Amazon Rain Forest

The Amazon rain forest is struggling for life. It is like watching a powerful animal slowly dying from hunger. In Brazil, carnaval queen Viviane Castro recently paraded nude with “vendese” painted on her stomach to protest selling Amazonian resources to developers. In Peru , clashes between the government and indigenous tribes have turned violent. They are protesting actions to take large portions of their forest for oil and mining projects. Everywhere people are concerned about the future of this valuable natural treasure.

Area covered by Amazon Rainforest

The region covers most of the Amazon River basin in South America . The river basin occupies seven million square kilometers. About 80% of that is rainforest. Through this flows 20% of all the free-flowing fresh water on earth. It touches nine different countries with more than half in Brazil and a large part in Peru. The Amazon contains more than 50% of the remaining rainforests on the planet. It is by far the largest and richest in the world.

It has existed for at least 55 million years and native tribes have lived in the jungles for thousands of years. The region holds amazing diversity. One in ten known species in the world live in the Amazon area. It is the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world. So far, at least 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been found there. One in five of all the birds in the world live there.

Scarlet Macaw

The diversity of plant species is the highest on earth. Some experts estimate that one square kilometer may contain over 75,000 types of trees and 150,000 species of plants. One square kilometer of the land can contain about 90,000 tonnes of living plants. The green leaf area of plants and trees in the rainforest varies by about 25% as a result of seasonal changes. Leaves expand during the dry season when sunlight is at a maximum, then shrink in the cloudy wet season.

The main sources of deforestation in the Amazon are human settlement and development of the land. Prior to the early 1960s, access to the forest's interior was highly restricted, and the forest remained basically intact. Some farming was established, but the land is productive for only a short period of time. Farmers are constantly moving to new areas and clearing more land. This led to deforestation and extensive environmental damage.

During the past twenty years, the area of forest lost in the Amazon has risen. Most of the land became pasture for cattle. Over 90% of the land deforested since 1970 is used for livestock. In addition, Brazil is currently the second-largest global producer of soybeans. At the current rate, in two decades the Amazon rainforest could be reduced by 50%.

As territories are developed, indigenous communities of people continue to disappear. Others struggle to fight for their cultural survival and the fate of their land. Most tribes in the Amazon do not have clearly defined boundaries, which makes their land easy targets for commercial developers seeking their natural resources.

Amazon Jungle River

Giant Monkey Frog

Jaguar

Environmentalists are concerned about the loss of biodiversity which will result from destruction of the forest. Release of the carbon contained within the vegetation could accelerate global warming. The rainforest could be also threatened by climate changes. Preserving this area is a vital part of finding a solution for global warming and other important environmental issues.

Last update: June 2009