Editing Amazon rainforest (section)

==Conservation and climate change==
{{See also|Deforestation and climate change|Gaviotas|Amazon Fund}}
[[File:Amazon CIAT (5).jpg|thumb|upright=1.05|right|Amazon rainforest]]
Environmentalists are concerned about [[loss of biodiversity]] that will result from [[forest destruction|destruction of the forest]], and also about the [[Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere|release of the carbon]] contained within the vegetation, which could accelerate [[global warming]]. Amazonian evergreen forests account for about 10% of the world's terrestrial primary productivity and 10% of the [[carbon sink|carbon stores]] in ecosystems<ref name="Melillo">{{cite journal
 | last=Melillo | first=J.M.
 | author2=McGuire, A.D.|author3= Kicklighter, D.W.|author4= Moore III, B.|author5= Vörösmarty, C.J.|author6= Schloss, A.L.
 | title=Global climate change and terrestrial net primary production
 | journal=Nature | date=May 20, 1993 | volume=363
 | pages=234–240 | doi=10.1038/363234a0 | issue=6426|bibcode = 1993Natur.363..234M| s2cid=4370074
 }}</ref> – of the order of 1.1 × 10<sup>11</sup> metric tonnes of carbon.<ref name="Tian">{{cite journal
 | last=Tian | first=H.
 | author2=Melillo, J.M.|author3=Kicklighter, D.W.|author4=McGuire, A.D.|author5=Helfrich III, J.|author6=Moore III, B.|author7= Vörösmarty, C.J.
 | s2cid=84534340
 | title=Climatic and biotic controls on annual carbon storage in Amazonian ecosystems
 | journal=Global Ecology and Biogeography |date=July 2000 | volume=9
 | issue=4 | pages=315–335 | doi=10.1046/j.1365-2699.2000.00198.x| bibcode=2000GloEB...9..315T
 | url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/de21/e86593d886ca629fd9a232a8a26cba75ed8b.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421174927/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/de21/e86593d886ca629fd9a232a8a26cba75ed8b.pdf |archive-date=April 21, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> Amazonian forests are estimated to have accumulated 0.62 ± 0.37 tons of carbon per hectare per year between 1975 and 1996.<ref name="Tian"/> In 2021 it was reported that the Amazon for the first time emitted more greenhouse gases than it absorbed.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fox|first=Alex|date=March 26, 2021|title=The Amazon Rainforest Now Emits More Greenhouse Gases Than It Absorbs|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/amazon-rainforest-now-emits-more-greenhouse-gases-it-absorbs-180977347/|access-date=April 8, 2021|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en|archive-date=April 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210407182526/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/amazon-rainforest-now-emits-more-greenhouse-gases-it-absorbs-180977347/|url-status=live}}</ref> Though often referenced as producing more than a quarter of the Earth's oxygen, this often stated, but misused statistic actually refers to oxygen turnover.  The net contribution of the ecosystem is approximately zero.<ref>{{cite web|last=Katarina|first=Zimmer|date=August 28, 2019|title=Why the Amazon doesn't really produce 20% of the world's oxygen|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/why-amazon-doesnt-produce-20-percent-worlds-oxygen|url-status=dead|access-date=October 8, 2021|website=National Geographic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218183525/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/why-amazon-doesnt-produce-20-percent-worlds-oxygen |archive-date=February 18, 2021 }}</ref>
[[File:Fig 2.4.6 Tipping cascades in the Amazon rainforest..png|thumb|Tipping cascades in the Amazon rainforest, according to the 2023 Global Tipping Points report. Potential tipping points for the Amazon include a 3-4°C rise in global temperature and deforestation levels over 40%.<ref>T. M. Lenton, D.I. Armstrong McKay, S. Loriani, J.F. Abrams, S.J. Lade, J.F. Donges, M. Milkoreit, T. Powell, S.R. Smith, C. Zimm, J.E. Buxton, E. Bailey, L. Laybourn, A. Ghadiali, J.G. Dyke (eds), 2023, [https://report-2023.global-tipping-points.org/ The Global Tipping Points Report 2023]. University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.</ref>]]
One [[global climate model|computer model]] of future [[climate change]] caused by [[greenhouse gas emissions]] shows that the Amazon rainforest could become unsustainable under conditions of severely reduced rainfall and increased temperatures, leading to an almost complete loss of rainforest cover in the basin by 2100.,<ref>Cox, Betts, Jones, Spall and Totterdell. 2000. [http://www.nature.com/uidfinder/10.1038/35041539 "Acceleration of global warming due to carbon-cycle feedbacks in a coupled climate model"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818070528/https://www.nature.com/articles/35041539 |date=August 18, 2020 }}. ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', November 9, 2000.  (subscription required)</ref><ref name="Radford">Radford, T. 2002. [https://www.theguardian.com/climatechange/story/0,,782526,00.html "World may be warming up even faster"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818070522/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2000/nov/09/weather.climatechange1 |date=August 18, 2020 }}. ''The Guardian''.</ref> and severe economic, [[natural capital]] and [[ecosystem service]]s impacts of not averting the tipping point.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Banerjee |first1=Onil |last2=Cicowiez |first2=Martin |last3=Macedo |first3=Marcia N |last4=Malek |first4=Žiga |last5=Verburg |first5=Peter H |last6=Goodwin |first6=Sean |last7=Vargas |first7=Renato |last8=Rattis |first8=Ludmila |last9=Bagstad |first9=Kenneth J |last10=Brando |first10=Paulo M |last11=Coe |first11=Michael T |last12=Neill |first12=Christopher |last13=Marti |first13=Octavio Damiani |last14=Murillo |first14=Josué Ávila |date=December 1, 2022 |title=Can we avert an Amazon tipping point? The economic and environmental costs |journal=Environmental Research Letters |language=en |volume=17 |issue=12 |pages=125005 |doi=10.1088/1748-9326/aca3b8 |bibcode=2022ERL....17l5005B |s2cid=253666282 |issn=1748-9326|doi-access=free |hdl=1871.1/949d3af3-f463-40cc-90ab-1f9ff3060125 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> However, simulations of Amazon basin climate change across many different models are not consistent in their estimation of any rainfall response, ranging from weak increases to strong decreases.<ref name="IPCC">[[John T. Houghton|Houghton, J.T.]] ''et al.'' 2001. [http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/384.htm "Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060507133759/http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg1/384.htm |date=May 7, 2006 }}. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.</ref> The result indicates that the rainforest could be threatened through the 21st century by climate change in addition to deforestation.

