I<br > zs [ s~[ I)()WN T() write in the summer of !99c.. the st~>rv ~>f the<br > Area~on is changing as quickly as cvcr before. The h~pcs ~，t ~h~<br > xxorld s conscrvatio~llsts， h-tvitl~ riscrl with the acccsslo/l of a ~tc o，<br > I~razili;m govc I mere， nov， seem azain to be {altering. Vhi!c the rate<br > a~ which [hc fi)rcsts ，，~! the Amazon arc disappearing has re roamed<br >c(mstan)， fhc rcaso~)s t})t ~he destruction and the mea{;s by which i~<br >mighl hc stopl，cd have :;hitted raph:]ly. It Is clca) that the fcm.，rc (，!<br >dlc !，< (test living system ot~ earth wilt })e determined in this decade.<br > .

()m~d mc in my r<，on; m cemral England are the tokens of this<br >progrc.，;si(m， tcstitn()nv to the means by which one of humanitv a<br > mosl da~ qt~cfot~.~; ad;，cnture~.~ has goverllcd rhc m~st t:JrbulcF.，~ ~:.a~- of<br >my ，)wn lifc. In a corner beside my desk arc ti;c ar;ows o~ :he<br >~ ，~mmaaml Indians， traded with. an old man whose wo:id was bcir ，g<br >Iakcn from him. ()n the windowsill is a clay p，.>t I was given b~ a<br >v ()man of the Tukano tribe， while she campaigtm，t to st~.p . ，t~c of the<br >nl，)s) destructive of the new development prc~iects. Inside i* is a<br >nug.<ci <)i" ~<()ld， a chip of mahogany and some cocoa beans: the last a<br >rcmi:~dcr ，)~ the wavs m which opinions on how the fi)rest might be<br >s:.x cd have changed. Am(rag the piles of paper on my table are the<br >(，~um，~:s from Brazilian newspapers reporting my torture， disappear-<br >:mcc .~ml p()ssiblc death. I cannot help [i:clmg that I have witnes，%ed，<br >:it ~ s in <>]~uH:iri~}， s(:mc，~(lhc event:， which wi!t h， 4p t.:，，-~m! ~c<br >the future stcl，v ，ff maaki，ld.<br >I ~，i:| ~.itl! ill Ihc StllllIllCI ()t 19..R9 "，.~ ith t} ~c co，.~t i(.:li<)n ， bar pC(Td.~: m<br >the m)r)hcrt) hemisphere were missm，~ the reai st<，!"， ~>f: the .max:re.<br >]:!~)n). what I had sccu op. a previous i()urltcy， tr<)m ，vbat r}~，>，;c<br >revolved in du~ cvcf)ts there were telling me， ~ wa < cicat rl~a， we<br >wcrc hc:lrill~，) [~<)t ，I~)<，U[ the lle 0u ;ln;tT(>{1 is>tics， ~)LI{ ilt)~.，t.;{ .. i~u . >!<.i<br >