Social and Economic Development

        Another important economic sector is the natural rubber industry; the Amazon rainforest is one of the most important producers of natural rubber in the world. In the twentieth century mining has became a great economic sector in the Amazon rainforest. This sector plays a big role in forest destruction because the chemicals pollute the rivers, and trees are cut down to make room for mining. Most of the amazon economy involves illegal activity like drug dealing, biological trade and wood cutting.

http://www.amazon-rainforest.org/economic-importance.html

With reduced forests, people are less able to benefit from the natural resources these ecosystems provide. This can lead to increased poverty and in cases, people may need to move in order to find forests which can sustain them.

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/amazon/problems/