brazil

Tropical Forests Lost 40 Football Fields of Tree Cover Per Minute in 2017

Tropical Forests Lost 40 Football Fields of Tree Cover Per Minute in 2017

New University of Maryland data published by Global Forest Watch (GFW) Wednesday revealed 2017 as the second-worst year on record for tropical tree cover loss, a GFW blog announced. Tropical tree cover decreased by an area the size of Bangladesh—a total of 39 million acres. That amounts to 40 football fields worth of trees cut […]

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    Places to Watch: 3 Forest Regions at Risk Right Now

    Places to Watch: 3 Forest Regions at Risk Right Now

    By Mikaela Weisse and Katie Fletcher This edition of Places to Watch examines forest clearing detected between Nov. 9, 2017, and Jan. 31, 2018 in Indonesian Papua, Cameroon and Brazil. Due to occasional cloud cover that can obscure satellite recognition, some loss may have occurred earlier. Oil Palm Plantation Encroaching on Primary Forest in Indonesian […]

    Brazilian School Districts Make Historic Switch to 100% Plant-Based Meals

    Brazilian School Districts Make Historic Switch to 100% Plant-Based Meals

    Four cities in Brazil have pledged to transition all of the meals served at its public school cafeterias to 100 percent plant-based by the end of 2019, with the mission of reducing the cities’ environmental footprint (especially water consumption), aiding local produce farmers and fostering humane and healthy eating habits for students. The cities of […]

    Amazon Reef: BP Drilling Plans Dealt Another Blow by Brazilian Regulator

    Amazon Reef: BP Drilling Plans Dealt Another Blow by Brazilian Regulator

    By Joe Sandler Clarke, Unearthed BP’s plans to drill for oil near a huge coral reef in the mouth of Amazon river have been dealt a further blow after a regulator questioned the company’s environmental risk assessment. Ibama, Brazil’s federal environmental agency, rejected an environmental study from the British oil giant, further delaying the company’s […]

    World’s Largest Tropical Reforestation to Plant 73 Million Trees in Brazilian Amazon

    World’s Largest Tropical Reforestation to Plant 73 Million Trees in Brazilian Amazon

    The largest tropical reforestation effort in history aims to restore 73 million trees in the Brazilian Amazon by 2023. The multimillion dollar, six-year project, led by Conservation International, spans 30,000 hectares of land—the equivalent of the size of 30,000 soccer fields, or nearly 70,000 acres. The effort will help Brazil move towards its Paris agreement […]

    Brazil Backs Off Controversial Plan to Open Amazon Forest to Mining

    Brazil Backs Off Controversial Plan to Open Amazon Forest to Mining

    The Brazilian government announced Monday that it has reversed President Michel Temer’s decree last month to open up a protected Amazon reserve to mining. Temer’s controversial proposal had allowed mining in the National Reserve of Copper and Associates (Renca), a 17,800-square-mile nature reserve the size of Switzerland that’s known to be an essential carbon sink. […]

    381 New Species Discovered in the Amazon

    381 New Species Discovered in the Amazon

    A new WWF and Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development report, released Aug. 30, reveals that a new animal or plant species is discovered in the Amazon every two days, the fastest rate to be observed this century. The findings come as huge parts of the forest are increasingly under threat, sparking further concern over the […]

    Big Oil Faces Big Trouble in the Amazon

    Big Oil Faces Big Trouble in the Amazon

    By Andy Rowell We have known for years that the days of finding easy oil outside the Middle East are over. It means that the oil industry has to go into fragile ecological areas like the Arctic or exploit dirty unconventionals like the tar sands or shale gas. Or the industry can go deep offshore, […]