[[File:Tatiana Espinosa Shihuahuaco1.jpg|thumb|Peruvian researcher {{ill|Tatiana Espinosa|es|Tatiana Espinosa Quiñones}} with a ''[[Dipteryx micrantha]]'' tree in the [[Peruvian Amazonia]]]]
In 1989, environmentalist C.M. Peters and two colleagues stated there is economic as well as biological incentive to protecting the rainforest. One hectare in the [[Peruvian Amazon]] has been calculated to have a value of $6820 if [[intact forest landscape|intact forest]] is sustainably harvested for fruits, latex, and timber; $1000 if clear-cut for commercial timber (not sustainably harvested); or $148 if used as cattle pasture.<ref name="Peters">{{cite journal
 | last1=Peters | first1=C.M.
 | last2=Gentry |first2=A.H. |last3=Mendelsohn |first3=R.O.
 | title=Valuation of an Amazonian forest
 | journal=Nature | year=1989 | volume=339
 | pages=656–657
 | doi=10.1038/339655a0 | issue=6227|bibcode = 1989Natur.339..655P| s2cid=4338510
 }}</ref>

[[File:Isolierte-Völker.png|thumb|upright=2|A map of [[Uncontacted peoples|uncontacted tribes]], around the start of the 21st century]] 
As indigenous territories continue to be destroyed by deforestation and [[ecocide]] (such as in the [[Peruvian Amazon]]),<ref name="Dean">Dean, Bartholomew. (2003) State Power and Indigenous Peoples in Peruvian Amazonia: A Lost Decade, 1990–2000. In ''The Politics of Ethnicity Indigenous Peoples in Latin American States'' [[David Maybury-Lewis]], Ed. [[Harvard University Press]]</ref> [[indigenous peoples]]' rainforest communities continue to disappear, while others, like the [[Urarina]] continue to struggle to fight for their cultural survival and the fate of their forested territories. Meanwhile, the relationship between non-human primates in the subsistence and symbolism of indigenous lowland South American peoples has gained increased attention, as have ethno-biology and [[community-based conservation]] efforts.

From 2002 to 2006, the conserved land in the Amazon rainforest almost tripled and deforestation rates dropped up to 60%. About {{convert|1000000|km2|acre|abbr=on}} have been put onto some sort of conservation, which adds up to a current amount of {{convert|1730000|km2|acre|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite journal
 |last        = Cormier
 |first       = L.
 |title       = A Preliminary Review of Neotropical Primates in the Subsistence and Symbolism of Indigenous Lowland South American Peoples
 |journal     = Ecological and Environmental Anthropology
 |date        = April 16, 2006
|volume      = 2
 |issue       = 1
 |pages       = 14–32
 |url         = http://eea.anthro.uga.edu/index.php/eea/article/view/10/11
 |access-date  = September 4, 2008
|url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081221153337/http://eea.anthro.uga.edu/index.php/eea/article/view/10/11
 |archive-date = December 21, 2008
|df          = mdy-all
}}</ref>

In April 2019, the [[Ecuador]]ian court stopped [[oil exploration]] activities in {{convert|180000|ha|acre}} of the Amazon rainforest.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ecuador Amazon tribe win first victory against oil companies |url=https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/494283-ecuador-amazon-tribe-win-first-victory-against-oil-companies |access-date=April 28, 2019 |agency=Devdiscourse |date=April 27, 2019 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725042930/https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/494283-ecuador-amazon-tribe-win-first-victory-against-oil-companies |url-status=live }}</ref>

