The Amazon rainforest, home to the richest natural wildlife on earth, is the largest tropical rainforest and is known for its biodiversity. It is home to some of the most important habitats in the world and has been described as the fourth natural wonder of the world. The Amazon contains some of the greatest diversity of flora and fauna. Some of the most important flora and fauna are the Amazon’s Bird of Paradise, the spectacled bear, the Amazon’s Antirrhinium, detailed boobie and the critically endangered Orca. All these are found within the vast Amazon basin.
Rapid deforestation and rapid climate change frontier building in the Amazon have made it a world danger zone for human beings. The Amazon rainforest is home to many communities of tribes, who depend largely on the Amazonian forest for food, fuel and other products. The Amazonian deforestation rate has more than doubled in the past 20 years and the rate is expected to double by the year 2021. The continued rate of deforestation puts the Amazonian people at serious risk of disappearing from the Earth.
More than 90% of the deforestation is happening in the Brazilian Amazon, Latin America and the Caribbean. Brazil accounts for almost the entire Amazon deforestation. Most of the deforestation is taking place in the Amazon’s “ribbons,” or large areas that are located within the borders of Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, or Peru. These countries together form the Amazon rainforest conservation area, which is shrinking at an alarming rate. By the end of this year, according to a recent estimate, approximately one third of the Amazon rainforest has been lost.
Rapid climate change has also resulted in a global reduction in the volume of forest canopy. The rapid reduction in the Amazonian forest canopy means that the air can be saturated with the high temperatures from the sun, leading to the drying up of the forest. In this way, climate change has started to permapress on the Amazonian Rainforest. Most of the rainforests in the Amazon are located in a conical shape, like a horseshoe, with low peaks at the top. This means that water flows into the center and then travels outward to the lowest elevations.
In order to understand the deforestation crisis in the Amazon Rainforest, one must first be aware of what kind of land it covers. The Amazon Rainforest consists of an area of approximately ten thousand square kilometers, which is one fifth of the Brazilian territory. The Brazilian government has designated the Amazon as a World Heritage Site due to the extensive natural biodiversity in the area. An area of one hundred and forty thousand square kilometers was deforested within the last decade. Areas of traditional Amazonian forest have remained unspoiled as traditional village farmers have not abandoned their lands and have remained to cultivate the crops and cattle that they have been growing for centuries, using large quantities of wood and other plant materials from the forest.
This situation makes Brazil the leading country in the deforestation crisis. Deforestation in Brazil has led to a severe shortage of woods for export and the pressure on the authorities to deforest and sell off these remaining forests. In addition, the Brazilian state has been involved in a fierce struggle with the indigenous peoples of Amazonian tribes, who fear for their rights to the lands and are demanding reparations for being treated as second-class citizens. The rapid rate of deforestation in the Amazon has also pushed many governments to adopt a policy of coexistence between the indigenous tribes and the local communities in an attempt to conserve the Rainforest. The policies are however being challenged by powerful lobby groups in the state and national parliaments.
