Gustavo Magalhães de Oliveira and Yannic Damm from the Institute for Food and Resource Economics in the University of Bonn's „Hypothese” podcast

Violence, organized crime, and health problems: these issues do not immediately spring to mind when one thinks of the Brazilian rainforest. Clearing trees there not only releases stored carbon dioxide and decimates biodiversity. There are many different effects associated with rainforest destruction: Gustavo Magalhães de Oliveira and Yannic Damm from the Institute for Food and Resource Economics at the University of Bonn have investigated violence and respiratory diseases as consequences of deforestation. In the new episode of the Hypothesis podcast, the scientists discuss the thesis “Rainforest protection is bad for the economy” with host Denis Nasser.

The rainforest in the Amazon basin is important not only for Brazil, but for the whole world. “It's not just climate change that tells us that this ecosystem is important for regulating natural processes,” says Gustavo Magalhães de Oliveira from the Institute for Food and Resource Economics (ILR) at the University of Bonn. “The effects affect both the local population and the whole world.”

The rainforest supports us with numerous ecosystem services: it has a high level of biodiversity, stores large amounts of carbon dioxide, and purifies the air and water. “When it comes to purifying the air, it is primarily the local population that benefits, whereas when it comes to carbon dioxide, everyone benefits,” says Yannic Damm from the ILR. “Rainforest conservation is therefore extremely important at all levels – from the local to the global.”

When the rainforest is burned down, it not only produces greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, but also air pollutants that reach large cities such as São Paulo. Reducing deforestation also reduces the concentration of pollutants in the air and the number of respiratory and other diseases. Yannik Damm discovered this in a study.

Rainforest conservation can also help reduce violence in the Amazon region. “Increased controls to prevent illegal deforestation also deterred criminals who used violence to try to appropriate land,” reports Gustavo Magalhães de Oliveira from one of his studies. However, violence has very different causes, which must be combated with different means.

In the latest episode of the Hypothesis podcast, Gustavo Magalhães de Oliveira and Yannic Damm discuss the thesis “Rainforest conservation is bad for the economy” with host Denis Nasser. Listen here to find out whether the scientists verify (confirm as true) or falsify (refute) this thesis.

About the studies:

• https://www.uni-bonn.de/de/neues/167-2024

Media contact:

Gustavo Magalhães de Oliveira

Yannic Damm

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To the point and scientifically sound

To the point and scientifically sound – that's the ‘Hypothesis’ podcast from the University of Bonn. Every first Thursday of the month, renowned guests tackle a controversial hypothesis on a socially relevant topic. Moderated by journalist Denis Nasser, an expert weighs up the truthfulness of the title statement and then votes on whether the final assessment would be ‘verified’ (i.e. confirmed as true) or falsified (confirmed as false).

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