Tropical rain forests (and not just the Amazonian one) are not the only ones being rapidly decimated. Rain forest in the US Pacific Northwest as well as non rain forests, and those in the Canadian West are being rapidly cut down. There is info. on the web as to how much forest is lost everyday in the world.

We don't even have the excuse of needing agricultural land. The forest is cut down on the side of mountains, and besides the long term damage it causes to our athmosphere, it causes immediate damage in terms of floods and landslides...