Jair Bolsonaro's government is the first since 1988 to not demarcate any Indigenous or Quilombola land. Of those, 487 have been completely approved. In Brazil, there are 725 Indigenous territories at different stages of the demarcation process. Only 1.6 percent of the area was deforested between 1985 to 2020, while 11.3 percent of the native vegetation was lost in the same period in the remaining territory. Increase Indigenous and Quilombolas territory demarcation: According to MapBiomas - a Brazilian collaborative network formed by NGOs, universities, and startups that aims to understand the transformations of the Brazilian territory through AI and satellite images - the Indigenous territories are the most preserved areas in the Brazilian territory. For that reason, the Amazon has an important role in climate regulation thanks to its “flying rivers.” The trees in the Amazon suck up water from the ground and pump out billions of tons of water vapor per day into vast “flying rivers”, which are responsible for regulating humidity and rains across many countries. The water flowing through the Amazonian rivers is equivalent to 20 percent of the water that runs off Earth’s surface. The Amazon basin is also the largest drainage basin in the world. One in ten known species in the world lives in the Amazon rainforest. Moreover, the Amazon has the highest biodiversity among all tropical forests in the world. For generations, the rainforest has stored an immense amount of carbon in its soil and played host to a tremendous number of trees, playing an important role in keeping the global temperature stable. The impact of Amazon destruction reaches far beyond South America. Graph build by Mariana Heredia with data from INPE For those who are interested in the Amazon, it’s important to understand the political context (see here for more information). Politics have also played a critical role in Amazon deforestation, with recent legislation serving as an impediment to protection and satellite monitoring. The demand for soybeans and meat has created pressure to rapidly clear forests. Agribusiness has been the strongest performing sector of Brazil’s economy in the last two decades, and the US-China trade war has positioned Brazil well to replace the US as the global leader in soybean and meat exports. Even though loggers and miners play an important role in Amazon destruction, farmers and cattle ranchers are the biggest threat to Amazon protection.īrazil is the third biggest meat producer and second biggest soybean producer in the world. Unlike the fires in California forests, the great majority of fires in the Brazilian Amazon - which hosts 60% of the Amazon Rainforest territory - are not only caused by rising temperatures, but also by illegal activities from cattle ranchers, land grabbers, loggers, miners and locals who are clearing parts of the Amazon. Why is the Amazon rainforest being deforested?
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