A major study by scientists and Indigenous organizations revealed that the environmental destruction in parts of the Amazon is so complete that the rainforest has reached a tipping point and will never recover.
“The tipping point is not a future scenario, but a phase that is already present in some parts of the region,” the report said. “Brazil and Bolivia intensify 90% of all combined deforestation and degradation. As a result, brutalization It is already happening in both countries.”
scientists Amazon Geo-Referenced Socio-environmental Information Network Worked with (RAISG) Amazon Basin Indigenous Organizations Coordinator (Coica) to produce the Amazonia Against the Clock work, one of the largest ever, covering all nine countries containing parts of the Amazon.
He found that only two of the nine small Surinames and French Guiana had at least half of their forests still intact.
Amazon Native organizations, representing 511 nations and allies, are calling for a global agreement to permanently protect 80% of the Amazon by 2025.
The 80% goal is a huge challenge, given that only 74% of the original forest remains. Urgent action is needed not only to preserve the forest that still stands, but also to restore degraded land and return to this 80% level.
“It’s difficult but doable,” said Alicia Guzmán, the Ecuadorian scientist who co-ordinated the report. “It all depends on the involvement of Indigenous communities and people living in the forest. That and debt.”
Guzmán said that giving Indigenous groups the management of more land—and most importantly, providing state protection for that land and eliminating loopholes that allow mining industries—is the surest way to guarantee protection.
Nearly half of the Amazon is designated as either protected area or Indigenous, and only 14% of all deforestation takes place there. Currently, about 100 million hectares of Indigenous land is under dispute or awaiting official government recognition.
“Having Indigenous people in the decision-making process means we rely on the knowledge of those who know the most about the forest,” Guzmán said. “And they need budgets.”
They also need their land to be protected from land usurpers and mining industries.
Mining is one of the growing threats, with protected areas and indigenous lands among the areas most coveted by miners. Most mining is clandestine and illegal, but about half of protected areas are done legally, and scientists have urged governments to deny or revoke mining permits.
Oil is another threat, especially in Ecuador, which is the source of 89% of all crude oil exported from the region.
Oil blocks cover 9.4% of the Amazon’s surface, of which 43% are found in protected areas and Indigenous lands. More than half of the Ecuadorian Amazon is designated as an oil bloc, and portions in Peru (31%), according to the report. Bolivia (29%) and Colombia (28%) are also concerned.
An even bigger concern is farming. According to the report, agriculture is responsible for 84% of deforestation, and the amount of land given to farming has tripled since 1985. Brazil Soy, beef and grains are one of the world’s major food exporters, feeding much of the world and bringing in billions of dollars each year.
An important recommendation of the study is greater cooperation between regional governments, international financial institutions, and private equity firms that hold most of the debt owed by Amazon countries.
Latin America is the most indebted region of the developing world, and it will be important to write off that debt in exchange for conservation commitments.
“They have a unique opportunity to forgive existing debt in exchange for their commitment to end industrial extraction and promote conservations in key priority areas, indigenous lands and protected areas,” the report says.
Other 13 “solutions” proposed in the report include: a complete suspension of new licensing and financing for mining, oil, cattle ranching, large dams, logging and other similar activities; increased transparency and accountability throughout supply chains; restoration of deforested land; new governance models that provide greater representation and recognition for indigenous peoples.
Although the task is huge, there are reasons for optimism, and especially in Brazil, where President Jair Bolsonaro faces former incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a tense election on Oct.
Lula is leading in the polls. During his time in power in the 2000s, deforestation fell by more than 80%.
