https://news.mongabay.com/list/amazon/ Environmental science and conservation news Mon, 09 Oct 2023 08:43:01 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3 https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png https://news.mongabay.com/list/amazon/ 32 32 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cacao-and-cupuacu-emerge-as-amazons-bioeconomy-showcases/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cacao-and-cupuacu-emerge-as-amazons-bioeconomy-showcases/#respond 04 Oct 2023 07:00:56 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273763 - Selling high-end chocolate made from both of these closely related pods increases the value of the products and also allows local communities to earn higher incomes, thereby giving them an incentive not to deforest.
- Portable biofactories are also set to teach traditional communities how to make bean-to-bar premium chocolate products, helping to increase the value of the raw cacao by up to 2,000%.
- These projects are part of an emerging bioeconomy in the Amazonian region, which experts say will keep the rainforest standing while also lifting the region’s population out of poverty.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/cacao-and-cupuacu-emerge-as-amazons-bioeconomy-showcases/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/amazon-drought-cuts-river-traffic-leaves-communities-without-water-and-supplies/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/amazon-drought-cuts-river-traffic-leaves-communities-without-water-and-supplies/#respond 03 Oct 2023 18:35:33 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273834 - This year’s drought is exacerbated by two simultaneous natural events, the main one being El Niño, that inhibit the formation of rain clouds, further reducing the already low rainfall recorded during the dry season.
- More than 100 Amazonian river dolphins were found dead in a lake in Amazonas state, likely due to high water temperatures and low water levels, according to researchers.
- The state of Amazonas is preparing for the worst drought in its history, which will affect 500,000 people by the end of October; the federal government has created a task force to mitigate the impacts, promising to send water, food and medicine.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/amazon-drought-cuts-river-traffic-leaves-communities-without-water-and-supplies/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/new-online-map-tracks-threats-to-brazilian-amazons-uncontacted-indigenous-peoples/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/new-online-map-tracks-threats-to-brazilian-amazons-uncontacted-indigenous-peoples/#respond 27 Sep 2023 15:02:52 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273644 - The exact location of uncontacted communities is deliberately displaced on the map to avoid any subsequent attacks against them from those who engage in illegal activity in or near their territories.
- The tool can help Indigenous agencies deploy more effective protective actions to fend off threats such as diseases and environmental destruction, which can wipe out vulnerable populations.
- Activists hope the platform will help create a vulnerability index that ranks uncontacted populations according to the severity of threats against them, which can promote stronger public policies.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/new-online-map-tracks-threats-to-brazilian-amazons-uncontacted-indigenous-peoples/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/from-orinoco-to-amazon-indigenous-warao-struggle-in-search-of-refuge/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/from-orinoco-to-amazon-indigenous-warao-struggle-in-search-of-refuge/#respond 27 Sep 2023 10:30:33 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273679 - In Belém, the Warao live in poor housing conditions, face problems communicating, and suffer prejudice when searching for jobs; without access to natural resources, most of them survive by begging for money on the streets.
- In 2023, a Belém city councilor worked closely with the Warao to pass legislation in record time on migration policies addressing these and other issues faced by refugees to the city.
- To date, Belém remains the only city in Brazil with specific legal protection for Indigenous refugees.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/from-orinoco-to-amazon-indigenous-warao-struggle-in-search-of-refuge/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/how-canadas-growing-presence-in-latin-america-is-hurting-the-environment/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/how-canadas-growing-presence-in-latin-america-is-hurting-the-environment/#respond 22 Sep 2023 19:20:28 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273559 - The country is a leader in mining and oil investment in the region but doesn’t do enough to protect against deforestation, pollution and human rights violations against local communities, according to a series of reports published by activist organizations.
- The organizations said Canada should implement new regulations to protect environmental defenders and sign onto ILO Convention 169.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/how-canadas-growing-presence-in-latin-america-is-hurting-the-environment/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/brazil-supreme-court-quashes-time-frame-proposal-in-win-for-indigenous-rights/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/brazil-supreme-court-quashes-time-frame-proposal-in-win-for-indigenous-rights/#respond 22 Sep 2023 04:19:08 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273553 - Indigenous people and organizations hailed the decision as a victory for human rights in Brazil after years of protesting against the legal challenge.
- Activists remain cautious, however, as ministers seek to reach a middle ground between ruralists and Indigenous people, which could affect demarcation processes and encourage economic activities on traditional land.
- The points proposed for a possible agreement include compensating non-Indigenous people for land granted to Native communities and allowing economic activities such as agribusiness on traditional territories.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/brazil-supreme-court-quashes-time-frame-proposal-in-win-for-indigenous-rights/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/eu-bill-and-new-green-policies-spur-progress-on-brazils-cattle-tracking/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/eu-bill-and-new-green-policies-spur-progress-on-brazils-cattle-tracking/#respond 21 Sep 2023 18:49:26 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273515 - Even the powerful Brazilian Agriculture and Livestock Confederation (CNA) recognizes the cattle tracking demand and proposes a traceability model to the federal government.
