Big cities and global farming now driving deforestation, study finds

In recent years, tropical countries have been supplying growing amounts of palm oil, soybeans, sugar, meat and other processed products to distant markets abroad. Not all the products are used for food; palm oil and sugar in particular are also being converted into biofuels.

Photo courtesy of Damon Winter/NY Times

Guyana seeks to protect Amazon, delay mine permits

Guyana's government is seeking to establish a six-month waiting period for new mining operations to allow for environmental impact studies, a move it hopes will persuade other nations to fund rain forest preservation.

Photo courtesy of Guanohappens/TravelPod

A nice photo taken in December showing a Caiman Lizard in the Ecuadorian Amazon

The Caiman lizard can be found in the countries of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Guyana. It spends a lot of time in the water and they inhabit marshes, streams and flooded forests. Caiman lizards often bask on branches overhanging the water.

Photo courtesy of Karen Yee/Flickr

Rainforest conservation: a year in review

In Brazil, the cattle industry was walloped by a Greenpeace report that linked some of the world's most prominent brands — Nike, Toyota, Prada, and others — to destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

[Photograph by: Leonardo Freitas]

Mystery of Amazon manatee migration solved

The species is only found in the Amazon River basin from the river mouth to the upper reaches of tributaries of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, and Peru.

[Photograph by: Doug Perrine/Naturepl]

Guyana expedition finds biodiversity trove in area slated for oil and gas development

In just six weeks the expedition recorded an astounding variety of life: 158 species of birds, 22 species of medium to large mammals, and half of Guyana's known endangered species.

[Photograph by: nicholascsavage]

Amazon rainforest summit fizzles

A summit intended to help save the Amazon rainforest has ended in Brazil without forging a common agenda on deforestation.

[Photograph by: Andre Penner/AP]

U.S. pledges $275 mln for tropical forests in 2010

The funds would aim "to protect biodiversity and support sustainable landscapes in fiscal year 2010 ... with a focus on protection of tropical forests," a U.S. Embassy London spokesman confirmed. A lot of the money would go to the Amazon and Congo basins in South America and Africa, he added.

[Photograph by: Have Fun SVO]

Amazon countries to hold climate talks

Leaders from the eight countries straddling the Amazon -- Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela -- have all been invited to Thursday's talks in the Brazilian city of Manaus, in the heart of the Amazon jungle.

[Photograph by: CityFiles/WireImage.com]

Norway to give Guyana up to $250M for rainforest conservation

Norway will provide up to $250 million to Guyana as part of the South American country's effort to avoid emissions from deforestation.

[Photograph by: Guanohappens]