Green Options

Japan has agreed to supply Peru with a $120 million loan to help protect approximately 136 million acres of the Amazon Rainforest from deforestation.

The loan will have an annual interest rate of 0.1% and won’t need to be repaid for 40 years. It is part of a plan to help Peru reach a rate of zero deforestation in the next 10 years. Peru’s Minister of the Environment says that the amount of forest that will be protected help store 20 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, aiding in efforts to combat global climate change.

Biotech company, ArborGen, is taking steps to eliminate the demand for rainforest logging. The plan: cultivate a half-dozen fast-growing, genetically modified tree species that can be harvested and sold for lumber cheaper than trees from the rainforest. The cost: a smooth $120,000 USD per square mile. The downside: it won’t change clear cutting for farming.