The Amazon Rainforest, often referred to as the ‘planet’s lungs’ due to its role as a crucial carbon sink, is now in a dire state, according to the recently published “Living Amazon Report” 2022 by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The report reveals that around 35% of this vast and incredible rainforest is either utterly lost or highly degraded. Additionally, another 18% has been transformed for different uses.
The Current State of Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon biome and basin have been facing severe threats due to deforestation, fires, and degradation. Economic activities such as extensive cattle ranching and agriculture, illegal mining operations, and poorly constructed infrastructure pose a serious challenge to the survival of the region. As per the findings of the WWF report, nearly 600 infrastructure projects are operational along the rivers in the Amazon. Around 20 planned road projects, 400 operating or proposed dams, and countless mining ventures continue to discard toxic elements like mercury into the rivers, wreaking havoc on the natural ecosystem.
Surface water has been lost, leading to disconnected and polluted rivers, which under immense pressure, could cause irreversible damage to the Amazon and the planet at large.
Strategies to Protect the Amazon
Protecting the Amazon requires a blend of strategies that can meet both conservation requirements and the developmental needs of the countries that encompass it. These include the creation of conversion-free landscapes, promoting the sustainable management of forests, ensuring legal trade, and safeguarding the rights of indigenous communities, women, and young people.
The strategies are designed to reinforce well-managed conservation areas and indigenous territories to establish a network of well-preserved landscapes. To uphold the conservation and sustainable management of the Amazon biome, there is an urgent need for broad-based strategies encompassing policy making, knowledge generation, and awareness-raising.
About the Amazon Rainforests
The Amazon Rainforest is a vast tropical rainforest that occupies the drainage basin of the Amazon River and its tributaries in northern South America, spreading over an area of 6 million square kilometers. It is characterized by high levels of rainfall – more than 200 cm annually – and uniformly high temperatures, averaging between 20°C and 35°C.
These rainforests can be found in several parts of the world, including Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, Central America, Mexico, and numerous Pacific Islands. The Amazon Rainforest makes up about 40% of Brazil’s total territory, bordered by the Guiana Highlands to the north, the Andes Mountains to the west, the Brazilian central plateau to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.
Understanding Global Geography
As part of the Civil Services Examination, it’s important to know the geography of our planet. For instance, in the 2013 UPSC exam, there was a question about correctly matching geographical features with their regions. The correct answer highlighted the Atlas Mountains’ location in Northwestern Africa, demonstrating the necessity of understanding global geography for these examinations.
