Amazonia Against the Clock
New reports proving data on degradation and transformation of 9 rainforest countries and call for protecting 80% of the Amazon in order to avoid the point of no return.
Report link: Amazonia for Life (2024)
From an ecological perspective, the Amazonia is crossing a dangerous tipping point: if deforestation and degradation continues at the current pace, the Amazonia will die as we know it today and will rapidly change from a tropical rainforest into a savannah, releasing enough carbon emissions to wreck our planet’s climate stability, and undermining international efforts to keep us under 1.5ºC temperature rise.
A shocking finding reveals that 34% of the Brazilian Amazon entered a process of land transformation, with the second highest rate being in the Bolivian Amazon. Savannization is already a reality in the southeast of the region, mainly in Brazil and Bolivia. The data shows that both countries are responsible for 90% of the deforestation and degradation in the entire region and that they share encroachment as a central cause of deforestation. This issue places states and their legal frameworks at the center of the solutions.
This report, produced in partnership by RAISG, Stand.earth, and COICA, with the support of Avaaz and One Earth, provides breakthrough data describing the current state of the Amazonia region. The report measures in detail where the destruction and degradation has occurred, and most importantly, where are the key priority areas that can save Amazonian ecosystems.
Lead authors: Marlene Quintanilla (Bolivia-RAISG), Carmen Josse (Ecuador-RAISG), Alicia Guzmán León (Stand Earth)
Contributing authors: Jessika García (COICA), Raúl Estrada (AVAAZ), Edith Espejo (One Earth)