The Amazon

The Amazon is the largest equatorial rainforest in the world. It extends over the hydrographic basin of the Amazon River, a vast tropical region with an area of approximately 6.74 million km2, which spreads out across eight countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru and Venezuela.

The Amazon biome is almost the same size as the basin, with 6.7 million square kilometers. Most of this biome — 60.1% — is in Brazilian territory. To get an idea of its grandeur, if the Amazon were a country, it would be the seventh largest in the world.

The environment is extremely complex and dynamic in the Amazon. Its hydrographic basin comprises a variety of landscapes and ecosystems, which include tropical rainforests, flooded or floodplain forests, savannas and an intricate network of rivers, lakes and streams.

 

Enormous biodiversity

The Amazon has an immense biodiversity, housing an enormous number of plants and animals on the planet. Most of these species have not indeed been discovered by scientists. So far, there has been scientific classifications of at least 40,000 plant species, 427 mammals, 1,294 birds, 378 reptiles, 427 amphibians and about 3,000 fish in the region. However, the smallest forms of life show the most impressive numbers: scientists have described between 96,660 and 128,840 species of invertebrates in the Brazilian part of the Amazon alone.

The wildlife of the Amazon shares the space with about 30 million people, who are part of an enormous cultural and indigenous heritage. Of this population, more than 220 indigenous groups are in the Brazilian Amazon, in addition to other traditional and riverside communities that depend on the forest's natural resources to survive.

 

“Flying Rivers”

The widespread belief that the Amazon would be “the lungs of the world” has been proven false. In reality, scientists today claim that most of the oxygen produced by plants is reabsorbed back into the rainforest itself. The real importance of the Amazon is much more linked to its role in regulating the amount of rainfall on the South American continent.

The concept of “flying rivers” consists of the movement of air humidity carried by the region's winds. The humidity coming from the Atlantic Ocean added to the evaporation of rainforest water is carried by the clouds, which encounter the natural barrier of the Andes Mountain range. This moisture is then pushed back into the Brazilian territory and goes towards the south of the continent. It causes the rains in the southern biomes essential for ecological balance.

 

Deforestation in the Amazon

Unfortunately, the Amazon has been a constant target for economical practices harmful to the environment. Although the biome has been explored since the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th century — mainly with the extraction of wood — it was in the 1970s that the devastation of the rainforest ramped up.

Occupation and economic development policies of the military dictatorship of the time accelerated deforestation along large open roads in the middle of the forest, like the Transamazônica Highway. The possibility of reaching more land within the forest favored mining and illegal logging, as well as threats to the survival of uncontacted indigenous groups.

At the beginning of this century, the devastation of the Amazon happens because of three particular causes: the extraction of wood, the agricultural expansion — with a focus on exports to international markets — and forest fires. The latter is directly linked to economic expansion, which seeks to open up more land for agriculture and livestock. Although wildfires are common during the dry season of the Amazonian winter, some groups promote arson for personal gain. Inspection is very difficult due to the immensity of the territory and the small contingent of public agents. Despite the government's efforts in recent years to reduce deforestation, the destruction trend has once again intensified.

For the future, experts argue the concept of Sustainable Development is the best way to prevent and revert deforestation in the Amazon, and in the world. The exploitation of natural resources sustainably is the best alternative to stimulate the economy without destroying the environment and also generating income and development for the native population.