Amazon rainforest reaches the area and so the lower the yield per hectare becomes. So despite the popular perception, there has been no economical advantage for Brazil from logging rainforest zones and converting these to pastoral fields. The needs of soy farmers have been used to justify many of the controversial transportation projects that are currently developing in the Amazon. The first two highways successfully opened up the rainforest and led to increased settlement and deforestation. The mean annual deforestation rate from 2000 to 2005 ( per year) was 18% higher than in the previous five years ( per year). Although deforestation
Amazon insects Amazon insects The Amazon Rainforest and surrounding region is the most biodiverse on earth and no life form is more diverse than the insects of the Amazon. No one can put any accurate figure on how many species there are but it has been estimated to be around 2.5 million species of insect with 700 species of beetle discovered on just one tree. There are 7,000 species of butterfly compared to 20,000 worldwide. One acre may have 70,000 species of insects alone. The rate of new species being discovered annually is around 10,000 with a majority in the Amazon River