- A new study shows that existing cattle companies’ zero-deforestation commitments have reduced Brazilian Amazon deforestation by 15% and that the devastation could be halved by scaling up the implementation of supply chain policies.
- The ideal animal tracking model is individual, but experts defend a middle-of-the-road solution to reduce illegal deforestation based on cross-referencing from inter-ranch cattle transport data and the Rural Environmental Registry (CAR).
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/eu-bill-and-new-green-policies-spur-progress-on-brazils-cattle-tracking/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/meatpacking-giant-and-amazon-deforester-jbs-bid-for-nyse-listing-challenged/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/meatpacking-giant-and-amazon-deforester-jbs-bid-for-nyse-listing-challenged/#respond 20 Sep 2023 13:49:32 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273440 - JBS, the number one beef producer in Brazil, and among the top three meat processors in the United States, has been implicated in multiple land-clearing investigations in the Amazon and other Brazilian biomes. Brazil’s forests are vital to the storage of carbon and to preventing catastrophic climate change.
- The latest audit by Brazilian authorities in the Amazonian state of Pará found that JBS had the lowest environmental compliance rate among large meatpackers there, with one out of six cows coming from dubious or illegal sources.
- JBS’s total deforestation footprint may be as high as 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) in its direct and indirect supply chains, a 2020 study found. Environmentalists say a surge in new JBS investments via the NYSE could convert far more Brazilian rainforest to ranches, leading to climate disaster.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/meatpacking-giant-and-amazon-deforester-jbs-bid-for-nyse-listing-challenged/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/amazonian-indigenous-leaders-call-for-80x2025-at-climate-week-commentary/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/amazonian-indigenous-leaders-call-for-80x2025-at-climate-week-commentary/#respond 19 Sep 2023 16:21:06 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273435 - A central element of the “Amazonia For Life” campaign endorsed by 511 Indigenous nations across Amazonia and 1,200 organizations around the world, it calls on governments to protect at least 80% of the Amazon by 2025.
- “As a mother, a grandmother and a voice for a coalition of Indigenous peoples…I urge every state and each one of you to join us in our fight to protect at least 80% of Amazonia by 2025,” a new op-ed states.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/amazonian-indigenous-leaders-call-for-80x2025-at-climate-week-commentary/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/in-roraima-indigenous-communities-forge-sustainable-solutions-amid-threats/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/in-roraima-indigenous-communities-forge-sustainable-solutions-amid-threats/#respond 19 Sep 2023 13:14:29 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273396 - Territorial and Environmental Management Plans (PGTAs) are one of the Indigenous-led tools for communities to create strategies to manage their natural resources and provide income for families in their territories.
- For long-term survival, these sustainable initiatives require investments, but previous experience has shown that a top-down approach is often counterproductive.
- But even as they achieve successes with various initiatives, monoculture agribusiness, illegal mining and land grabbing continue to threaten their livelihoods.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/in-roraima-indigenous-communities-forge-sustainable-solutions-amid-threats/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/latin-america-most-dangerous-place-for-environmental-defenders-report-says/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/latin-america-most-dangerous-place-for-environmental-defenders-report-says/#respond 14 Sep 2023 16:34:20 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273333 - There have been 1,910 murdered defenders since 2012, the year that Global Witness started tracking this type of violence. Last year, the murders took place across 18 countries worldwide, 11 of them in Latin America.
- Colombia topped the list with 60 murders while Brazil came in second with 34. Honduras led the world in murders per-capita with 14.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/latin-america-most-dangerous-place-for-environmental-defenders-report-says/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/we-dont-have-much-time-qa-with-climate-scientist-pierre-friedlingstein/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/we-dont-have-much-time-qa-with-climate-scientist-pierre-friedlingstein/#respond 13 Sep 2023 13:34:55 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273294 - Friedlingstein says he’s hoping deforestation will go down in the coming years in Brazil, but he’s not sure that Indonesia, another major global carbon sink, is ready to go in the right direction at the moment.
- He says the COVID-19 pandemic showed that climate is still “not on the top of the list” of government priorities, given that all nations sought to boost economic growth after lockdowns, despite the carbon emissions they incurred.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/we-dont-have-much-time-qa-with-climate-scientist-pierre-friedlingstein/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/peru-signs-20-million-debt-for-nature-swap-with-focus-on-amazon-rainforest/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/peru-signs-20-million-debt-for-nature-swap-with-focus-on-amazon-rainforest/#respond 12 Sep 2023 21:08:04 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273280 - The deal also included four NGOs: Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society and World Wildlife Fund. The groups donated a combined $3 million in addition to the $15 million contributed by the U.S.
- This is the third debt-for-nature swap deal struck with Peru. The U.S. has now made 13 debt-for-nature and debt-for-climate swaps in Latin America and 22 worldwide.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/peru-signs-20-million-debt-for-nature-swap-with-focus-on-amazon-rainforest/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/deforestation-in-the-amazon-rainforest-continues-to-plunge/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/deforestation-in-the-amazon-rainforest-continues-to-plunge/#respond 08 Sep 2023 18:48:18 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273110 - INPE’s deforestation alert system indicates that forest clearing in Brazil’s portion of the Amazon in August declined 66% compared to the same month last year.
- Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has seen a decrease for five consecutive months. This follows President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s commitment to curb the escalating forest loss in the region.
- Brazil is set to release its annual assessment of deforestation for the year ending July 31 in the coming weeks.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/deforestation-in-the-amazon-rainforest-continues-to-plunge/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/el-nino-hurts-carbon-storage-in-south-americas-tropical-forests-study-says/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/el-nino-hurts-carbon-storage-in-south-americas-tropical-forests-study-says/#respond 08 Sep 2023 17:13:59 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=273012 - A new study published this month in Nature revealed that, during extremely hot and dry conditions, tropical forests in South America stop acting as carbon sinks.
- But the study also found that tropical forests aren’t becoming more sensitive to drought, so conserving them can still be used to fight climate change.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/el-nino-hurts-carbon-storage-in-south-americas-tropical-forests-study-says/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/brazil-cap-and-trade-carbon-framework-in-sight-but-agriculture-gets-a-pass/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/brazil-cap-and-trade-carbon-framework-in-sight-but-agriculture-gets-a-pass/#respond 06 Sep 2023 18:58:05 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272976 - Thousands of companies across most sectors would have their carbon emissions capped at 25,000 metric tons per year; notably, however, this doesn’t include the agricultural sector, Brazil’s leading cause of deforestation and emissions.
- The bill also aims to combat unethical carbon credit practices by giving Indigenous and traditional communities the right to generate and sell credits on their territories.
- The bill is widely regarded as the best yet for a regulated carbon market; however, experts say it’s overly focused on carbon credit generation and fails to encourage the discontinuation of fossil fuel use, while also potentially putting “tremendous pressure” on Indigenous territories.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/brazil-cap-and-trade-carbon-framework-in-sight-but-agriculture-gets-a-pass/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/how-the-amazons-greatest-devastator-sold-cattle-to-a-carrefour-supplier/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/how-the-amazons-greatest-devastator-sold-cattle-to-a-carrefour-supplier/#respond 29 Aug 2023 20:09:36 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272719 - Heller transported cattle from a family farm fined for environmental violations to two other properties free from environmental implications — this maneuver is an indication of the so-called “cattle laundering.”
- A Frialto Group meatpacking plant confirmed that it slaughtered 249 animals for the Heller family. The facility supplies Carrefour, but the French retail company states that the meat from animals raised by Heller did not reach its supermarkets.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/how-the-amazons-greatest-devastator-sold-cattle-to-a-carrefour-supplier/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/brazilian-indigenous-artists-take-the-forest-to-the-world/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/brazilian-indigenous-artists-take-the-forest-to-the-world/#respond 29 Aug 2023 18:30:54 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272731 - Some examples include Siamo Foresta in Milan; The Yanomami Struggle in New York, and BEĨ: Benches of Brazilian Indigenous Peoples in Japan.
- According to curators, the works transcend a mere aesthetic vision, being deeply connected to each people’s cosmologies, in addition to taking political and socioenvironmental issues into museums and galleries.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/brazilian-indigenous-artists-take-the-forest-to-the-world/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/a-tale-of-two-biomes-as-deforestation-surges-in-cerrado-but-wanes-in-amazon/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/a-tale-of-two-biomes-as-deforestation-surges-in-cerrado-but-wanes-in-amazon/#respond 23 Aug 2023 14:45:47 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272507 - The country’s second largest biome, the Cerrado is seeing its highest deforestation figure since 2018; satellite data show 3,281 hectares (8,107 acres) per day have been cleared since the start of the year through Aug. 4.
- The leading causes of the rising deforestation rates in the Cerrado are a disparity in conservation efforts across Brazil’s biomes, an unsustainable economic model that prioritizes monocultures, and escalating levels of illegal native vegetation clearing.
- Given the importance of the Cerrado to replenish watersheds across the continent, its destruction would affect not just Brazil but South America too, experts warn, adding that the region’s water, food and energy security are at stake.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/a-tale-of-two-biomes-as-deforestation-surges-in-cerrado-but-wanes-in-amazon/feed/ 0 https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/ecuador-referendum-halts-oil-extraction-in-yasuni-national-park/ https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/ecuador-referendum-halts-oil-extraction-in-yasuni-national-park/#respond 21 Aug 2023 21:32:16 +0000 https://news.mongabay.com/?p=272450 - More than 5.2 million people voted in favor compared with 3.6 million against, solidifying protections for Indigenous communities living in voluntary isolation.
- The referendum took place alongside presidential and legislative elections as well as a referendum on halting mining in the Chocó Andino de Pichincha. That referendum received nearly 70% support from voters.
]]> Mongabay]]> https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/ecuador-referendum-halts-oil-extraction-in-yasuni-national-park/feed/ 0