original structures. In the protection of biodiversity, specialists insist on the need for particular
attention to be shown to areas richer both in the number of species and in endemic, rare or less
protected species. Certain places need greater protection because of their immense importance for the
global ecosystem, or because they represent important water reserves and thus safeguard other forms of
life.
38.
Let usmention, for example, those richly biodiverse lungs of our planet which are the Amazon
and the Congo basins, or the great aquifers and glaciers. We know how important these are for the
entire earth and for the future of humanity. The ecosystems of tropical forests possess an enormously
complex biodiversitywhich is almost impossible to appreciate fully, yet when these forests are burned
down or levelled for purposes of cultivation, within the space of a few years countless species are lost
and the areas frequently become arid wastelands. A delicate balance has to be maintained when
speaking about these places, for we cannot overlook the huge global economic interests which, under
the guise of protecting them, can undermine the sovereignty of individual nations. In fact, there are
“proposals to internationalize the Amazon, which only serve the economic interests of transnational
corporations”.
24
We cannot fail to praise the commitment of international agencies and civil society
organizations which draw public attention to these issues and offer critical cooperation, employing
legitimate means of pressure, to ensure that each government carries out its proper and inalienable
responsibility to preserve its country’s environment and natural resources, without capitulating to
spurious local or international interests.
39.
The replacement of virgin forest with plantations of trees, usually monocultures, is rarely
adequately analyzed. Yet this can seriously compromise a biodiversity which the new species being
introduced does not accommodate. Similarly, wetlands converted into cultivated land lose the
enormous biodiversity which they formerly hosted. In some coastal areas the disappearance of
ecosystems sustained bymangrove swamps is a source of serious concern.
40.
Oceans not only contain the bulk of our planet’s water supply, but also most of the immense
variety of living creatures, many of them still unknown to us and threatened for various reasons. What
24
FIFTHGENERALCONFERENCEOFTHELATINAMERICANANDCARIBBEANBISHOPS,
AparecidaDocument
(29 June 2007), 86.