In July 2019, the Ecuadorian court forbade the government to sell territory with forests to oil companies.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ecuador court rules Amazon rainforest can't be sold to oil companies |url=https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2019/07/ecuador-court-rules-amazon-rainforest-can-t-be-sold-to-oil-companies.html |access-date=July 19, 2019 |agency=Reuters |publisher=Newshub |date=July 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719104649/https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2019/07/ecuador-court-rules-amazon-rainforest-can-t-be-sold-to-oil-companies.html |archive-date=July 19, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In September 2019, the US and Brazil agreed to promote private-sector development in the Amazon. They also pledged a $100m  biodiversity conservation fund for the Amazon led by the private sector. Brazil's foreign minister stated that opening the rainforest to economic development was the only way to protect it.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49694516?intlink_from_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Flatin_america&link_location=live-reporting-story|title=US and Brazil agree to Amazon development|date=September 14, 2019|work=BBC|access-date=September 15, 2020|archive-date=March 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307210521/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49694516?intlink_from_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Flatin_america&link_location=live-reporting-story|url-status=live}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Greenhouse Gas by Sector.png|Anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases broken down by sector for the year 2000.
File:September Smoke Over the Amazon from 2005-2008.png|Aerosols over the Amazon each September for four burning seasons (2005 through 2008). The [[aerosol]] scale (yellow to dark reddish-brown) indicates the relative amount of particles that absorb sunlight.
File:Roots by cesarpb.jpg|Aerial roots of red mangrove on an Amazonian river.
File:Climate change disturbances of rainforests infographic.jpg|Climate change disturbances of rainforests.<ref name="10.3389/ffgc.2021.618401"/>
</gallery>
{{clear}}

A 2009 study found that a 4&nbsp;°C rise (above pre-industrial levels) in global temperatures by 2100 would kill 85% of the Amazon rainforest while a temperature rise of 3&nbsp;°C would kill some 75% of the Amazon.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/mar/11/amazon-global-warming-trees|title=Amazon could shrink by 85% due to climate change, scientists say|author=David Adam|newspaper=The Guardian|date=March 11, 2009|access-date=December 11, 2016|archive-date=April 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414073639/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/mar/11/amazon-global-warming-trees|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Parc amazonien de Guyane, une balade à Saül.jpg|thumb|[[Guiana Amazonian Park]] in [[French Guiana]]]]
A new study by an international team of environmental scientists in the Brazilian Amazon shows that protection of freshwater biodiversity can be increased by up to 600% through integrated freshwater-terrestrial planning 
.<ref>{{cite journal
 |doi      = 10.1126/science.aba7580
 |volume   = 370
 |issue    = 6512
 |title    = Integrated terrestrial-freshwater planning doubles conservation of tropical aquatic species
 |year     = 2020
 |journal  = Science
 |pages    = 117–121
 |last     = Leal
 |first    = C.G.
 |author2  = Lennox, G.D.
 |author3  = Ferraz, S.F.B.
 |author4  = Ferreira, J.
 |author5  = Gardner, T.A.
 |author6  = Thomson, J.R.
 |author7  = Berenguer, E.
 |author8  = Lees, A.C.
 |author9  = Hughes, R.M.
 |author10 = MackNally, R.
 |author11 = Aragão, L.E.O.C.
 |author12 = Brito, J.G.
 |author13 = Castello, L.
 |author14 = Garret, R.D.
 |author15 = Hamada, N.
 |author16 = Juen, L.
 |author17 = Leitão, R.P.
 |author18 = Louzada, J.
 |author19 = Morello, T.M.
 |author20 = Moura, N.G.
 |author21 = Nessimian, J.L.
 |author22 = Oliveira-Junior, J.M.B.
 |author23 = Oliveira, V.H.F.
 |author24 = Oliveira, V.C.
 |author25 = Parry, L.
 |author26 = Pompeu, P.S.
 |author27 = Solar, R.R.C.
 |author28 = Zuanon, J.
 |author29 = Barlow, J.
 |pmid     = 33004520
 |bibcode = 2020Sci...370..117L
 |s2cid    = 222080850
 |url      = https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/626622/3/Leal%20%26%20Lennox%20et%20al.%2C%202020_Science.pdf
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210715165024/https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/626622/3/Leal%20%26%20Lennox%20et%20al.%2C%202020_Science.pdf
|url-status = dead
|archive-date = July 15, 2021
}}</ref>

[[Deforestation]] in the Amazon rainforest region has a negative impact on local climate.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lovejoy|first1=Thomas E.|last2=Nobre|first2=Carlos|date=December 20, 2019|title=Amazon tipping point: Last chance for action|journal=Science Advances|language=en|volume=5|issue=12|pages=eaba2949|doi=10.1126/sciadv.aba2949|pmid=32064324|pmc=6989302|bibcode=2019SciA....5A2949L|issn=2375-2548}}</ref> It was one of the main causes of the severe [[drought]]  of 2014–2015 in Brazil.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Watts |first1=Jonathan |title=The Amazon effect: how deforestation is starving São Paulo of water |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/nov/28/sao-paulo-water-amazon-deforestation |access-date=November 8, 2018 |agency=The Guardian |date=November 28, 2017 |archive-date=June 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607095413/https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/nov/28/sao-paulo-water-amazon-deforestation |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Verchot |first1=Louis |title=The science is clear: Forest loss behind Brazil's drought |url=https://forestsnews.cifor.org/26559/the-science-is-clear-forest-loss-behind-brazils-drought?fnl=en |access-date=November 8, 2018 |agency=Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) |date=January 29, 2015 |archive-date=August 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809145533/https://forestsnews.cifor.org/26559/the-science-is-clear-forest-loss-behind-brazils-drought?fnl=en |url-status=live }}</ref> This is because the moisture from the forests is important to the rainfall in [[Brazil]], [[Paraguay]] and [[Argentina]]. Half of the rainfall in the Amazon area is produced by the forests.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=E. Lovejoy |first1=Thomas |last2=Nobre |first2=Carlos |title=Amazon Tipping Point |journal=Science Advances |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=eaat2340 |date=February 21, 2018|doi=10.1126/sciadv.aat2340 |pmid=29492460 |pmc=5821491 |bibcode=2018SciA....4.2340L }}</ref>

