Oct 21 | Preserving Amazonian rainforest in Brazil

Context

Tropical rainforests, such as those found in the Amazon basin, have long been referred to as “the lungs of the world”. Around a third of the world’s primary tropical rainforest (490 million hectares) is situated in Brazil, and around 80% of this tropical rainforest is situated in the Brazilian part of the Amazon basin.

The Amazon rainforest is one of the most biodiverse habitats on the planet, and is home to 10% of all known terrestrial species. Additionally, on average, a new species is discovered in the Amazon every 3 days! 1 million indigenous people live in the Amazon rainforest too, so preserving it is vital to keep their communities intact.

However, sadly, 20% of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest was lost between 1975 and 2018, largely to clear land for agriculture, oil and gas production, mining, logging, and infrastructure. The rate of deforestation has increased over the past 3 years, with the rate towards the end of 2020 reaching its highest level since 2008. This is deeply concerning and shows how important projects that protect rainforest are right now.

The objective of this Brazilian Amazon REDD project is to avoid emissions from planned deforestation on a property in Para State, in the Eastern Amazon of Brazil. The property includes five forest areas: Rio Capim, Poty, Cauaxi, Sumal and Caculé, totaling over 200,000 hectares.

This project will preserve 27,434.9 hectares of native forest within the site, which had previously been designated for deforestation in order to clear the land for livestock pasture.

Instead of being deforested this area of rainforest will be conserved.

It is estimated that the project activity will avoid over 9.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over 10 years – which would have been emitted in the absence of the project.

Additionally, through this project the land owners have committed to intensifying and improving their practices to support the sustainable social development, maintenance and improvement of biodiversity.. This work is a requirement of being FSC certified, and will involve the maintenance and/or enhancement of long-term social and economic well-being of forest workers and local communities, the reduction of the environmental impact of logging activities, and the maintenance of the ecological functions and integrity of the forest.