Letter from James Cameron to President Lula of Brazil about the Belo Monte Dam project

You have a great opportunity, as a world leader, to take decisive action in the immediate short-term to demonstrate Brazil's commitment to these vital issues. I am referring to the Belo Monte Dam project, which will undergo bidding on April 20. I believe strongly that this project should not go forward, and I appeal to you on the basis of logic and compassion, to intercede to prevent its progress.

Photo courtesy of Andre Penner/AP

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

Forest protected areas important for slowing climate change

The authors highlight analyses showing that since 2002, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has been 7 to 11 times lower inside of indigenous lands and other protected areas than elsewhere.

Photo courtesy of apoloniox70/Flickr

Meeting on deforestation boosts morale, budget

"We entered the meeting with $3.5 billion. It went to $4.5 billion (here) and we want to arrive in Oslo with $6 billion," Brazilian Environment Minister Carlos Minc said after the closed-door talks.

Photo courtesy of Roberto Jayme/REUTERS

French President Calls for Stronger Forest Preservation Effort

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is calling for rich nations to contribute more to fighting deforestation, particularly in the Congo and Amazon River basins in Africa and Latin America.

Photo courtesy of StreetPress/Flickr

Rainforest pact: Brazil and the U.S. agree to cooperate

The deal, signed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Brasilia on Wednesday, marks the first time the two countries have formally agreed to work together on deforestation.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Embassy Brasilia/Flickr

Companies fund projects to preserve Amazon rain forest

Around the world, dozens of REDD projects, sponsored by environmental groups and funded by firms including Merrill Lynch & Co., Walt Disney Co., American Electric Power Co., BP and United Parcel Service Inc., are underway.

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Company

Increased conflict in tropical forests projected despite Copenhagen Accord

The authors of the report cite numerous studies suggesting that in 2010, the potential for enormous profits will lead to increased competition over forest resources between powerful global governments and investors on the one hand, and local actors on the other, resulting in new and resurging violent conflict.

Photo courtesy of Andre Penner/AP

Rainforest allies make headway

International climate negotiators failed last month in Copenhagen to agree on ways to preserve tropical rainforests. But they came closer to crafting a global system to reduce deforestation — an achievement that environmentalists, businesses and nongovernmental organizations attribute to the progress they’ve made over the past year.

Photo courtesy of David Bryngelsson/Flickr

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

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]

Forest plan gets ax at UN climate talks

A plan to protect the world's biologically rich tropical forests was shelved early Saturday after world leaders failed to agree on a binding deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

[Photograph by: Peter Dejong/AP]

Suriname president calls for 'unequivocal incentives' to preserve rainforests

Suriname is part of the Amazon rainforest region, with its large tracts of intact natural tropical forests, and have already protected thirteen percent of its territory and through longstanding and consistent conservation policy, Suriname has forest cover of over ninety percent and a minimal deforestation rate.

[Map by: The World Atlas Guide]

U.S. pledges $1B towards rainforest conservation

The U.S. will contribute $1 billion towards an effort to reduce emissions from deforestation, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

[Photograph by: Romeo Ranoco/REUTERS]

Indigenous Peoples Own Carbon Credits, Group Says

Indigenous peoples living in the Amazon Basin would make effective use of the funding that forest credits could generate, says Beto Borges with the conservation group Forest Trends.

[Photograph by: Leo Wery]

Barack Obama backs Norway-Brazil forest protection plan

Speaking after he accepted the Nobel peace prize in Oslo, Norway, Obama said: "I am very impressed with the model that has been built between Norway and Brazil that allows for effective monitoring and ensures that we are making progress in avoiding deforestation of the Amazon.

[Photograph by: Lise Aserud/AP]

Reducing forest loss at home, Brazil may be driving deforestation elsewhere

When people think about preserving the Amazon rainforest, captivating animals may come to mind such as the jaguar, toucan or manatee. But while wildlife must be safeguarded there are now other urgent reasons to protect the jungle.

[Photograph by: Gavriel JECAN]

Brazil could halt Amazon deforestation within a decade

Funds generated under a U.S. cap-and-trade or a broader U.N.-supported scheme to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation ("REDD") could play a critical role in bringing deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon to a halt, reports a team writing in the journal Science.

[Photograph by: Alberto Cesar/Greenpeace]

Brazil tries to preserve the Amazon through financial incentives

Amazonas state is the largest and best preserved of the several states that made up what is referred to as "the Amazon." But scientific models show that if nothing is done, it too will suffer the fate of its neighboring states in coming decades.

[Photograph by: JorgeBrazil]

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]