Indigenous tribe saves crash victims in Amazon

Members of an indigenous Indian tribe rescued nine people from a military transport plane after it made an emergency landing on a river in the heart of the Amazonian jungle.

[Photograph by: Survival International]

Brazil Moves to Restrict Foreigners’ Land Purchases in the Amazon

In an effort to combat ‘biopiracy’ and regulate the Amazon rainforest’s occupation by foreigners, the Brazilian House of Representatives approved on 13 October a bill that restricts the purchase of land in the region by non-Brazilians.

[Photograph by: Brazilian Government]

The Healing Cat’s Claw

The Amazon rainforest, the largest rainforest on earth, is richer in plant life than any other place in the world.

[Photograph by: NeoTropico Consultants]

Peru tribes pressure Hunt Oil to leave Amazon

Tribes in Peru say they want U.S. energy company Hunt Oil to abandon an exploration project in a virgin corner of the Amazon rainforest, and they have filed legal challenges against the government and the company to force it out.

[Photograph by: Houston Chronicle Publishing]

Top Reasons to Buy Acai Berry from Earth Friendly Companies

If you buy pure Acai Berry supplement, the indigenous growers in the Amazon will earn money. If these growers get a steady source of income from the Acai fruit, then they will stop cutting down trees in the Amazon.

[Photograph by: AcaiBerrryStudy.net]

The faster, fiercer, and always surprising sloth, an interview with Bryson Voirin

There are six species of sloth in the world, and although four of them are considered Least Concern by the IUCN Red List, sloth's are not immune to the many threats facing tropical species.

[Photograph by: Tropical American Tree Farms]

Roads harm rainforest species

Biologically, rainforests are characterized by a complex architecture and a uniquely humid, dark stable climate. They sustain many species that are incredibly specialized for the forest’s interior and understory conditions.

[Photograph by: Corbis Corporation]

Photo: Amazon at the beginning of flooding season

In the Amazon region, there are basically two seasons: a rainy season and a not-so-rainy season. In the rainy seasons, one can expect up to 60-180 inches. In the "dry" season, one can expect anywhere from 30 inches to 100 inches. Some spots along the basin average more or less than others. Generally, the north and south edges of the basin have less than the western edge.

[Photograph by: Michel Roggo/WWF]

The Sloth: endearing and endangered Rainforest mammal, going no place fast

Sloths are the slowest moving of all mammals. Most of their entire lives are spent hanging upside-down from the branches of trees in the Central and South American rainforests.

[Photograph by: Christian Mehlführer]

Sambazon Becomes First to Achieve Fair Trade Crop Certification for Acai

Sambazon's certification occurs in conjunction with Fair Trade Month, which promotes and celebrates the socially responsible system of trade thatprioritizes the needs of human beings and the environment over the drive forprofits.

Acai and Antioxidants: 17 Facts You Need to Know

[Photograph by: Sambazon]

Monster Fish of the Amazon

Rainforest Rescue: Sky Project To Save Trees

The aim is for the Brazilian state of Acre to act as a role model for conservation in Brazil and the project will help local communities to look after their forests.

[Photograph by: Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images]

Genocide of an ancient Amazon tribe

Brazil's indigenous Akuntsu tribe has been whittled to only five members after the group's oldest, Urur, died.

Act now to help the Akuntsu!

[Photograph by: Survival International]

Poison Dart Frog Profile

Poison dart frogs, members of the Dendrobatidae family, wear some of the most brilliant and beautiful colors on Earth. Depending on individual habitats, which extend from the tropical forests of Costa Rica to Brazil, their coloring can be yellow, gold, copper, red, green, blue, or black.

[Photograph by: George Grall/National Geographic]

Q&A with filmmaker Joe Berlinger

Joe Berlinger's new documentary, "Crude," is set deep in the Amazon jungle and tells the David-and-Goliath story of one of the world's biggest environmental lawsuits. The 30,000 Ecuadorean plaintiffs claim that Texaco (now part of Chevron) contaminated a Rhode Island-sized zone of the rainforest while drilling for oil, creating a surge of cancer and other health problems among the indigenous people.

[Photograph by: theskepticaloptimist]

Hugo Blanco: Indigenous ‘struggle for nature’

The Amazonian indigenous people are fighting not just for themselves or Peru; they are fighting to defend the lungs of the planet.

[Photograph by: Andre Penner/AP]

Brazilian governors recommend reward for actions to preserve Amazon rainforest

A group of Brazilian governors recommended on Friday that actions to preserve the Amazonian rainforest be rewarded.

[Photograph by: Marcello Casal Jr/ABr]

A Terrific Photo

This photograph shows a toucan in the Costa Rican rainforest. You can see a banana tree and also a papaya tree. Fruits make up 95% of the toucan's diet, but they will also eat insects, small lizards and sometimes bird eggs.

