Amazonian biodiversity: Indigenous convoy to bring focus to threats during Montreal summit

A delegation of Indigenous Amazonians will be a part of the upcoming 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) for the United Nations Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD), which aims to draw attention on threatening biodiversity loss in the Amazon rainforest.

About the Upcoming COP15 for CBD:

• COP15 CBD is an international meeting bringing together governments from around the world.
• Participants will set out new goals to guide global action to preserve biodiversity through 2030 to halt and reverse nature loss.
• The territories of Indigenous communities in the Amazon have been increasingly reported to be under threat.
• Key discussions:
  • Deforestation
  • Land degradation
  • Biodiversity losses
  • Impacts on Indigenous communities

Significance of Amazon forests:

• Climate science datashow that Amazon basin spreads across millions of hectares in multiple countries and thus play a larger environmental role along with economic gain.
• It hosts massive sinks of sequestered carbonand the forests are a key factor in regulating monsoon systems.
• It harbours rich biodiversityand about 400 known indigenous groups who have prevented commercial from overrunning the lands.
• It’s called the“lungs of the planet” for its role in sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and adding fresh oxygen to it.

Need for Conservation:

• Biodiversity in the region: The Amazon rainforest is home to 30 per cent of the world’s species, comprising 40,000 plant species, 16,000 tree species, 1,300 birds and more than 430 species of mammals. 
• Land degradation: Indigenous lands make up around 20 per cent of the Earth’s territory, containing 80 per cent of the world’s remaining biodiversity.
• Climatic hazards: More than 75 per cent of the Amazon rainforest has been heading towards a tipping point since the early 2000s, a study published in March 2022 said.
  • It may be losing its ability to bounce back from extreme events such as drought or fire, threatening to become a dry savannah-like ecosystem.
• Impacting locals: The territory of the Indigenous Kakataibo community of Puerto Nuevo in Peru lost 15 per cent of its tree cover between 2013 and 2021.