Results of a 2021 [[scientific review|scientific synthesis]] indicate that, in terms of global warming,  the [[Amazon basin]] with the Amazon rainforest is currently emitting more [[greenhouse gas]]es than [[carbon sink|it absorbs]] overall. Climate change impacts and human activities in the area – mainly wildfires, current land-use and [[deforestation of the Amazon rainforest|deforestation]] – are causing a release of forcing agents that likely result in a net warming effect.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Fox |first1=Alex |title=The Amazon Rainforest Now Emits More Greenhouse Gases Than It Absorbs |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/amazon-rainforest-now-emits-more-greenhouse-gases-it-absorbs-180977347/ |access-date=April 19, 2021 |work=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en |archive-date=April 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210407182526/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/amazon-rainforest-now-emits-more-greenhouse-gases-it-absorbs-180977347/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="10.3389/ffgc.2021.618401">{{cite journal |last1=Covey |first1=Kristofer |last2=Soper |first2=Fiona |last3=Pangala |first3=Sunitha |last4=Bernardino |first4=Angelo |last5=Pagliaro |first5=Zoe |last6=Basso |first6=Luana |last7=Cassol |first7=Henrique |last8=Fearnside |first8=Philip |last9=Navarrete |first9=Diego |last10=Novoa |first10=Sidney |last11=Sawakuchi |first11=Henrique |last12=Lovejoy |first12=Thomas |last13=Marengo |first13=Jose |last14=Peres |first14=Carlos A. |last15=Baillie |first15=Jonathan |last16=Bernasconi |first16=Paula |last17=Camargo |first17=Jose |last18=Freitas |first18=Carolina |last19=Hoffman |first19=Bruce |last20=Nardoto |first20=Gabriela B. |last21=Nobre |first21=Ismael |last22=Mayorga |first22=Juan |last23=Mesquita |first23=Rita |last24=Pavan |first24=Silvia |last25=Pinto |first25=Flavia |last26=Rocha |first26=Flavia |last27=de Assis Mello |first27=Ricardo |last28=Thuault |first28=Alice |last29=Bahl |first29=Alexis Anne |last30=Elmore |first30=Aurora |title=Carbon and Beyond: The Biogeochemistry of Climate in a Rapidly Changing Amazon |journal=Frontiers in Forests and Global Change |date=2021 |volume=4 |doi=10.3389/ffgc.2021.618401 |language=English |issn=2624-893X|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021FrFGC...4.8401C }} [[File:CC-BY icon.svg|50px]] Available under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC BY 4.0] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016050101/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |date=October 16, 2017 }}.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gatti|first1=Luciana V.|last2=Basso|first2=Luana S.|last3=Miller|first3=John B.|last4=Gloor|first4=Manuel|last5=Gatti Domingues|first5=Lucas|last6=Cassol|first6=Henrique L. G.|last7=Tejada|first7=Graciela|last8=Aragão|first8=Luiz E. O. C.|last9=Nobre|first9=Carlos|last10=Peters|first10=Wouter|last11=Marani|first11=Luciano|date=July 14, 2021|title=Amazonia as a carbon source linked to deforestation and climate change|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03629-6.epdf?sharing_token=0FcY3D6RaS_tG4622ion3tRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NILaci0q8CXtVe4JKM-xF0Z0ZQpmJpnpSclAjJeIV-vCjviXK_Mb9hvvU5C3CiJVgu82-RGuHR01gFiQZAVMzDCCxiRyvlh0MBQxTvGN2oHmf2jIOC7MEEGXrOPGIblsh57v9qXkkZbM7U0OH8zbdQ4jnVO1zD9R1jeDcUVBS22YVLkjWEvC5vrNMdQ416fmEBL9kIHYs2ptVibFKXLxEuh-TQ08w-QGSFzN6221Kggm4Ngq99mCNu9_3gTJ1mt5YT-rKwCvQjF7IgIDBHYq04AkEhNTSdppy_K8t7xpkc2A==&tracking_referrer=www.theguardian.com|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=595|issue=7867|pages=388–393|doi=10.1038/s41586-021-03629-6|pmid=34262208|bibcode=2021Natur.595..388G|s2cid=235906356|issn=0028-0836|access-date=July 15, 2021|archive-date=July 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715081546/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03629-6.epdf?sharing_token=0FcY3D6RaS_tG4622ion3tRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0NILaci0q8CXtVe4JKM-xF0Z0ZQpmJpnpSclAjJeIV-vCjviXK_Mb9hvvU5C3CiJVgu82-RGuHR01gFiQZAVMzDCCxiRyvlh0MBQxTvGN2oHmf2jIOC7MEEGXrOPGIblsh57v9qXkkZbM7U0OH8zbdQ4jnVO1zD9R1jeDcUVBS22YVLkjWEvC5vrNMdQ416fmEBL9kIHYs2ptVibFKXLxEuh-TQ08w-QGSFzN6221Kggm4Ngq99mCNu9_3gTJ1mt5YT-rKwCvQjF7IgIDBHYq04AkEhNTSdppy_K8t7xpkc2A==&tracking_referrer=www.theguardian.com|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2022 the supreme court of Ecuador decided that ""under no circumstances can a project be carried out that generates excessive sacrifices to the collective rights of communities and nature." It also required the government to respect the opinion of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas]] about different industrial projects on their land. Advocates of the decision argue that it will have consequences far beyond Ecuador. In general, ecosystems are in better shape when [[indigenous peoples]] own or manage the land.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Einhorn |first1=Catrin |title=Ecuador Court Gives Indigenous Groups a Boost in Mining and Drilling Disputes |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/climate/ecuador-indigenous-constitutional-court.html |access-date=February 6, 2022 |agency=The New York Times |date=February 4, 2022 |archive-date=February 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206102216/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/climate/ecuador-indigenous-constitutional-court.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Due to the conservation policies of [[Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva]] in the first 10 months of 2023 deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon decreased by around 50% compared to the same period in 2022. This was despite a severe drought, one of the worst on record, that exacerbated the situation. Climate change, El Nino, deforestation increases the likelihood of drought condition in the Amazon.<ref>{{cite web |title=Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon falls 22% in 2023 |url=https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/deforestation-in-the-brazilian-amazon-falls-22-in-2023/ |website=Mongabay |date=November 11, 2023 |access-date=November 13, 2023}}</ref>

