For the past two weeks Cho and I have been walking through cattle ranch after cattle ranch. Rolling hills are covered with lush green grass dotted with brown cows. Dusty dirt roads connect these ranches and so we've made great progress - but are we not meant to be in the middle of the Amazon jungle?

All of this area used to be dense tropical rainforest. The first step in its transformation was when loggers cut access roads into the forest to get their hands on the precious hardwoods. These trees were cut down, dragged or floated out of the forest, and sold to countries like Britain and America for tables and flooring.

The most cost effective method of removing the hardwoods was to clear-fell all of the trees - i.e. cut down everything whether they could sell it or not because it was easier and cheaper. This left large areas of land that were now easy to get to and local Brazilians saw the opportunity to use this land to rear cattle. They burned the dead wood left by the loggers and allowed grass to grow where the trees had been.

Nowadays Brazilians and foreigners alike recognise that the Amazon is a finite resource. This means that they can now see that if people continue to cut it down then one day it will have all gone.

Managing the forest that remains and the people who still live in the area is the hard part for the Brazilian government. They have to balance the environmental needs against those of the people who need to survive. There is no easy answer - but most Amazonian Brazilians quote the Amazon as being the "lungs of the planet" - so people are no longer ignorant of the value of the rainforest.

Join us on 20th May for the next installment and don't forget to check out our Question of the Week videos - and send in your questions to us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it !

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For more about Ed and his Amazon adventure, visit www.walkingtheamazon.com.