How to save our Amazon

Along with the tropical forests of the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia, the Amazon rainforest forms a green belt that encircles the Earth - a belt that is constantly reducing in size.The region's rainforest is spread across the Amazon River Basin (approx. 6.9 million km2), a vast natural tropical area more than half of which is located in Brazil. The basin also covers parts of Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.

An exceptional biodiversity
A considerable number of the world's plants and animals live in the Amazon, most of which remain undiscovered by scientists. To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 427 mammals, 1,294 birds, 378 reptiles, 427 amphibians, and at least 3,000 fishes have been scientifically classified in the region.

But smaller life forms win hands down in terms of their numbers: just in Brazil, between 96,660 and 128,840 invertebrate species have been described by scientists.

Indigenous cultural richness rivals the Amazon wildlife
Amazon wildlife shares this huge space with some 30 million people, including more than 220 indigenous groups in the Brazilian Amazon4, 40 in Peru and 10 in Ecuador. In Venezuela, some 17 indigenous languages are spoken in the Amazon part of the country. This number is dwarfed by the Bolivian and Colombian Amazon, where 33 and 52 indigenous languages respectively are in use.*

Behind this incredible cultural diversity lies a stark picture. Despite living in an area with a bewildering array of natural products and services, many local people remain in relative poverty.

The Amazon River, lifeline of the Amazon River Basin
At 6,400 km, the Amazon River is the world's second longest river, after the Nile in Africa. This massive body of water feeds the basin as it meanders from the high Andes Mountains, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean in the east, discharging approximately one-fifth of all fresh water that drains into the world's oceans.

Now, forests burn, soils dwindle and people suffer...

Market forces, population pressure and infrastructure advances are continuing to pry open the Amazon rainforest.

As the pressures afflicting the region grow in intensity, it is becoming increasingly clear that the price to be paid is not only loss of biodiversity and habitat – but also of a decreasing life quality for people.

Among the threats behind environmental destruction and degradation in the Amazon are the lack of policy frameworks to support sustainable development and natural resource protection, political instability, the inability of some institutional and governmental entities to establish and enforce legislation for nature conservation, and poverty and inequality.

The price of development at all costs
Today, regional government programmes and initiatives are pushing for constant development, often encouraging blind clearance of forests for cattle ranching, oil drilling or soybean production. Such efforts seek to secure much-needed foreign exchange and generally develop economies.

As the countries of the Amazon become increasingly integrated into the global economy and there is increased demand for ever-limited natural resources, efforts to protect the region continue to be threatened by unsustainable economic demands.

Trade, the fuel of deforestation
Development activities in the Amazon are responding in part to the insatiable international demand for raw goods.
For example, Brazil’s beef exports are closely linked to financial markets and the strength of the Real, the Brazilian currency.

When the real devaluated, the price of beef in real approximately doubled, creating a huge incentive for ranchers to expand their
pasture area.

At the same time, the price of Brazilian beef in dollars fell, which made Brazil’s exports more competitive on international markets. Conversely, when the real strengthens, exporters struggle to keep their slice of the market.

Trade requires infrastructure
Responding to international demands in agricultural products requires infrastructure such as dams and roads. BR-163 and BR-319, two of the main roads to be laid down through the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, are examples of this situation.

But global demand is not limited to cattle and soy. To satisfy its industrial needs, China is involved in mining projects in the eastern Amazon, ranging from aluminium and steel to nickel and copper.

Our Solutions for the Amazon