All articles tagged with #deforestation
In the Brazilian Amazon, the Akuntsu—reduced to three women after decades of violence—welcomed a newborn boy named Akyp, offering renewed hope for the tribe’s survival and symbolizing potential protection of their land with support from Funai and the Kanoe as deforestation and land conflicts persist.
New Nature Food analysis links two decades of forest loss to commodity farming, with beef the leading driver (about 120 million acres destroyed, mostly in the tropics like the Amazon) and beef-related emissions exceeding three times the US’s annual total. Oil palm and soy also cleared millions of tropical forests, while staples such as maize, rice, and cassava can have large footprints. The study suggests reducing beef can help rainforests, though global demand remains strong and data limitations complicate measurement of cocoa/coffee impacts.
A Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution study in Rio de Janeiro’s Atlantic Forest remnants shows mosquitoes feeding on humans more often than on other animals, likely because biodiversity loss reduces alternative hosts. From 1,714 mosquitoes across 52 species, 24 blood meals were identified, with 18 traced to humans. The findings suggest that host availability and proximity drive this shift, increasing the risk of pathogen transmission (dengue, Zika, Yellow Fever, Mayaro, Chikungunya) and underscoring the need for targeted surveillance and ecosystem-aware disease control.
EU and Mercosur signed a free-trade agreement in Asuncion, paving the way for the EU's largest-ever trade pact; it now requires European Parliament approval and ratification by Mercosur members, with about 111 billion euros in 2024 trade and exports split between EU machinery/chemicals/vehicles and Mercosur agricultural goods/minerals/wood pulp, while critics warn of cheap imports and deforestation.
New research links deforestation in the Atlantic Forest to mosquitoes increasingly feeding on humans, suggesting biodiversity decline and habitat destruction push mosquitoes to human blood and raise the risk of new disease vectors; reversing habitat destruction could help, but the reversibility of this shift remains uncertain.
Brazilian researchers found Atlantic Forest mosquitoes increasingly prefer human blood as biodiversity declines from deforestation; among more than 1,700 mosquitoes sampled, 24 had human DNA from 18 different people, suggesting humans may be the main blood source in disturbed areas and potentially altering disease risk. The study calls for improved sampling methods and further analysis.
The Colombian Amazon has become a major hub for illegal activities such as cocaine trafficking, gold mining, and cattle ranching, driven by expanding illegal roads and armed groups, leading to significant environmental destruction and complex criminal networks, with ongoing challenges in governance and peacebuilding efforts.
Panama's Darién National Park has successfully reduced illegal logging and deforestation by modernizing its ranger force, increasing patrols, and utilizing affordable technology like satellite imagery and cloud systems, demonstrating a promising model of co-investment in conservation that could be replicated globally.
Massive floods in Sumatra, Indonesia, caused over 700 deaths and were worsened by deforestation, climate change, and mismanagement of natural resources, with local leaders blaming illegal logging and plantation expansion for ecological destruction.
Brazil aims to position itself as an environmental leader by hosting COP30 in the Amazon, highlighting its renewable energy efforts and the importance of the rainforest in global climate stability, while facing ongoing challenges like deforestation, fossil fuel expansion, and political shifts that impact its environmental commitments.
A new study suggests that invasive Polynesian rats played a significant role in the deforestation of Rapa Nui, with a single pair of rats capable of destroying 95% of palm seeds within 47 years, challenging the traditional view that humans alone caused the island's environmental collapse.
Brazil's President Lula proposed a new initiative, the Tropical Forests Forever Fund, to support rainforest preservation in over 70 developing countries through a permanent trust fund, aiming to generate significant private sector investment, and defended Brazil's recent oil exploration activities near the Amazon, emphasizing pragmatic environmental and economic strategies.
A nonprofit report highlights that coffee farming in Brazil has led to significant deforestation, which in turn reduces rainfall and makes coffee cultivation more difficult, emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and consumer awareness.
Australia's tropical rainforests are now releasing more carbon than they absorb due to climate change-induced factors like extreme temperatures and drought, threatening their role as carbon sinks and complicating global emissions reduction efforts, according to a study in Nature.
A new study shows that the Amazon's large trees are growing larger and more numerous, indicating greater climate resilience than previously thought, but ongoing deforestation and land use changes threaten this positive trend and the forest's ability to sequester carbon.