Learn how deforestation in Central American countries like Belize gives way to erosion and poverty
In Belize and elsewhere in Central America, deforestation has caused serious problems.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: Once destroyed, the forest may never return. And the mountain slopes, stripped of their cover of vegetation, fall prey to the forces of erosion.
Each year, the seasonal rains wash their cargo of minerals and nutrients down to the sea, robbing Central America of a resource more valuable than gold.
[Music out]
In their hunger for land, farmers set fire to the forest, trading the trees for a few more acres on which to raise crops or graze a few head of cattle.
Tragically, instead of prosperity, the process promotes greater poverty. For the land without trees is barren and, as here, in Belize, cannot sustain the needs of even a small population.
NARRATOR: Once destroyed, the forest may never return. And the mountain slopes, stripped of their cover of vegetation, fall prey to the forces of erosion.
Each year, the seasonal rains wash their cargo of minerals and nutrients down to the sea, robbing Central America of a resource more valuable than gold.
[Music out]
In their hunger for land, farmers set fire to the forest, trading the trees for a few more acres on which to raise crops or graze a few head of cattle.
Tragically, instead of prosperity, the process promotes greater poverty. For the land without trees is barren and, as here, in Belize, cannot sustain the needs of even a small population.