The problem ion Brazil is that the people cutting down the forest don't know the use of the wood that they're cutting down. All they want is airable land to farm on. If they were educated about the possible pharmaceutical profit or other profit they would probably turn to harvesting the lumber in a responsible fashion rather than slash and burn to make minimally good farm land.

They wouldn't listen to us one way or another. And we can't even get our own Pres. to protect our own old growth forests. The only way anybody is going to stop the rainforest slaughter is if some exotic viral disease comes out and wipes out a great deal of the population along the forest line.