Tag: The Amazon

The Amazon
Amazon

Brazil: Amazon deforestation plunged under Lula

In the year to July 2026, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon dropped by nearly 42%, according the National Institute for Space Research (INPE)—the steepest decline since monitoring began in 1988—while losses in the Cerrado, Brazil’s vast tropical savanna, fell by nearly 24%. Deforestation surged to its highest level in more than a decade in 2021 under far-right then-president Jair Bolsonaro. His successor, Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, pledged to reverse the trend when he took office in 2022. Lula and Bolsonaro’s son, Flávio, just faced each other in a tight presidential contest, with the left-wing incumbent achieving a surprise victory in the run-off. (Photo: Catedral Verde via Wikimedia Commons)

The Amazon

Ecuador: Yasuní defenders face persecution

YasuniAmnesty International called on Ecuadorian authorities to drop all legal and financial penalties against activists behind the 2023 Yasuní Referendum, warning that the looming fines are part of a broader crackdown on civic space and dissent in the country. The Referendum resulted in an overwhelming majority of citizens voting to end oil extraction within Yasuní National Park, in the Ecuadorian Amazon. This result was celebrated across the world and hailed as one of Latin America's most important victories in the fight against climate change. However, since the vote, oil drilling has continued uninterrupted. Amnesty is pressing President Daniel Noboa to restore full legal protections for NGOs and respect the mandate of the Referendum, calling it a non-negotiable test of democratic integrity. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

The Amazon

UAE joins multinational Amazon crackdown

Green ShieldFive South American countries announced completion of a two-week joint law enforcement operation targeting environmental crimes across the Amazon rainforest. The campaign, dubbed Operation Green Shield 2026, resulted in over 800 arrests and the seizure of hundreds of millions of dollars in timber, minerals and livestock. The campaign was coordinated by the International Initiative of Law Enforcement for Climate (I2LEC), a project led by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched jointly with the UN Office on Drugs & Crime (UNODC) to help countries share intelligence and resources against environmental crimes. (Photo: WAM)

The Amazon

Cross-border crackdown on Amazon gold mining

IBAMAPolice and prosecutors from Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname announced the arrest of nearly 200 individuals in a transnational operation to combat illegal gold mining in the Amazon. Backed by Interpol, the European Union, and Dutch police specializing in environmental crime, "Operation Guyana Shield" involved over 24,500 checks on people and vehicles across remote border areas. Officers seized large quantities of cash, unprocessed gold, and mercury, as well as firearms, drugs and mining equipment. Authorities said organized crime networks behind these operations are linked to a major Guyanese gold exporting firm. The operation signals a new enforcement posture, marked by cross-border collaboration to disrupt transnational networks that evade jurisdictional boundaries and exploit enforcement gaps across the Amazon border region. (Photo: IBAMA via Flickr)

The Amazon

Indigenous groups protest at COP30

COP39Indigenous groups held protests in Belém, blocking the main entrance to the restricted area at the UN Climate Summit (COP30) to demand that the Brazilian government halt extractive projects that jeopardize their cultures and livelihoods. The protesters mostly belonged to the Munduruku people of the Amazon rainforest, who inhabit the states of Amazonas and Pará (of which Belém is the capital). The army was sent in to reinforce security after the action. Protesters' demands included increased representation of indigenous peoples in COP30 and the UN climate process, as well as an end to activities that threaten Munduruku territories in the Tapajós and Xingu river basins. (Photo: Diego Herculano/UNFCCC via UN News)

The Amazon

World’s ‘uncontacted’ peoples face imminent extermination

AwáA comprehensive global report on uncontacted indigenous peoples published by UK-based Survival International estimates that the world still holds at least 196 "uncontacted" or isolated indigenous peoples living in 10 countries in South America, Southeast Asia and the Pacific region. Nine out of 10 of these groups face the threat of unwanted contact by extractive industries, including logging, mining, and oil and gas drilling. It's estimated that a quarter are threatened by agribusiness, with a third terrorized by criminal gangs. Intrusions by missionaries are a problem for one in six groups. After contact, indigenous groups are often decimated by illnesses, mainly influenza, for which they have little immunity. Survival International found that unless governments and private companies act to protect them, half of these groups could be wiped out within 10 years. (Photo: Brazil's indigenous agency, FUNAI, makes contact with the Awá people in 2014. Credit: FUNAI via Mongabay)