According to Amazon Conservation's MAAP forest monitoring program, the deforestation rate in the Amazon from the January 1 to November 8, 2023, decreased by 56% in comparison to the same period in 2022. The main cause is the decline in deforestation rate in Brazil, due to the government's policies, while Columbia, Peru and Bolivia also reduced deforestation.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Spring |first1=Jake |title=Climate boost: 2023 Amazon deforestation drops 55.8%, study finds |url=https://www.mynrination.com/brazil/2023/11/29/climate-boost-2023-amazon-deforestation-drops-558-study-finds |website=The NRI Nation |date=November 29, 2023 |publisher=Reuters |access-date=December 3, 2023}}</ref>

In January 2024 published data showed a 50% decline in deforestation rate in the Amazon rainforest and 43% rise in vegetation loss in the neighbor [[Cerrado]] during the year of 2023 in comparison to 2022. Both biomes together lose 12,980&nbsp;km², 18% less than in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon halved in 2023 |url=https://phys.org/news/2024-01-deforestation-brazilian-amazon-halved.html |website=Phys.org |access-date=January 9, 2024}}</ref>

===Remote sensing===
{{See also|Environmental monitoring|Environmental management system|Unmanned aerial vehicle}}
[[File:Afternoon Clouds over the Amazon Rainforest.jpg|thumb|This image reveals how the forest and the [[atmosphere]] interact to create a uniform layer of "popcorn-shaped" [[Cumulus humilis cloud|cumulus clouds]].]]

The use of [[Remote sensing|remotely sensed]] data is dramatically improving conservationists' knowledge of the Amazon basin. Given the objectivity and lowered costs of [[Earth observation satellite|satellite-based]] land cover and -change analysis, it appears likely that remote sensing technology will be an integral part of assessing the extents, locations and damage of deforestation in the basin.<ref>{{cite journal
 |author1     = Wynne, R.H.
 |author2     = Joseph, K.A.
 |author3     = Browder, J.O.
 |author4     = Summers, P.M.
 |title       = A Preliminary Review of Neotropical Primates in the Subsistence and Symbolism of Indigenous Lowland South American Peoples
 |journal     = International Journal of Remote Sensing
 |year        = 2007
 |volume      = 28
 |issue     = 6
 |pages       = 1299–1315
 |url         = http://eea.anthro.uga.edu/index.php/eea/article/viewArticle/23
 |access-date  = September 4, 2008
|doi         = 10.1080/01431160600928609
 |bibcode     = 2007IJRS...28.1299W
 |s2cid = 128603494
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081221153625/http://eea.anthro.uga.edu/index.php/eea/article/viewArticle/23
 |archive-date = December 21, 2008
|df          = mdy-all
|url-access= subscription
 }}</ref> Furthermore, remote sensing is the best and perhaps only possible way to study the Amazon on a large scale.<ref>{{cite journal
 | last=Asner | first=Gregory P.
 | author2=Knapp, David E.|author3= Cooper, Amanda N.|author4= Bustamante, Mercedes M.C.|author5= Olander, Lydia P.|author-link5=Lydia Olander
 | s2cid=31023189
 | title=Ecosystem Structure throughout the Brazilian Amazon from Landsat Observations and Automated Spectral Unmixing
 | journal=Earth Interactions |date=June 2005
 | volume=9 | issue=1 | pages=1–31 | doi=10.1175/EI134.1 |bibcode = 2005EaInt...9g...1A| doi-access=free}}</ref>

The use of remote sensing for the conservation of the Amazon is also being used by the indigenous tribes of the basin to protect their tribal lands from commercial interests. Using handheld [[Global Positioning System|GPS]] devices and programs like [[Google Earth]], members of the Trio Tribe, who live in the rainforests of southern Suriname, map out their ancestral lands to help strengthen their territorial claims.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Isaacson |first=Andy |title=With the Help of GPS, Amazonian Tribes Reclaim the Rain Forest |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2007/11/ps-amazon/ |access-date=August 11, 2023 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> Currently, most tribes in the Amazon do not have clearly defined boundaries, making it easier for commercial ventures to target their territories.

