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Jan Michael Ihl | Climate Champions

New Directions for the Brazilian Amazon

Photo: Aerial view of the rain forest in Amazonia

Aerial view of the rain forest in Amazonia (photo: Gabriel Cardoso Carrero/Idesam)

The Amazon rainforest is spread out over nine national states of the South American continent. As trees bind carbon dioxide (CO2), the Amazon forest plays a crucial role in climate protection measures. Home to 60 percent of the world’s rainforest area, Brazil contains the largest part of this precious ecosystem.

GLOBAL IDEAS asked Brazilian forest activist Pedro Soares to write a guest article for our blog. Pedro stresses that we can only protect the Amazon by providing an adequate income to those living in the forest.

By Pedro Soares

The Brazilian Amazon area covers about 50 percent of Brazil’s territory. That is a total an area of 4,196,943 square kilometers.

The biggest stock of tropical forest in the world has always been seen as a barrier to regional economic development. In fact, deforestation occurs mainly due to an economic rationale: the forest does not provide sufficient income for landowners and forest dwellers, when compared to the income they could obtain for more profitable activities such as logging, agriculture or cattle ranching. But the lack of an economic value for the stand forest is the main caveat towards the promotion of forest conservation policies and programs.

Date

August 10, 2012

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admin | Reporter's Log

Reporter’s Log: The road of terror

Trucks side by side with other trucksThe road from Santa Marta winds along Colombia’s Pacific coast to Bogotá. It’s one-lane traffic and the path is dotted with potholes. Massive trucks idle in impossibly long lines: tankers, timber trucks and hazardous material transporters all share the same road because it is the only one that takes them to their destination. The landscape along the ride, though, is beautiful: lush, green mountains line the road, carpeted with palm and banana trees as well as ferns. But the idyllic scenery has a darker side, too: here, FARC guerrilla fighters used the thick green canopy to hide kidnapping victims and hold them until they received ransom money in return.

Date

April 11, 2012

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admin | Reporter's Log

Reporter’s Log: Women’s Day in Aracataca

The name sounds almost musical – “Aracataca” is a small Caribbean town where one of the world’s most famous authors was born. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Colombian writer, who achieved world fame with his book “One hundred years of Solitude.” On this weekend, the house where he was born is staging a series of events. The women of the Association of Small Farmers are celebrating Women’s Day. At the entrance, each visitor is gifted a carnation and a program with the day’s events. There are talks about the situation of women, information about agricultural development. Donna Carmen, the wife of the plantation owner, speaks about social affairs. 161 small farmers have organized themselves in the “Palmalianza.”

Date

March 27, 2012

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