Larry Rohter redeems himself with this article about illegal logging in the Amazon. It involves many of the usual suspects, but here's a money paragraph that I want to discuss in more detail:
The truck hurried off, but a few minutes later stopped at a sawmill operated by Nilson Samuelson, a former mayor here. Visible through an open gate was a truck laden with timber. In a telephone interview, Mr. Samuelson - who organized a demonstration here in 2003 against Ibama inspectors at which he said that "we need to bring bin Laden here to teach these people a lesson" - acknowledged that he was breaking the law and said, "My activities are none of your business." He also argued that economic necessity justified his actions. "If you're going to bust me, you're going to have to bust everybody, because nobody here has authorizations," he said. "We're just trying to survive. Who is going to give me the money to pay my employees and educate my children? What are you trying to do, have Ibama wipe me out and leave 250 families without jobs? Who cares about the law? What am I supposed to do, go hungry?"
To begin with, I don't believe that Nilson Samuelson is likely to go hungry. Someone who owns a sawmill in one of the poorest places in Brazil is hardly living hand to mouth. By the same token, I have no doubt that there are many, many people working for loggers who have very little.
This is a good role for NGO's. They do not have the bureaucracy that government agencies often have and they often find creative solutions for difficult problems. For example, one of the best is Projeto Tamar, a project in Brazil to save endangered sea turtles. Instead of merely setting up protection areas, they engaged the local community: men who used to collect turtle eggs for food were given jobs as caretakers and watchmen for the hatchery areas. Their wives were given jobs making the numerous souvenirs sold to help raise money for the programs.
Logging is a labor intensive business. If a smart NGO can set up alternative programs for the poor along the lines of Projeto Tamar, this would be a good start.
You can do your part. Don't buy mahogany or ipê or any other tropical hardwood. Pine, oak and cherry are fine woods.
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