To accurately map the Amazon's biomass and subsequent carbon-related emissions, the classification of tree growth stages within different parts of the forest is crucial. In 2006, Tatiana Kuplich organized the trees of the Amazon into four categories: mature forest, regenerating forest [less than three years], regenerating forest [between three and five years of regrowth], and regenerating forest [eleven to eighteen years of continued development].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kuplich |first=Tatiana M. |title=Classifying regenerating forest stages in Amazônia using remotely sensed images and a neural network |journal=Forest Ecology and Management |date=October 2006 |volume=234 |issue=1–3 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1016/j.foreco.2006.05.066|bibcode=2006ForEM.234....1K }}</ref> The researcher used a combination of [[synthetic aperture radar]] (SAR) and [[Thematic Mapper]] (TM) to accurately place the different portions of the Amazon into one of the four classifications.

==={{visible anchor|Impact of early 21st-century Amazon droughts|Impact_of_early_21st_century_Amazon_droughts}}===
In 2005, parts of the Amazon basin experienced the worst drought in one hundred years,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2005/2005-10-24-05.asp|title=Amazon Drought Worst in 100 Years|website=www.ens-newswire.com|access-date=July 25, 2006|archive-date=November 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115094341/http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2005/2005-10-24-05.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> and there were indications that 2006 may have been a second successive year of drought.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jul/17/brazil.topstories3 Drought Threatens Amazon Basin – Extreme conditions felt for second year running] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511043155/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jul/17/brazil.topstories3 |date=May 11, 2020 }}, Paul Brown, ''The Guardian'', July 16, 2006. Retrieved August 23, 2014</ref> A 2006 article in the UK newspaper ''[[The Independent]]'' reported the [[Woods Hole Research Center]] results, showing that the forest in its present form could survive only three years of drought.<ref>[http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1191932.ece "Amazon rainforest 'could become a desert'"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060806024937/http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1191932.ece |date=August 6, 2006 }}, ''[[The Independent]]'', July 23, 2006. Retrieved September 28, 2006.</ref><ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/dying-forest-one-year-to-save-the-amazon-408926.html "Dying Forest: One year to save the Amazon"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925030042/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/dying-forest-one-year-to-save-the-amazon-408926.html |date=September 25, 2015 }}, ''The Independent'', July 23, 2006. Retrieved August 23, 2014.</ref> Scientists at the Brazilian [[National Institute of Amazonian Research]] argued in the article that this drought response, coupled with the effects of deforestation on regional climate, are pushing the rainforest towards a "[[tipping point (climatology)|tipping point]]" where it would irreversibly start to die.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Nobre|first1=Carlos|last2=Lovejoy|first2=Thomas E.|date=February 1, 2018|title=Amazon Tipping Point|journal=Science Advances|language=en|volume=4|issue=2|pages=eaat2340|doi=10.1126/sciadv.aat2340|pmid=29492460|issn=2375-2548|doi-access=free|pmc=5821491|bibcode=2018SciA....4.2340L}}</ref> It concluded that the forest is on the brink of{{Vague|date=August 2019}} being turned into [[savanna]] or desert, with catastrophic consequences for the world's climate.{{Citation needed|date=August 2019}} A study published in ''Nature Communications'' in October 2020 found that about 40% of the Amazon rainforest is at risk of becoming a savanna-like ecosystem due to reduced rainfall.<ref>{{cite web|last=Stockholm Resilience Centre|date=October 5, 2020|title=40% of Amazon could now exist as rainforest or savanna-like ecosystems|url=https://phys.org/news/2020-10-amazon-rainforest-savanna-like-ecosystems.html|access-date=October 6, 2020|website=phys.org|language=en|archive-date=October 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008021742/https://phys.org/news/2020-10-amazon-rainforest-savanna-like-ecosystems.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A study published in ''[[Nature climate change]]'' provided direct empirical evidence that more than three-quarters of the Amazon rainforest has been losing resilience since the early 2000s, risking dieback with profound implications for biodiversity, carbon storage and climate change at a global scale.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Boulton |first1=Chris A. |last2=Lenton |first2=Timothy M. |last3=Boers |first3=Niklas |date=March 7, 2022 |title=Pronounced loss of Amazon rainforest resilience since the early 2000s |journal=Nature Climate Change |volume=12 |issue=3 |language=en |pages=271–278 |doi=10.1038/s41558-022-01287-8 |bibcode=2022NatCC..12..271B |s2cid=247255222 |issn=1758-6798 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Research from 2025 using hundreds of climate-model simulations says even passing 1.5C of global warming temporarily would trigger a significant risk of Amazon forest dieback.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Munday |first=Gregory |last2=Jones |first2=Chris D. |last3=Steinert |first3=Norman J. |last4=Mathison |first4=Camilla |last5=Burke |first5=Eleanor J. |last6=Smith |first6=Chris |last7=Huntingford |first7=Chris |last8=Varney |first8=Rebecca M. |last9=Wiltshire |first9=Andy J. |date=2025-05-12 |title=Risks of unavoidable impacts on forests at 1.5 °C with and without overshoot |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-025-02327-9 |journal=Nature Climate Change |language=en |pages=1–6 |doi=10.1038/s41558-025-02327-9 |issn=1758-6798}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web |last=Tandon |first=Ayesha |date=2025-05-16 |title=‘Significant’ risk of Amazon forest dieback if global warming overshoots 1.5C |url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/significant-risk-of-amazon-forest-dieback-if-global-warming-overshoots-1-5c/ |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=Carbon Brief |language=en}}</ref>

