Blog conclusions

The aim of this blog has been to show the importance of the Amazon rainforest on the physical, biological and social environment, not just at local but also global scales. The Amazon rainforest, this unique, vast and complex ecosystem is deeply endangered by human activities. Due to its strong influence on the global climate, its role in maintaining global biodiversity and the important ecosystem services it provides, degradation and destruction of the Amazon rainforest have significant negative effects on all of us. On the other hand, the protection and regeneration of rainforests hold great opportunities for mitigating global climate change.

Recognizing this, there have been numerous global and local initiatives to protect the Amazon rainforest including, among others, the UNFCCC’s international REDD+ mechanism, or smaller initiatives such as the Prince’s Rainforest Project or the Rainforest Foundation UK. Numerous organizations, such as Greenpeace and WWF put considerable effort into raising awareness of the importance of rainforests, producing some very powerful campaigns.

Still, while these initiatives are encouraging, the Amazon rainforest have suffered significant losses in forest area, about 3.6 million hectares annually, in the past decade. While there is evidence that humans have altered the landscape of the Amazon Basin for hundreds or even thousands of years, the current rate of destruction is historically unprecedented. Unfortunately, addressing deforestation is not an easy task. It is a complex process, with numerous direct and indirect drivers many of which have strong social significance. For example, while agricultural expansion and cattle ranching are the most important drivers of deforestation in the area, these drivers are hard to address without considering other pressing issues such as food security or employment of local people. While community forestry may be a solution for the latter, such projects are still in their infancy with many lessons still to be learned.

My aim was never to provide a magic solution to deforestation in the Amazon Basin, (that would have been quite ambitious of me), but rather to raise awareness of the problem, its history, drivers and effects, as well as the global and local initiatives that seek to address it. I hope I succeeded in my goal and as a result of the blog people who have followed it look at rainforests and their destruction from a different perspective. Or maybe… even try to help in the simplest ways we individuals can by minimizing our own footprint on this highly endangered magical ecosystem of our planet.


Thank you for following!

Source: www.treehugger.com