The Amazon

Peru nixes Yavarí Mirim Indigenous Reserve

YavariOfficials in Peru voted against a proposal to create an indigenous reserve in the country's Amazonian region, where isolated tribes face threats from logging, mining and drug trafficking. The decision will likely delay efforts to protect them by several years and could lead to their displacement, critics said. The proposed Yavarí Mirim Indigenous Reserve would have protected 1.17 million hectares (2.9 million acres) of Amazon rainforest in Loreto region, an area a fifth the size of Ireland that's home to several indigenous communities living in isolation. A commission reviewed anthropological evidence of the communities' presence in the area but voted in line with the interests of business sectors and logging concessions. (Photo: Pieritograbriel via Wikimedia Commons)

The Amazon

Global forest loss shattered records in 2024

AmazonGlobal forest loss surged to record highs in 2024, driven by a catastrophic rise in fires, according to new data from the University of Maryland's Global Land Analysis & Discovery (GLAD) Lab, made available on the World Resources Institute's Global Forest Watch platform. Loss of tropical primary forests alone reached 6.7 million hectares—nearly twice as much as in 2023 and an area nearly the size of Panama, at a rate of 18 soccer fields each minute. For the first time on record, fires—not agriculture—were the leading cause of tropical primary forest loss, accounting for nearly 50% of all destruction. This marks a dramatic shift from recent years, when fires averaged just 20%. Meanwhile, tropical primary forest loss driven by other causes also jumped by 14%, the sharpest increase since 2016. (Photo via Mongabay)

The Amazon

Peru: ’emergency’ of illegal mining in Amazon

WampisLeaders of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampís Nation (GTANW) in Peru denounced the use of local children as "human shields" to protect illegal mining activities and demanded the declaration of a state of emergency in the northern Amazon region. GTANW president Teófilo Kukush Pati said that when the police and armed forces carry out interdictions at mining sites, illegal miners forcibly gather community children to defend their operations. The leader also reported that the illegal mining outfits threaten to kill opponents. Pati stressed that the mercury produced by illegal mining in the Santiago River basin contaminates waters, which local communities depend on for fishing and drinking. The statement came as Pati arrived in Lima to meet with the government's high commissioner for the fight against illegal mining. (Photo: JYB Devot via Wikimedia Commons)

The Amazon

Amazon wildfires release record greenhouse emissions

AmazonThe Amazon rainforest has seen a record-setting wildfire season this year, fueled by an historic drought and scorching temperatures. In Brazil, the cumulative total estimated carbon emissions from the fires so far in 2024 has reached 183 megatons, according to Europe's Copernicus atmospheric monitoring service—equivalent to the total annual emissions of the Netherlands. The unprecedented fires come even as overall deforestation (defined as the permanent conversion of forest for another use, such as logging, mining or farming) has dropped in Brazil since President Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva took office in January 2023. Fires now account for a much higher proportion of forest loss. (Photo: Marizilda Cruppe/Greenpeace via Mongabay)

The Amazon

Peru: ‘uncontacted’ tribe attacks loggers

MaschcoPeru's reclusive Mashco Piro people used bows and arrows to attack loggers encroaching on their territory in the Amazon, according to a regional indigenous organization. FENAMAD, representing 39 indigenous communities in Cuzco and Madre de Dios regions, said that it believes illegal logging was taking place on Mashco Piro territory and that one logger was injured in the attack. Days before the incident occurred, photos emerged of some 50 members of the isolated tribe apparently searching for food on a river beach—which advocacy group Survival International said is evidence that logging concessions are "dangerously close" to its territory. (Photo: Survival International)

The Amazon

Brazil to back indigenous group in deadly land dispute

BahiaBrazil's President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva vowed to provide the indigenous Pataxó Hã Hã Hãe people of Bahia state with federal support in a land dispute with farmers who are encroaching on their territory. The dispute led to the death of an indigenous leader in a confrontation with armed farmers; her brother, a traditional indigenous chief, was also shot but survived after undergoing surgery. Others suffered non-deadly injuries in the clash at Itapetinga municipality, including a broken arm. (Photo: Povos Indigenas no Brasil)