Please visit "Costa Rica 2007" for more great photographs:
http://picasaweb.google.com/srslush

[Photograph by: srslush]

Rain Forest - Ambient New Age Reiki Music Video

Amazon loses 273 km ² of forest in August, says Imazon

The institute said in August 2009, deforestation increased by 167% over the same period last year. Imazon recorded the highest proportion ever found of deforestation in protected areas: 100 square kilometers deforested where deforestation should be zero.

Please note: This article is in Portuguese.

[Photograph by: Alberto Cesar/Greenpeace]

Brazil's Lula vows to slow rate of Amazon deforestation

Brazil's rain forest, the largest on Earth, is shrinking at the rate of some 12,000 square kilometers per year because of deforestation.

[Photograph by: CityFiles/WireImage.com]

New Study Shows Dam in Brazil Amazon Would Be Social and Ecological Disaster

One of the most alarming impacts identified by the specialists is that Belo Monte Dam would require diverting more than 80% of the flow of the Xingu, with impacts to fish, forests and navigation along a 100-km stretch of the river inhabited by indigenous communities.

Take Action! Write a letter to stop Belo Monte Dam!

[Photograph by: Ultimate Journey]

World Rainforest Week kicks off

Today (12th October) marks the start of World Rainforest Week which runs until the 18th of the month and aims to make people more aware of the threats posed by logging practices, climate change and the expansion of agribusiness.

[Photograph by: Steven Holt/Stockpix.com]

No more biofuels for Amazonia

The measure seeks to avoid deforestation, particularly, slash-and-burn agriculture, and avoid the crop from moving on agricultural areas where food is produced.

[Photograph by: Andre Penner/AP]

The ‘Crude' truth

A group of 30,000 Ecuadoreans is suing Texaco, now part of Chevron, alleging that the oil giant spent three decades systematically poisoning part of the Amazon jungle while drilling for oil, creating a surge of cancer and other health problems among the local population.

[Photograph by: Crude The Movie]

Rainforests Still in Trouble

Pinning down exact numbers is nearly impossible, but most experts agree that we are losing upwards of 80,000 acres of tropical rainforest daily, and significantly degrading another 80,000 acres every day on top of that.

[Photograph by: The Argentimes]

Cougar hunts a sloth in the amazon forest

Extracts from Amazon fruit tree have shown dramatic success in killing cancerous cells

The annona tree family has over 110 species mostly growing in the wild with the main ones being Annona muricata found in the Amazon rainforest and the Annona cherimola, which is grown locally and known as ‘matomoko’ in Kenya. A study at the Catholic University of South Korea found that an extract from the plant was 10,000 times more effective in killing colon cancer cells than the drug currently in use.

[Photograph by: Seedo]

Seven Fascinating Facts

1. Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth's land surface; now they cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years.

2. The U.S. National Cancer Institute has identified 3000 plants that are active against cancer cells. 70% of these plants are found in the rainforest.

3. Rainforest plants are rich in secondary metabolites, particularly alkaloids.

4. The Amazon rainforest contains the largest collection of living plant and animal species in the world.

5. The number of species of fish in the Amazon exceeds the number found in the entire Atlantic Ocean.

6. One-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin.

7. At least 3000 fruits are found in the rainforests; of these only 200 are now in use in the Western World. The Indians of the rainforest use over 2,000.

Please visit Raintree Nutrition for more facts:
http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm

[Photograph by: Big Ambition]

Brazilian beef producers agree to protect Amazon rainforest

Deforestation around the globe is blamed for around a fifth of the emissions of greenhouse gases. Citing figures from the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IGBE), Greenpeace said pasturelands in Amazonia grew by about 10 million hectares 1996-2006, equivalent to the area of Iceland.

[Photograph by: Farmers Guardian]

Catholic leaders: Amazon projects threaten Indians

Massive Amazon infrastructure projects to produce hydroelectric energy and pave muddy jungle roads will hurt indigenous populations as South American governments boost financing to promote economic development, Roman Catholic leaders warned Monday.

[Photograph by: The Amazon Conservation Team]

Amazonian cattle ranchers are starting to replant trees with funding from Norway

Paulo Adario, Greenpeace's Amazon director and one of the most vocal critics of Amazon ranchers, describes the project as a "drop in the ocean" but acknowledges that such initiatives are a move in the right direction.

[Photograph by: Michael Nichols/National Geographic]

Causes of Deforestation in the Amazon (2000-2005)

This graph shows that over 90% of deforestation in the years 2000 through 2005 was due to cattle ranches and small scale agriculture.

[Graph (with data) by: Advantage Trim & Lumber]

Amazon River Dolphin

River of plenty

It's almost impossible to comprehend the overwhelming scale of the Amazon River and its influence on planet Earth. The drainage basin covers about one-half of South America and gathers water from nine countries.

[Photograph by: ABC News]