Amazonia

We all have a stake in the future of Amazonia. The Amazon rainforest, spreading across nine countries, plays a vital role in stabilizing global weather patterns and restraining climate change, while supporting the greatest biodiversity on the planet. The integrity of the Amazon rainforest is essential to the health of the Earth, and protecting Amazonia should be a top priority for everyone.

For thousands of years this unique environment has been home to indigenous peoples, whose traditional knowledge and practices have been demonstrated to contribute to the preservation of forest ecosystems. Yet, more than at any time in history, these peoples and their lands face mounting peril.

The Challenges

In the last few decades, the fragile stability of Amazonia has become increasingly endangered. Rapid deforestation follows massive infrastructure projects that are designed to accelerate the extraction of a wide range of natural resources. Almost 20% of the Amazon forest has already disappeared over the past 40 years, and each year between 7,000 and 17,000 square miles of additional forest are destroyed. If development plans for the Amazon continue unchecked, scientists predict that the entire Amazon region will be at the brink of permanent ecological collapse within the next 10-20 years.

Rampant industrial development threatens Amazonian indigenous peoples and their territories. Extractive industries and large-scale infrastructure projects typically undermine the ability of indigenous peoples to maintain their cultures and sustainably manage their lands on their own terms. As indigenous communities’ resources are destroyed and they are displaced or assimilated, their very survival is jeopardized.

Countless organizations are currently struggling to prevent further devastation of Amazonia. Yet the lack of coordination between these diverse organizations undermines their ability to achieve fundamental change. Furthermore, legitimate indigenous representatives are consistently excluded from most decision-making processes that affect the future of their peoples. Many well-intended efforts fail to produce positive outcomes because essential indigenous perspectives are ignored.