Amazon by WWF

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Amazon by WWF

• https//www.worldwildlife.org/places/amazon

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OVERVIEW

• The Amazon is a vast region that spans across
  eight rapidly developing countries Brazil,
  Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela,
  Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, an overseas
  territory of France.The landscape contains
• One in ten known species on Earth
• 1.4 billion acres of dense forests, half of the
  planet's remaining tropical forests
• 4,100 miles of winding rivers
• 2.6 million square miles in the Amazon basin,
  about 40 percent of South America
• There is a clear link between the health of the
  Amazon and the health of the planet. The rain
  forests, which contain 90-140 billion metric tons
  of carbon, help stabilize local and global
  climate. Deforestation may release significant
  amounts of this carbon, which could have
  catastrophic consequences around the world.

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SPECIES

• The Amazon contains millions of species, most of
  them still undescribed, and some of the world's
  most unusual wildlife. It is one of Earth's last
  refuges for jaguars, harpy eagles and pink
  dolphins, and home to thousands of birds and
  butterflies. Tree-dwelling species include
  southern two-toed sloths, pygmy marmosets,
  saddleback and emperor tamarins, and Goeldi's
  monkeys. The diversity of the region is
  staggering
• 40,000 plant species
• 3,000 freshwater fish species
• more than 370 types of reptiles
• To protect these species, WWF works with local
  communities, partner non-governmental
  organizations, corporations and governments to
  ensure that deforestation and degradation of
  rivers are alleviated.

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PEOPLE, COMMUNITIES THREATS

• Communities More than 30 million people,
  including 350 indigenous and ethnic groups, live
  in the Amazon and depend on nature for
  agriculture, clothing and traditional medicines.
  Most live in large urban centers, but all
  residents rely on the Amazons natural bounty for
  food, shelter and livelihoods.
• Threats Despite its mighty splendor, the
  Amazons forest and freshwater systems are
  fragile and at risk.
• Poorly planned infrastructure Transportation and
  energy infrastructure are essential for national
  and regional development, but when they are
  poorly planned, negative impacts can exceed
  short-term benefits. For example, building new
  roads exposes previously inaccessible areas of
  forest to illegal and unsustainable logging. 

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• Hydropower is now used to meet Brazils growing
  demand for energy, but many dams are being
  constructed in areas of high conservation value.
  The dams
• disrupt river connectivity
• block the range of many aquatic species
• interfere with some subsistence and commercial
  fisheries
• WWF conducts biological surveys and works with
  governments to help inform the dam site selection
  process. We advocate for a basin-wide approach to
  hydropower planning that identifies the rivers
  with the highest conservation value so that
  development can be steered away from them. 
• Illegal and Unsustainable Natural Resource
  Extraction

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• There is high demand for the natural resources
  found in the Amazon, but weak law enforcement to
  safeguard them.
• In addition, inefficient extraction processes
  lead to the destruction of nature and wildlife.
  For example, some mining activities contribute to
  soil erosion and water contamination.
• WWF works to promote best practices and decrease
  environmental damage from
• gold mining
• oil exploration
• illegal logging
• overharvesting of fish and other aquatic species
• Climate change

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• In recent times, warmer temperatures and less
  rainfall have produced droughts of historic
  proportions.
• The Amazon suffered its worst droughts of the
  last 100 years in 2005 and 2010. Long dry spells
  wither crops, decimate fisheries and lead to
  forest fires.
• This can result in significant shifts in the
  makeup of ecosystems and a loss of species. WWF
  helps farmers protect their crops from severe
  rainfall and droughts and ensure nearby wildlife
  areas can adapt to a warmer world.
• Extensive Cattle Ranching and Agricultural
  Expansion Amazon forests suffer as global demand
  for products such as beef and soy increases.
• Forests are cleared for more and more cattle
  grazing pasture and cropland.

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• These growing industries also displace small
  farmers, forcing them into forested areas which
  they must clear to sustain themselves.
• Cattle pastures occupy 80 percent of deforested
  areas in the Amazon. Pasture runoff contaminates
  rivers. Fire used to manage fields often spreads
  into the remaining forests. The deforestation
  caused by ranching also contributes to climate
  change, releasing 340 million tons of carbon into
  the atmosphere every year.
• Protecting Forests WWF collaborates with
  governments across the Amazon to create and
  manage protected forest areas.In Brazil, through
  the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA),
  WWF works to create a network of parks covering
  150 million acres of forest. This area would be
  over 50 percent larger than the U.S. National
  Parks system. WWF helps carry out surveys of the
  new parks as they are created and supports park
  planning and management.