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The Amazon Rainforest

Our Role in Stopping the Illegal Brazilian Mahogany Trade

In October 2001, Paulo Adario, Greenpeace's Amazon Forest Coordinator, began receiving death threats. These threats were so serious that Brazilian authorities decided to provide him with around the clock protection. What led to this extraordinary state of affairs?

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Impacts of Deforestation on the Amazon

The Amazon is one of the richest areas in the world in animal and plant diversity. There are more plant species in one hectare in the Amazon than the whole of Europe. Over 200 species of trees can be found on one hectare of Amazon, and one tree has been shown to have 72 different species of ants living in it. Logging and other extractive industries are decimating this precious area.

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Brazil's Historic Efforts to Save Mahogany

In a historic and bold move, Brazil suspended its mahogany trade on December 5th, 2001, in response to an on-going Greenpeace investigation into rampant illegal practices in Brazil's mahogany trade.

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Into the Heart of the Amazon - The Greenpeace Deni Indian Expedition

In September 2001, Greenpeace sent three international teams of volunteers into the Amazon to help the Deni Indians demarcate their land to save it from loggers. On October 2, the Brazilian government attempted to stop the demarcation. The Deni continued the demarcation with the help of Greenpeace and on October 18th, it was announced that the Brazilian government would formally recognize the demarcation, permanently setting aside Deni Indian land for their sole occupation and use, thereby protecting it from industrial uses and logging.

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The Amazon Rainforest: The Greatest Remaining Ancient Forest

The Amazon is the greatest remaining ancient forest on Earth. The Amazon River valley is the largest basin area in the world. This basin contains most of the biodiversity on earth, with 50 percent of the entire planet's land-based animal and plant species depending on the Amazon for their survival.

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The Ecological Importance of the Amazon

The Amazon Basin is the largest reservoir of fresh water on the planet and about one fifth of all running water on the planet flows through the Amazon. The Amazon River is 6,868 km / 4000 miles long, the same distance that separates New York from Berlin. As recent as the 1990's seven species of monkeys, two species of birds and dozens of species of frogs and fish were discovered. Continued logging in the Amazon will have irreversible effects on species that we have yet to discover.

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Big Win for Amazon Communities

If the U.S. election still has you down, try this for a pick-me-up: Five million acres of Amazon rainforest are now federally protected, thanks to an agreement signed by Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva on November 9. The decision represents a major victory for local residents, who have lived amidst a raging conflict over land and forest, and for the millions of people worldwide who are concerned about protecting the earth's biodiversity.

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Nun Assassinated Defending Amazon

Sister Dorothy Stang, a longtime advocate for the disempowered in the Brazilian Amazon, was assassinated on February 12, 2005 in the State of Pará, Brazil. The 74-year-old American-born nun was shot by two gunmen as she was traveling to a sustainable development project in Anapú.

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