Amazon Rainforest

Between 2007 and 2008, almost 3 million acres of rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon were lost to illegal logging, soy plantations, cattle ranching, and other human industries such as road building and mining. A significant part of what remains is under direct threat - as are the forest plants, animals and people who depend upon the forest.

An aerial view of the Amazon forest. © Greenpeace / Beltra, Daniel

The Cycle of Destruction

The Brazilian Forest Code
The Brazilian Forest Code is a series of laws regulating use of the Amazon Rainforest. While implementation and enforcement of the Forest Code in Brazil is difficult, these laws provide an important framework for protection of the Amazon. The Forest Code requires landowners to set aside 80% of their lands as Legal Reserves, prohibits land grabbing on indigenous lands, and identifies which native species can be replanted in previously deforested areas. At Greenpeace we use the Forest Code framework to fight for enforcement and additional protections.

Illegal Logging
Before planting soy or seeding areas for cattle ranching, farmers often remove the most valuable timber from areas they have illegally occupied. As one of the first steps in the cycle of destruction land grabbers build logging roads into pristine rainforest. Once accessible these roads open the door to further devastation of the forest ecosystem through clearing for agricultural operations, fuel wood gathering, and mining.

Fueled by the demand for cheap supplies of tropical timbers for both the Brazilian domestic market and the international market, the illegal timber trade represents a major factor in forest degradation. Between 60 and 80 percent of all logging in the Brazilian Amazon is estimated to be illegal and of all the timber that is cut, as much as 70 percent is wasted in the mills.

Burning Forests for Cattle and Soy
Once valuable tree species are sold, often illegally, deforested lands are set on fire to clear any remaining debris. Not only does this harm the rainforest ecosystem, but the burning of forests releases tons of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change. Profits from illegal or destructive logging can then be used to seed lands for cattle ranching or soy plantations. Agricultural operations are now the principal cause of the Amazon’s destruction and soy, meat, and leather are sold to unknowing consumers in domestic and international markets.
Read more: "Top name brands implicated in Amazon destruction"
Read more: "Putting soy impacts on the map"

Greenpeace Solutions to Amazon Deforestation

Zero Deforestation Proposal
In October of 2007, Greenpeace and other non-profits released a plan to stop deforestation in the Amazon by 2015. The proposal, only part of which has been adopted by the Brazilian government, sets out specific targets that could see deforestation drop gradually over the next six years. The plan represents thinking on a massive scale, but we believe it can be done.

Key elements of the proposal include: creation of financial incentives to promote forest protection rather than forest destruction; and increased support for forest protection agencies that will allow them to properly monitor, control, and inspect commercial activities in order to prevent illegal logging and land clearance for farming.
Read the agreement
Read the Zero Deforestation Announcement


Forest for Climate Funding Mechanism
Forests for Climate is a groundbreaking proposal for an international funding mechanism to protect tropical forests. The mechanism would become part of the second phase (post-2012) of the Kyoto agreement on climate change.

In the race to fight global warming, time is of the essence. If countries commit to Forests for Climate, funding to protect tropical forests could become available as soon as 2009. Cutting emissions from deforestation in half would take only an estimated $10 to $15 billion per year from the international community. Forests for Climate has the potential to raise far more than that in a balanced, responsible way.
Forests for Climate fact sheet
Forests for Climate technical report

Click here to read more about Greenpeace's Solutions to Amazon Deforestation