birds sang, no small things scurried underneath
the brush, and the only insects we saw were swarms of very hungry mosquitoes. There was no path to follow, the
streams were choked with ash and deadfall, and the dirt was dry and loose underfoot. The place stank of rot and
stagnant water" (Rosse 1993).
"Rainforest" is used interchangeably with "rain forest" on this site. Same for "rainforests" and "rain forests". "Jungle" is generally not used.
Recent news
Amazon deforestation rate falls to lowest on record (8/10/2007) Deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon for the previous year were the lowest on record, according to preliminary figures released by INPE, Brazil's National Institute of Space Research.
Lowland rainforest less diverse than previously thought (8/9/2007) While rainforests are the world's libraries of biodiversity, species richness may be more evenly distributed in some forests than in others, reports an extensive new study by an international team of entomologists and botanists. The work, published in the current issue of the journal Nature, has important implications for forest management and conservation strategies.
Experts: parks effectively protect rainforest in Peru (8/9/2007) High-resolution satellite monitoring of the Amazon rainforest in Peru shows that land-use and conservation policies have had a measurable impact on deforestation rates. The research is published in the August 9, 2007, on-line edition of Science Express.
