Deforestation In The Amazon: Forests Need Us

Deforestation in the Amazon, our planet’s lung, has increased by 22% in the last year. Although there are international political commitments, it is importan that as individuals we know this reality and take action.

In just one year, the Amazon has lost almost 13.235 km2 of forest. Eventhough Brazil is one of the countries that al the last Glasgow’s International Summit committed to working for reforestation by the year 2030, the latest report prepared by the National Institute of Special Research revealed that illegal deforestation increased by 22% between August 2020 and July 2021 compared to the previous period.

The balance in Brazil’s environmental policy may not be encouraging, the deforested area in the last year reaches the size of countries like Jamaica or Qatar, and environmental studies confirm that deforestation leads to the loss of healthy forests, which means that there are some Amazon rainforest areas that have gone from fighting the climate crisis to releasing more CO2 than they absorb.

While international pressures are rising to mitigate Amazon’s damage, such as the European Union (EU) ban on the import of products linked to deforestation, the Brazilian government seeks to take advantage of the area’s economic potential. Likewise, and according to investigations carried out by The New York Times, the livestock sector, which works under an illegal dynamic, represents one of the most important threats to this ecosystem of global importance.

As an environmental NGO, these figures concern us, however, they encourage us to continue working for reforestation and the reduction of environmental damage. The increase in deforestation is not only a risk for Brazil and its territory, but for the entire world, as it is an ecosystem that is home to great biodiversity and has the ability to cool the planet and hel curb global warming.

For this reason, we firmly believe that small actions contribute to generate big changes. As individuals and part of a community, wheter family or business, we have the responsability to become aware of our planet’s troubles and we are called to take action on them.