Solution to save the "green lungs" of the Earth?

Due to many reasons, the Amazon forest is gradually shrinking, which has a double impact on the Earth and makes climate change happen faster.

Amazon forest fires worsen climate change. Illustration photo: INTERNET

The Amazon rainforest, or Amazon rainforest, is a moist broadleaf forest in the Amazon basin of South America. This area covers an area of 7 million km2 in 8 countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. It is considered the "green lungs" of the Earth. In addition to its diverse ecosystem, the Amazon also plays an important role in regulating the global climate. However, in recent years, the Amazon forest has been continuously destroyed by logging and burning for agriculture and livestock farming, rampant mineral exploitation, etc. Many areas have been wiped out, pushing some rare animal and plant species to the brink of extinction, causing biological imbalance.

According to newly released figures, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell to a six-year low in July, down 66% from the same month last year, with around 500 square kilometers of forest destroyed. However, this is still a large number, seriously affecting the rainforest.

Scientists warn that in order to preserve the Amazon, deforestation cannot exceed the 20% limit; if the above limit is broken, this precious asset will not be able to recover and may be converted to grassland within decades. Worryingly, the Amazon deforestation rate has now reached 17%.

“Previously, the average deforestation in the Amazon was around 6,500 square kilometers, while the figure is expected to be over 10,000 square kilometers by the end of this year, which means we are still in a state of huge loss, there is a lot to recover,” said Marcio Astrini, director of the Association of Climate Observatories.

Not only deforestation, indiscriminate dumping also seriously pollutes the river system in the Amazon rainforest, affecting the flora, fauna and livelihoods of people living along the river.

Mr. Jao Valdez, a Brazilian: “In the past, the water was crystal clear, not like it is now. About 10 or 11 years ago, the water started to change. Nowadays, there are not many shrimps and fishes. Many things we used to enjoy from the river are no longer there.”

In addition, other industrial mining activities, especially gold mining, also threaten the lives of animals in the Amazon, affecting biodiversity. According to scientists, mercury from illegal mining activities is affecting terrestrial mammals in the Amazon rainforest, from rodents to ocelots to titi monkeys.

In search of solutions to the urgent challenges facing the world’s most important ecosystem, the first Summit of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization since 2009 focused on discussions, policy development and consensus on goals and perspectives in negotiations on more than 130 topics, from financial resources for sustainable development to indigenous integration. The main negotiation contents focused on strategies to combat deforestation, combat organized crime and sustainable development for more than 50 million people with hundreds of indigenous groups living.

Brazilian President Lula da Silva has pledged to reduce deforestation to zero by 2030, reversing some of his predecessor's deforestation policies. Brazil has also called on regional and international countries to join forces to protect the Amazon, saying it is a challenge that the country cannot solve alone.

Although there has been a joint statement from the countries involved on their determination to protect the Amazon forest, observers say the goal of ending deforestation by 2030 as proposed by Brazil and Colombia is unlikely to come true due to many objective and subjective reasons, especially the awareness and actions of many countries involved.

HN synthesis

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