If the Amazon rainforest functions as our planet’s lungs, what do raging wildfires threaten? An atmospheric scientist explains why the fires, though devastating, won’t suffocate life on Earth.
A fire in the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, in Amazonas state, Brazil, Aug. 17, 2019.
Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino
Don’t blame climate change for the 39,000 forest fires now incinerating huge tracts of the Brazilian Amazon. This environmental catastrophe is human-made and highly political.
A new study shows these elephants boost the carbon stored in their forests by 7%.
Forest restoration is underway in Biliran, Leyte, Philippines led by the local community with support from international researchers and government agencies.
Robin Chazdon
Restoring tropical rainforests is good for the climate, wild species and humans. But where to start? A new study pinpoints locations that will maximize benefits and minimize negative impacts.
The impact of deforestation for oil palm plantations is well known – and now research has found the replanting process could be additional harm to biodiversity.
A regenerating stand of rainforest in northern Costa Rica.
Matthew Fagan
Many nations are restoring degraded tropical forests to slow climate change, protect endangered species and improve rural life. But those forests often are cleared again soon afterward.
Soybean farms surrounded the Wawi Indigenous Territory in the Southeast Amazon.
Rogério Assis/ Instituto Socioambiental
Brazil has set itself a target of restoring almost 50,000 sq km of the Amazon rainforest by 2030. But it won’t get there without changing its policies and how it engages with local people.
Plant remains, preserved in lake sediments like in the Republic of Congo help give accurate deforestation information.
Carla Staver
Tropical deforestation can release a huge amount of carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.
The Amazon rainforest is fed by a rich network of creeks, streams and rivers. Informal road construction is now endangering this critical ecosystem.
Rickey Rogers/Reuters
Thousands of dirt roads crisscross the Brazilian Amazon, serving ranchers, loggers and miners. The area’s fragile waterways — and the spectacular fish that live in them — pay a high price.
Future initiatives for conservation mainly depend on the proper co-ordination of scientists, governments, conservation groups and the media, especially when corruption is close by.
Guam’s trees are struggling without the birds that spread their seeds.
Guam’s trees are in trouble, thanks to the accidental release of a snake species 70 years ago, which has killed off many of the bird species that are vital for the health of the island’s forests.
Avoiding fires in Indonesia’s peatlands should be a common goal of everyone involved.
Antara Foto/Jessica Helena Wuysang/ via REUTERS
Indonesian peatlands are important to many people: farmers, bureaucrats, businesspeople, and conservationists. But preserving this value for everyone will mean listening to everyone’s concerns.
A farmer carries cocoa pods at a farm in Agboville, Cote d'Ivoire.
Luc Gnago/Reuters
There are rising concerns that rapid deforestation across the Amazon and Southeast Asia could spread to Africa. The continent hasn’t yet seen vast agricultural expansion but it could be on the way.
Tropical forests in the Congo for example have exceptionally high animal and plant species.
Shutterstock
Forests and savannas are expected to be strongly affected in the coming decades by changing rainfall patterns. But land use will also have a major impact.
A yellow-shouldered grosbeak tucks into a katydid (bush cricket) lunch high in the rainforest canopy.
Alexander C. Lees
The extinction threat you haven’t heard of: several South American birds teeter on the brink of existence due to habitat loss. And history is not the best guide for how to save them.
The Wet Tropics is Australia’s second-biggest earner of nature tourism dollars.
wettropics/gov.au
Susan Letcher, Purchase College State University of New York
Forests that grow back after being cleared for agriculture or by logging grow back much faster than old-growth forests, soaking up carbon and providing vital habitat.
Indigenous children depict fish in the sea at a pre-Paris rally in Sao Paulo.
Nacho Doce / Reuters