Deforestation Worsens in Brazilian Amazon

About 103.5 square km of rainforests disappeared in March and April in Brazil's Amazon region, roughly the size of Paris, said a new report.

Photo courtesy of apoloniox70/Flickr

Amazon loses 76 km ² of forest in March

Amazon deforestation rose again, according to Imazon. In March, the forest lost 76 square kilometers (km ²) of vegetation, a 35% increase over the same month in 2009.

Please note: This article is in Portuguese.

Photo courtesy of Rodrigo Baleia/Greenpeace

Amazon loses 208 km2 in first two months of 2010

The states which registered the greatest amount of deforestation were Mato Grosso, which alone amounted to 143.4 km2 deforested, followed by Roraima, 26.9 km2, and Pará, with 17.2 km2.

Please note: This article is in Portuguese.

Photo courtesy of apoloniox70/Flickr

Brazil Farmers Shown How to Profit By Conserving

The Amazon rain forest in Brazil has lost nearly 20 percent of its area since the 1970s, largely because of ranchers and farmers seeking new land for their cattle and crops.

Photo courtesy of Joelle Hernandez/Flickr

Six-million-dollar fine for destroying Amazon rainforest

A farmer in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso was fined 6.15 million dollars for destroying 2,234 hectares of the Amazon rainforest, Brazilian authorities said Monday.

Photo courtesy of Andy Revkin/Flickr

Nuns face guns, impunity in trying to save Amazon

The main cause of deforestation, the government says, are ranchers who illegally clear jungle to graze cattle and grow soy — often using threats and violence to remove the poor farmers eking a living there.

Photo courtesy of Charles Thomas/Flickr

Protected species in the Amazon's Cristalino state park (15 pictures)

The park, in Mato Grosso, is one of the most biodiverse reserves in the region. But lack of management means it remains under serious threat from fire and illegal logging. Little is known about the botanical diversity of the region, and regional capacity for research is limited.

Photo courtesy of E Bowen-Jones/FFI

The majestic rivers of Amazonia

The Juruena River is one of Brazil's most stunning water courses, once running through pristine landscapes and gracing satellite images with its blue water. Now, agriculture has moved heavily into the area, the rains wash mud into its erstwhile clear waters and numerous small dams are being built along it. A sad demise. The photo shows the upper reaches of the river, on the Parecis plateau.

Photo courtesy of Margi Moss/O Eco Amazonia

Deforestation Pushing Amazon to Its Ecological Limits

When you don’t know the effects of damaging a highly complex, invaluably important ecological system, make sure not to damage it.

Photo courtesy of Leonardo Freitas/Flickr

Big business leaves big forest footprints

Consumers around the globe are not aware that they are "eating" rainforests, says Andrew Mitchell. In this week's Green Room, he explains how many every-day purchases are driving the destruction of the vital tropical ecosystems.

Photo courtesy of Tom Spaulding/Flickr

To save Amazon rainforest, expert pushes smarter farming to replace slash-and-burn

Brazilian officials and environmentalists agree that cattle ranching is the biggest cause of deforestation of the nation's Amazon, an area the size of the U.S. west of the Mississippi River, about 20 percent of which has been destroyed.

Photo courtesy of Charles Thomas/Flickr

Biodiversity: The Amazon Is Not Eternal

Lovejoy, head of the committee responsible for this major scientific investigation, said the Amazon has already lost 17 to 18 percent of its forests. Furthermore, "it has a remarkable hydrogeological system where the forest generates at least half of its own rainfall."

Photo courtesy of Lalo de Almeida/NY Times

Deforestation in Amazon rainforest up 21% in November

The study by the Amazon Institute of People and the Environment (Imazon), a non-government organization, said the greatest deforestation was registered in the northern state of Para, which lost 51 square km of forests in November, 69 percent of the total newly deforested area.

[Photograph by: Alberto Cesar/Greenpeace]

Imazon detects 75 km ² of deforestation in the Amazon in November

The number of 75 km ² is 21% higher than in November 2008, when deforestation was 61 km ².

Please note: This article is in Portuguese.

[Photograph by: Leonardo Freitas]

Brazil on Tuesday declared new indigenous reserves in vast tracts of Amazon rainforest

The zones, amounting to 50,000 square kilometers (19,300 square miles), will enjoy protected status for the 7,000 indigenous Brazilians living in them, according to the decree signed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

[Photograph by: Heribert Proepper/AP]

Development versus preservation

The battle between preservation and development is red-hot in the Brazilian portion of the Amazon rainforest.

[Photograph by: Thiago Teixeira/REUTERS]

Brazil unveils first foreign-funded Amazon projects

The Amazonas state government will receive 20 million reais for a fund that pays rubber tappers and other forest dwellers a stipend to help protect and regenerate the forest.

[Photograph by: iStockphoto]

Preservation and development clash in Brazilian Amazonia

In the Xingu region, indigenous communities are getting their war paint ready: they are furious about Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's decision to build a controversial hydroelectric plant in the area.

[Photograph by: Andre Penner/AP]

Jobs, economics complicate Brazil's Amazon fight

A few decades ago, Mato Grosso — "thick forest" in Portuguese — was covered by jungle. Today, it is an endless plain of soy farms and meatpacking plants that resembles the American Midwest.

[Photograph by: Rhett Butler/Mongabay]

Imazon detects deforestation of 194 km ² in the Amazon in October

The state with the most devastation in October was Pará (45%), followed by Mato Grosso (22%) and Rondônia (13%). Together, the three represent 80% of total cleared forest. Then come Amazonas (9%), Roraima (6%), Amapá (3%) and Acre (2%).

Please note: This article is in Portuguese.

[Map by: Volunteer Brazil]