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Rain Forest Petition Is All Wet

Date Added: Dec. 5, 2000
Last Updated: Aug. 25, 2005

This petition to stop the deforestation in Brazil is just another example of good people trying to do good things, but in a bad way.

The Brazilian congress is now voting on a project that will reduce the Amazon forest to 50% of its size.

YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THAT GREENPEACE IS TODAY BOYCOTTING HARDWOOD FROM THE REGION

The area to be deforested is 4 times the size of Portugal and would be mainly used for agriculture and pastures for livestock... All the wood is to be sold to international markets in the form of wood chips, by multinational companies... The truth is that the soil in the amazon forest is useless without the forest itself. Its quality is very acidic and the region is prone to constant floods. At this time more than 160.000 square kilometers deforested with the same purpose, are abandoned and in the process of becoming deserts.

We cannot let this happen. Sign and pass on this petition to show that you are against this project. Copy the text into a new email, put your complete name in the list below, and send to everyone you know. Don't just forward it as it will end up with rows of >>s

If you are the 200th person to sign please send a copy to:
fsaviolo@openlink.com.br

Thank you!

(List of 179 names deleted)

This chain letter has been circulating since at least early 2000 and the events described in it were basically true at that time. However, the "project" it warns about was scrapped by Brazil's Congress in May 2000.

Nonetheless, the lure of armchair activism is strong, and this so-called petition persists. Here's a version from 2005:

Dear All,

The Brazilian congress is now voting on a project that will reduce the Amazon forest to 50% of its size. It will take 1 MINUTE to read this, but PLEASE put your names on the list and forward this on as instructed below. First, some short facts:

- the Amazon rainforest is responsible for the generation of 20% of the oxygen that we on this earth breathe,

- 30% of the world's fresh water is contained within the Amazon basin,

- 60% of the cancer fighting drugs used today, are derived from plants that can only be found within the Amazon rainforest.

The area that is to be deforested, is 4 times the size of Portugal and would be mainly used for agriculture and pastures for livestock. All the wood is to be sold to international markets in the form of wood chips, by large multinational companies. The truth is that the soil in the Amazon forest is useless without the forest itself. Its quality is very acidic and t he region is prone to constant floods. At this time more than 160,000 square kilometres (deforested with the same purpose) are abandoned and in the process of becoming deserts, meaning that this proposal is in the short term interests of a few, in the long term interests of none.

Please copy (cut paste) the entire text into a new e-mail', put your complete name in the list below, and send to everyone you know.

(DON'T JUST FORWARD IT - AS IT WILL THEN END UP WITH ROWS AND ROWS of 's - which discourages people from sending on).

If you are the 400th person to sign please send a copy to: fsaviolo@openlink.com.br

BreakTheChain.org recommends strongly against forwarding or "signing" any online petition. To get an idea why, let's put it through the Seven Tests of Armchair Activism:

Expiration - FAILED - As we've already seen, this one is calling for an end to something that ended on its own half a decade ago. But, since it's not dated, it continues to circulate. To paraphrase a national TV network campaign: If you haven't seen it, it's new to you.
Focus - FAILED - This letter does a lot to convince you to sign it, but has no well-defined action statement. A valid petition would spell out exactly what the "signers" wanted the recipient to do.
Integrity - FAILED - Whose actions are we trying to influence with this petition? It doesn't say who will receive the signatures, when they will see them nor how the deforestation is supposed to be stopped.
Privacy - FAILED - No e-mail petition is private. Once you sign it and send it on, you have no control over who sees your name and e-mail address. Get a lot of spam and don't know why? If you sign e-mail petitions, that may be the reason.
Reliability - FAILED - Messages to the e-mail address in the letter have bounced as undeliverable since 2000, so nobody is collecting these 'signatures,' nor has anybody likely ever been doing so.
Sponsorship - FAILED - The author does not identify himself or herself, nor does he or she offer any assurances that the mission will be carried out. Anonymous, unsponsored petitions are almost always ignored by folks in power.
Validity - FAILED - Since the measure it's supposed to stop has been shelved, the petition is no longer valid.

Most likely the originator of this petition had good intentions. Unfortunately, an e-mail petition was the wrong tool for the job. Break this chain.

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