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The Amazon Rainforest has been in a steep decline every year. Calls to save the Amazon Rainforest are more important than ever.
Deforestation has long been a problem in the rainforest. Illegal business practices in forests and an increase in population are the main reasons. Many local resources create products out of the rainforest without practicing sustainable ways to do it.
In recent years, many groups and organizations have called for more local protection laws to save the Amazon Rainforest. Thanks to the power of social media, many are now putting pressure on the higher-ups.
With this, many are asking what is currently being done to save the rainforest? What is currently the initiatives taken to help the species, trees, and other tropical resources in the region?
Here are some of the initiatives that are currently in place to save the Amazon Rainforest.
1. Protected Areas
The government of Brazil has now pushed for more protected areas in the rainforest. Considering that majority of the forest can be found in the country. This is to effectively protect the area from agriculture and deforestation. It started a way to curb illegal logging and deforestation.
2. Environment Laws to Save the Amazon Rainforest
There are forestry and environmental laws that currently protect the Amazon Rainforest. The Brazilian government is now setting fines for violators. Patrols and other initiatives like satellites are in place to ensure the proper enforcement of forestry laws in the Amazon Rainforest.
3. Cooperation from Industry
Cattle ranching followed by the growing demand for soybeans products is the one causing the destruction of the forest. This demand for products is the main driver of deforestation in the Amazon for many decades.
4. Satellite Monitoring
There is a need to monitor the spread of ranching and soybeans production in restricted and protected areas. The Brazilian Space Agency has launched its DETER satellite to monitor the changes in the forest cover in real-time. This was started in 2004 and is now producing reports of deforestation hotspots to law enforcement every two weeks. Satellite monitoring has protected 59,000 square kilometers of the rainforest from deforestation from 2007 to 2011.
5. International Incentives
The global community has actually helped in protecting the rainforest. To reduce global emissions, the United Nations has established REDD+ or the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Programme. Through this program, countries with high carbon emissions pay for carbon storage to preserve the forests in developing countries.
6. Government Pressure to Save the Amazon Rainforest
To push the changes in the Amazon rainforest, the Brazilian people and people all over the world have created a social movement. This will pressure numerous NGO’s and law enforcement to invest in protecting the forest. The higher-ups need to act fast in saving Amazon.
7. Amazon Conservation Projects and Trusts
There are several ongoing conservation projects and trusts. It will allow people all over the world, from different backgrounds and walks of life to share their part in saving the rainforest.
- Amazon Watch
- Rainforest Trust
- Amazon Conservation Team
- Survival International
- Amazon Conservation Association
- International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs
- Rainforest Action Network
With the contribution of everyone around the world, we can conserve the Amazon for many years to come.
