This publication shows that carbon prices exceeding US$ 20 per ton of CO2 captured by the natural regeneration of deforested areas in the Amazon would be truly transformative for the region’s landscape. Offsets for captured carbon would ensure forest integrity, inducing extensive forest restoration and the capture of 16 Gt …
The Brazilian government has violated its own constitution and international law by developing hydroelectric power plants in the Amazon, according to an indigenous leader due to address the 29th United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday afternoon. Ademir Kaba Munduruku will argue that the Brazilian government failed to …
Amid the jungle cacophony of rustling leaves, buzzing bugs, howling monkeys and shrieking parrots, another, more menacing sound can be heard: a revving engine and the crush of truck tires that could potentially silence the forest symphony forever. In a remote patch of the Amazon rainforest, members of an indigenous …
Nature threads the very fabric of human lives in remote forest areas of developing countries. Unfortunately, we do not fully understand how ecosystem services (such as human health benefits) could be secured by conserving natural capital. Thus, we analyze a rich dataset on disease, climate, demography, land uses, and conservation …
Who said large-scale hydropower was out? As an article published by Climate Central recently noted, it has now been omitted from the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) annual reports on renewable energy for eight years running, and “may be seen as a risky bet” for investors. But Peru, together with …
China has accelerated plans for a railway through the heart of the Amazon rainforest - prompting fury from environmentalists. On a visit to Brasilia today, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang unveiled his plans to link Brazil's Atlantic coast with a Pacific port in Peru. The 5,300km track would cut through swathes …
Food retailers such as McDonald’s, Krispy Kreme, Dunkin Donuts, as well as agribusinesses like Cargill, are among the big companies to recently make zero-deforestation pledges. But do these commitments achieve anything other than PR for food companies? New research indicates they might. A study published Tuesday in the journal Conservation …
Colombia's armed forces have arrested 59 people in a major crackdown on illegal mining in the Amazon. Defence Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said they had dismantled an illegal financing network used by the Farc guerrilla group. He said 63 sites near the border with Brazil and Venezuela - where gold, …
The Brazilian rainforest could be effectively nationalised under a draft bill being considered by the country’s MPs. The proposed legislation would recognise the sovereignty of Brazil over the Amazon’s natural resources and set up a national Amazonian policy council with the aim of enshrining environmental protection and regulating economic activities …
Four Amazonian tribes have joined forces to oppose the construction of hydroelectric dams in their territory as the Brazilian government ramps up efforts to exploit the power of rivers in the world’s biggest forest. The Munduruku, Apiaká, Kayabi and Rikbaktsa released a joint statement on Thursday demanding the halt of …
The vast tropical forests of Amazonia account for almost one-fifth of the world's terrestrial vegetation carbon stock About 1% of all the tree species in the Amazon account for half of the carbon locked in the vast South American rainforest, a study has estimated. Although the region is home to …
A new study funded by the Natural Environment Research Council has revealed that nearly a one tenth of plants and trees in the dense Amazon rain forest has been lost in the last five decades. The researchers have blamed the human activities for the eradication of the natural flora. Jean-François …
More than one-tenth of trees in the Amazon rainforest have been removed since the 1960s, contributing to a 1.5% rise in carbon dioxide levels since then. This increase on total amount of carbon in the atmosphere is however small when compared to fossil fuel emissions, say University of Edinburgh researchers. …
A surge in hydroelectric power could displace the iconic region’s indigenous peoples and resources. When Asháninka Indian leader Ruth Buendía realized that a hydroelectric dam on the Amazon's Ene River would displace thousands of her people, she vowed to fight it. The project, she argued, would bring more hardship to …
Brazil will increase the use of renewable energy, target zero net deforestation and push for low-carbon agriculture as part of its climate proposal, Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira said in an interview. In its proposal to the United Nations climate conference in Paris this year, Latin America’s largest nation will propose …
CEO of cocoa producer, United Cacao, has deforested about 7,000 hectares of Amazonian rainforest, an Environmental Investigation Agency report alleges The CEO of a company listed on the London Stock Exchange, that aims to become the world’s largest producer of cocoa, is responsible for illegally clearing swathes of rainforest in …
Vegetation cover has increased globally by the equivalent of four billion tonnes of carbon since 2003 thanks to some luck and aggressive afforestation, says a new analysis of satellite data. Global warming would be happening faster if these emissions were not captured by the increased vegetation growth. The Australian-led study …
Climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions could cause aspen forests to largely disappear by 2050, unless something is done to combat rising global temperatures. The aspen, an iconic tree that blankets mountain slopes in the western US, was the subject of a scientific paper that said the widespread death …
Clearing forests for palm oil plantations is a "technical" matter that should not get tied up with trade discussions, an Indonesian minister told a land and poverty conference. Growing global demand for palm oil is fuelling rapid deforestation in Indonesia, at a faster pace than in Brazil's Amazon region, making …
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Wild animals can predict earthquakes several weeks before they strike, and motion-activated cameras that track their movements could be adopted in quake-prone countries as an affordable early warning system, scientists said on Tuesday. Scientists using a series of cameras in an Amazon region of Peru …
The ability of the Amazon forest to soak up excess carbon dioxide is weakening over time, researchers reported last week. That finding suggests that limiting climate change could be more difficult than expected. For decades, Earth’s forests and seas have been soaking up roughly half of the carbon pollution that …
