Animal rights advocates are very vocal on social media on what has to be done to save the Amazon. Since July thousands of fires are destroying the Amazon rainforest in the north of Brazil. It hasn’t been this bad in 10 years. Even though fires in the Amazon accure every year, this year they’re increasing at a rapid rate.
Many environmental organizations claim the fires are being started on purpose, to use the land for commercial activities like producing soybeans and cattle farming. Brazil is a big supplier of soy to China and other countries. Soybeans are mostly used to feed animals in the meat industry. Around 70 percent of the world’s soy is fed directly to livestock.
The Amazon is the largest tropical forest with 60% in Brazil, 13% in Peru, 10% in Colombia and smaller amounts in neighbouring countries. Around 30 million people live there and 10 procent of all known wildlife species.
Animal right organization PETA is pretty clear about the subject: “Shut up about the Amazon burning if your mouth is full of meat. Wildfires are raging in regions where cows are raised for meat—some of it is sold in the US. These areas are experiencing deforestation at alarming rates to raise crops to feed cows. Some ranchers even deliberately start illegal fires to fit more animals.”
Animal activist Seb Alex tells people to take action and stop eating meat instead of just praying: “If you actually care, which you should, you would stop funding this industry. No, ‘’your’’ burger is not more important than the amazon rainforest. ‘’Your’’ chicken wings are not more important than all the animals, ‘’your’’ bacon is not more important than indigenous lands.”
Animal Justice Project stresses on the wildlife that dying as we speak: “Not only does the Amazon supply 22% of earth’s oxygen, it is home to native tribes and billions of innocent animals – birds, mammals, insects – who are being burnt to death right now.” More than ever it’s necessary to switch to a plant-based diet.
The Jane Goodall Institute: “The fires in the Amazon are an unbearable loss. But they are a striking reminder and reflection of what is happening all around the world. Rainforests, ecological marvels, support untold numbers of species and human communities. From the Amazon to Southeast Asia to the Congo Basin where we work, consumer demands, political agendas, corporate priorities and human pressures are wiping rainforests from the map, from our planet. As Jane has said, “…each one of us must do our part in creating a better world, for though the small choices we make each day – what we buy, what we eat, what we wear – may seem insignificant, the cumulative effect of billions of people making ethical choices, will start to heal the natural world.”
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