Brazil launches first anti-deforestation raids under Lula bid to protect Amazon
Uruara, Brazil Reuters Brazilian environmental agents cut through the rainforest with machetes on Thursday in search of criminals in the first anti-deforestation raids under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has pledged to end surging destruction inherited from his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. Reuters exclusively accompanied raids led by environmental agency Ibama in the rainforest […]
Deforestation in Brazil’s Cerrado savanna hits seven-year high
Sāo Paulo, Brazil/Montreal, Canada Reuters Deforestation in Brazil’s Cerrado savanna rose to a seven-year high, government data showed on Wednesday, destroying a vital habitat for threatened species and releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gases that drive climate change. Destruction of native vegetation rose 25 per cent to 10,689 square kilometers – an area larger than […]
Explainer – Why did past targets to protect nature fail over the last decade?
Montreal, Canada Reuters This month’s UN biodiversity talks in Montreal aim to hammer out a new, global agreement. But this isn’t the first time governments have tried to halt environmental loss through agreed targets. In fact, many of the 24 conservation targets under discussion now aim to avoid past mistakes and improve on the world’s […]
Brazil risks losing control of Amazon to drug traffickers, judge warns
Brasilia, BrazilReuters Brazil runs the risk of losing control over its vast Amazon rainforest region to organised crime and traffickers who use the lawless region to smuggle drugs, a Supreme Court judge warned on Wednesday. Justice Luis Roberto Barroso urged the international community to contribute funding and ideas to foster sustainable development that would preserve […]
Biggest rainforest nations form triple alliance to save jungle
Nusa Dua, Indonesia Reuters The world’s three largest rainforest nations Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia on Monday formally launched a partnership to cooperate on forest preservation after a decade of on-off talks on a trilateral alliance. Reuters reported in August that Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, elected as Brazil’s President at the end […]
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon hits October record ahead of government change
São PauloReuters Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest reached a record for October, data showed on Friday, with land-clearing in the region speeding up as the country undergoes a transition to a more conservation-friendly government. Preliminary government satellite data collected by space research agency Inpe showed that 903.86 square kilometers were cleared in the region last […]
Wow!: Climate-resistant coffee trees could save Mozambique rainforest
SISIPHO SKWEYIYA and EMIDIO JOZINE, of Reuters, report on how coffee plants are providing incentives to protect the rainforest…
Death and deforestation: Cocaine trade adds to Amazon’s woes
ANDRE CABETTE FABIO, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how the murders of Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips have stoked concern in Brazil about links between drugs smugglers and environmental crime…
Essay: Armed militias in Brazil hold enormous sway over fate of Amazon – and the global climate
UK-based scholar NICHOLAS POPE, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at how, with the help of militias and mafias, land-grabbing and resource exploitation continue in the Brazilian Amazon…
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon hits record for first half of 2022
Manaus, Brazil Reuters Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest reached a record high for the first six months of the year, as an area five times the size of New York City was destroyed, preliminary government data showed on Friday. From January to June, 3,988 square kilometres were cleared in the region, according to national space […]