Bruce Farnsworth Photography,Conservation photography,Rainforest animals, Rainforest photos, Tours 

Amazon Rainforest

The mechanics of deforestation

Men disassemble a raft of endangered hardwoods for illegal sale at a riverside port. The men told me that they earned about $5.00 for every tree they cut (and cut into massive planks with only a chainsaw I might add). Species in this haul included mahogany, which carried a value of $1,000/cubic meter on the world market at the time. For them to make a living wage, it seemed only reasonable to cut as many trees as possible.

Treasure houses of life occupy a single mature tree in the rainforest, yet the resource is grossly-undervalued and lumber mills, acting as agents and transporters for foreign buyers, have strategies to avoid police checkpoints. Arajuno River, Napo river valley, Ecuador.