According to the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]], the combination of climate change and deforestation increases the drying effect of dead trees that fuels [[wildfire|forest fires]].<ref>[http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?64220 "Climate change a threat to Amazon rainforest, warns WWF"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614231510/https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?64220 |date=June 14, 2020 }}, [[World Wide Fund for Nature]], March 22, 2006. Retrieved August 23, 2014.</ref>

In 2010, the Amazon rainforest experienced another severe drought, in some ways more extreme than the 2005 drought. The affected region was approximately {{convert|1160000|sqmi|km2|order=flip|abbr=on}} of rainforest, compared with {{convert|734000|sqmi|km2|order=flip|abbr=on}} in 2005. The 2010 drought had three epicenters where vegetation died off, whereas in 2005, the drought was focused on the southwestern part. The findings were published in the journal ''Science''. In a typical year, the Amazon absorbs 1.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide; during 2005 instead 5 gigatons were released and in 2010 8 gigatons were released.<ref>[http://www.bitsofscience.org/2010-amazon-drought-record-866/ 2010 Amazon drought record: 8 Gt extra CO2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327191653/http://www.bitsofscience.org/2010-amazon-drought-record-866/ |date=March 27, 2019 }}, Rolf Schuttenhelm, ''Bits Of Science'', February 4, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2014</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12362111 "Amazon drought 'severe' in 2010, raising warming fears"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415150019/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12362111 |date=April 15, 2016 }}, BBC News, February 3, 2011. Retrieved August 23, 2014</ref> Additional severe droughts occurred in 2010, 2015, and 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/aug/03/study-finds-human-influence-in-the-amazons-third-1-in-100-year-drought-since-2005|title=Study finds human influence in the Amazon's third 1-in-100 year drought since 2005|first=John|last=Abraham|date=August 3, 2017|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=August 8, 2017|archive-date=October 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031142034/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2017/aug/03/study-finds-human-influence-in-the-amazons-third-1-in-100-year-drought-since-2005|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2019 Brazil's protections of the Amazon rainforest were slashed, resulting in a severe loss of trees.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Casado |first1=Letícia |last2=Londoño |first2=Ernesto |title=Under Brazil's Far Right Leader, Amazon Protections Slashed and Forests Fall |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/28/world/americas/brazil-deforestation-amazon-bolsonaro.html?campaign_id=61&instance_id=0&segment_id=15631&user_id=579ae23cfcbd75c9aac87cb571cc201c&regi_id=72995439&emc=edit_ts_20190728ries |website=The New York Times |access-date=July 28, 2019 |date=July 28, 2019 |archive-date=August 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818072726/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/28/world/americas/brazil-deforestation-amazon-bolsonaro.html?campaign_id=61&instance_id=0&segment_id=15631&user_id=579ae23cfcbd75c9aac87cb571cc201c&regi_id=72995439&emc=edit_ts_20190728ries%2F |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Brazil's [[National Institute for Space Research]] (INPE), deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rose more than 50% in the first three months of 2020 compared to the same three-month period in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scientists fear deforestation, fires and Covid-19 could create a 'perfect storm' in the Amazon |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/19/americas/amazon-fires-deforestation-rise-covid/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=June 19, 2020 |access-date=June 20, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725065013/https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/19/americas/amazon-fires-deforestation-rise-covid/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2020, a 17 percent rise was noted in the [[2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires|Amazon wildfires]], marking the worst start to the fire season in a decade. The first 10 days of August 2020 witnessed 10,136 fires. An analysis of the government figures reflected 81 per cent increase in fires in federal reserves, in comparison with the same period in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/13/brazil-experiences-worst-start-to-amazon-fire-season-for-10-years|title=Brazil experiences worst start to Amazon fire season for 10 years|access-date=August 13, 2020|website=The Guardian|date=August 13, 2020|archive-date=August 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814012622/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/13/brazil-experiences-worst-start-to-amazon-fire-season-for-10-years|url-status=live}}</ref> However, President [[Jair Bolsonaro]] turned down the existence of fires, calling it a "lie", despite the data produced by his own government.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-environment-fires/brazils-bolsonaro-calls-surging-amazon-fires-a-lie-idUSKCN2572WB|title=Brazil's Bolsonaro calls surging Amazon fires a 'lie'|access-date=August 11, 2020|website=Reuters|date=August 11, 2020|archive-date=August 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812062637/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-environment-fires/brazils-bolsonaro-calls-surging-amazon-fires-a-lie-idUSKCN2572WB|url-status=live}}</ref> Satellites in September recorded 32,017 hotspots in the world's largest rainforest, a 61% rise from the same month in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|date=October 1, 2020|title=Brazil's Amazon rainforest suffers worst fires in a decade|url=http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/01/brazil-amazon-rainforest-worst-fires-in-decade|access-date=October 2, 2020|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=October 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002190542/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/01/brazil-amazon-rainforest-worst-fires-in-decade|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, October saw a huge surge in the number of hotspots in the forest (more than 17,000 fires are burning in the Amazon's rainforest) – with more than double the amount detected in the same month last year.<ref>{{cite web|title=Campaigners' anger after huge surge in rainforest blazes|url=https://news.sky.com/story/campaigners-anger-after-huge-surge-in-rainforest-blazes-12121596|access-date=November 5, 2020|website=Sky News|language=en|archive-date=November 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107223208/https://news.sky.com/story/campaigners-anger-after-huge-surge-in-rainforest-blazes-12121596|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Possibility of forest-friendly economy ===
In 2023 the [[World Bank]], published a report named: "A Balancing Act for Brazil's Amazonian States: An Economic Memorandum". The report stating that economic losses due to deforestation in Brazil could reach around 317 billion dollars per year, approximately 7 times higher in comparison to the cost of all commodities produced through deforestation, proposed non-deforestation based economic program in the region of the Amazon rainforest.<ref name=TheWorldBank>{{cite web |title=World Bank: Brazil faces $317 billion in annual losses to Amazon deforestation |url=https://8point9.com/world-bank-brazil-faces-317-billion-in-annual-losses-to-amazon-deforestation#:~:text=BRAZIL%20could%20face%20losses%20of,commodities%20taken%20from%20the%20rainforests. |website=8.9ha. | date=May 24, 2023 |publisher=World Bank |access-date=May 30, 2023}}</ref><ref name=Balancing>{{cite book |title="A Balancing Act for Brazil's Amazonian States: An Economic Memorandum." Executive Summary booklet. |date=2023 |publisher=The World Bank |url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/1f668cc8-747d-44c8-aedc-825d3dd98884/content |access-date=May 30, 2023}}</ref>
[[File:Silvopasture.jpg|thumb|Silvopasture integrates livestock, forage, and trees. (Photo: USDA NAC)]]
[[Silvopasture]] (integrating trees, forage and grazing) can help to stop deforestation in the region.<ref>{{cite web |title=Silvopasture could tackle Colombian Amazon's high deforestation rates and help achieve COP26 targets |url=https://phys.org/news/2021-12-silvopasture-tackle-colombian-amazon-high.html |website=Phys.org |publisher=University of Bristol |access-date=May 30, 2023}}</ref>

