‘Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest’
- Category
Environment
- Published
13th Aug, 2019
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There has been rapid increase in the deforestation in the Amazon forests of Brazil.
Context
There has been rapid increase in the deforestation in the Amazon forests of Brazil.
About
- Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is increasing rapidly since January, when Jair Bolsonaro took office as President.
- Satellite images show that about 4,200 sq km of forests have been destroyed up to now under the new government.
- New government is in favour of “reasonable” exploitation of these forests which have emboldened illegal expansion into forest.
- Armed gold-hunting gangs have reached tribal areas.
Significance of Amazon forests
- Climate science data show 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 carbon and the forests are a key factor in regulating monsoon systems.
- It harbours rich biodiversity and 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.
Way forward
- Brazil must engage with the international community on meeting the opportunity cost of leaving the Amazon undisturbed.
- It should seek higher funding for forest protection by various international organizations as globally there is a tremendous momentum to save Amazon forests.
- It must welcome initiatives such as the billion-dollar Amazon Fund backed by Norway and Germany.
- Remedial funding accounting for the value of environmental services is the most productive approach.
About Amazon rainforests
- The Amazon is the world's biggest rainforest, larger than the next two largest rainforests — in the Congo Basin and Indonesia — combined.
- The Amazon River is by far the world's largest river by volume.
- The Amazon River once had flown west-ward instead of east-ward as it does today. The rise of the Andes caused it to flow into the Atlantic Ocean.
- It is bounded by the Guiana Highlands to the north, the Andes Mountains to the west, the Brazilian central plateau to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.
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