Kendra McSweeney, the co-author of "Drug Policy as Conservation Policy: Narco-Deforestation" says: "These protected ecological zones have become the hub for South American cocaine." For example, the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO world heritage site in Honduras was destroyed. Although the narco-deforestation trends were preceded by illegal logging practices in the region, they are both now major threats to the maintenance of biodiversity throughout these regions. Specifically, some of what logging causes us to lose:
- Wood
- Agriculture
- Medicine
- Climate
- Medicine
- Genetic diversity
- Human and animal habitat
- Culture
And if you didn't think it could get worse, think again. Drug traffickers are also taking their illegal profits and investing in cattle ranches and palm oil plants. Additionally, narco-deforestation threatens indigenous communities living in the forests.
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Photo Credit: Nimbuseco.com