According to WWF, [[ecotourism]] could help the Amazon to reduce deforestation and climate change. Ecotourism is currently still little practiced in the Amazon, partly due to lack of information about places where implementation is possible. Ecotourism is a sector that can also be taken up by the Indigenous community in the Amazon as a source of income and revenue. An ecotourism project in the Brazilian section of the rainforest had been under consideration by Brazil's State Secretary for the Environment and Sustainable Development in 2009, along the [[Aripuanã River]], in the Aripuanã Sustainable Development Reserve.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://wwf.panda.org/?unewsID=159321| title = Ecotourism could help the Amazon reduce deforestation and handle climate change| access-date = May 18, 2021| archive-date = May 18, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210518170422/https://wwf.panda.org/?unewsID=159321| url-status = live}}</ref> Also, some community-based ecotourism exists in the [[Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315565318 |title=Community-Based Ecotourism in the Mamirauá Reserve: evaluation of product quality and reflections regarding the economic and financial feasibility of the activity |date= |accessdate=March 19, 2022}}</ref> [[Ecotourism in Peru|Ecotourism is also practiced in the Peruvian section of the rainforest]]. A few ecolodges are for instance present between Cusco and Madre de Dios.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.amazonconservation.org/visit-the-amazon/our-ecolodges/| title = Our ecolodges| access-date = May 18, 2021| archive-date = May 18, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210518170423/https://www.amazonconservation.org/visit-the-amazon/our-ecolodges/| url-status = live}}</ref>

In May 2023 Brazil's bank federation decided to implement a new sustainability standard demanding from meatpackers to ensure their meat is not coming from illegally deforested area. Credits will not be given to those who will not meet the new standards. The decision came after the European Union decides to implement regulations to stop deforestation. Brazil beef exporters, said the standard is not just because it is not applied to land owners.<ref>{{cite web |last1=FREITAS |first1=TATIANA |title=Brazilian banks are denying credit to meatpackers that deal in beef illegally raised in the Amazon rainforest |url=https://fortune.com/2023/05/30/brazil-banks-deny-credit-meatpackers-dealing-illegal-amazon-cattle/ |website=Fortune |access-date=June 1, 2023}}</ref> 21 banks representing 81% of the credit market in Brazil agree to follow those rules.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ziolla Menezes |first1=Fabiane |title=BNDES to join anti-deforestation effort from banks |url=https://brazilian.report/liveblog/politics-insider/2023/05/30/bndes-banks-deforestation-beef/ |website=The Brazilian Report |date=May 30, 2023 |access-date=June 1, 2023 |archive-date=May 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530210225/https://brazilian.report/liveblog/politics-insider/2023/05/30/bndes-banks-deforestation-beef/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

According to a statement of the Colombian government deforestation rates in [[Amazon natural region|the Colombian Amazon]] fell by 70% in the first 9 months of 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year, what can be attributed to the conservation policies of the government. One of them is paying local residents for conserving the forest.<ref>{{cite web |title=Deforestation in Colombia Down 70 Percent So Far This Year |url=https://e360.yale.edu/digest/colombia-deforestation-decline |website=Yale Environment 360 |access-date=November 13, 2023}}</ref>