في يومها العالمي.. ما هي أهمية الغابات ولماذا يجب أن نحميها من التّدمير؟
تساعد الغابات أيضاً على استقرار المناخ العالمي، وذلك عن طريق امتصاص ما يمثّل ثلث انبعاثات ثاني أكسيد الكربون الناجمة عن حرق الوقود الأحفوري سنوياً ...
Mar 20, 2024
غابات الأمازون المطيرة
وفي حالة <anchor>غابات الأمازون المطيرة</anchor> وغيرها من غابات أميركا الجنوبية، يُشعل المزارعون الحرائق بهدف تطهير الأراضي لتربية الماشية من أجل اللحوم ومنتجات الألبان، أو لزراعة فول الصويا المستخدم في تغذية الحيوانات. والحال أن أغلب عمليات إزالة الغابات في أميركا الجنوبية تحدث عن طريق تلك الممارسات، مما يجعلها السبب الرئيسي لإزالة الغابات في العالم.
Amazon rainforest - Greenpeace UK
Amazon rainforest - Greenpeace UK

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![Aerial view of a lush rainforest canopy. One large tree has fallen, leaving a horizontal tree-shaped hole in the canopy.](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GP0STSKHQ_PressMedia-2560x0-c-default.jpg)

# Amazon rainforest

The Amazon rainforest helps regulate the climate and is home to millions of people and a huge percentage of the world’s remaining biodiversity. Despite its importance, the Amazon is under serious threat from deforestation, mainly to make space for industrial agriculture.

## How big is the Amazon rainforest?

The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest on Earth, at 5.5 million square kilometres. It covers nearly all of the Amazon River basin in South America.

The Amazon is home to over 40,000 plant species, of which 16,000 are different types of trees. It is thought that there are nearly 400 billion trees across the Amazon rainforest. Amazon rainforest trees absorb carbon and are even able to create their own rain, sustaining rainforest [biodiversity](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/wildlife-and-biodiversity/).

The biodiversity of plant species in the Amazon is the highest on Earth, with one in ten known species in the world found there.

## Where is the Amazon rainforest located?

The rainforest includes land belonging to nine South American countries. Brazil has the most by a long way, with nearly 60% of the rainforest within its borders. Peru and Colombia have 13% and 10% of the rainforest respectively.

## How many people live in the Amazon rainforest

The Amazon is home to over 30 million people, around 2.7 million of whom are [Indigenous people](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/forests/indigenous-peoples/).

Rather than being an unpopulated wilderness as was previously assumed, archaeologists now believe that human inhabitants first lived in the Amazon 11,000 years ago, shaping the land through forest gardening and Indigenous soil fertility management.

Some estimates suggest that before Europeans colonised South America in the 1500s, there was a population of around 5 million Indigenous People in the Amazon region. Diseases from Europe such as smallpox drove the population down to under 1 million in the 1900s, and under 200,000 by the early 1980s.

## What animals live in the Amazon rainforest?

The Amazon rainforest is home to one-tenth of the animal species in the world, according to some scientists.

Jaguars, sloths, caimans, howler monkeys, capybaras, pink river dolphins, macaws, anacondas, piranhas, electric eels and poison dart frogs are some of the more [unusual animals that live in the Amazon rainforest](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/in-pictures-10-bizarre-creatures-you-could-meet-in-the-amazon/).

The region is also home to around 2.5 million different species of insects, one in five of the world’s bird species, and one in five of the world’s fish species.

## Why is the Amazon so important?

The Amazon rainforest is important to the rest of the planet because it helps to regulate the world’s climate. The Amazon rainforest stores 90–140 billion metric tonnes of carbon, making it the world’s largest land carbon ‘sink’.

As climate change is caused by excess carbon emissions from industry, these carbon stores or ‘sinks’ help keep the climate stable. When trees are cleared or burned, the rainforest loses its ability to store carbon.

[Deforestation](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/forests/deforestation/) releases carbon as trees are left to rot, or are burned – both of which releases more carbon into the atmosphere, making climate change worse.

## The causes of deforestation in the Amazon

Cattle ranching for industrial [meat and dairy](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/meat-and-dairy/) is the leading cause of Amazon deforestation. Fire is a common method of deforestation in the Amazon – cattle ranchers start fires to clear the land to make way for farming.

[Climate change](/challenges/climate-change/) is making the dry season hotter and drier, enabling Amazon fires to spread more rapidly. As well as removing important carbon stores, the fires themselves release even more carbon into the atmosphere, further worsening climate change.

Around [17–20%](https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/what-if/what-if-amazon-rainforest-was-completely-destroyed.htm) of the Amazon rainforest has already been destroyed, with almost all of the deforested areas being turned into cattle ranches. One estimate suggests that [over 900,000 square kilometres has been turned into pasture](http://www.fao.org/3/xii/0568-b1.htm) since the 1960s.

Deforestation by fire is increasing in the Amazon, even being encouraged by the Brazilian government for national ‘development’.

Scientists warn that if even only [5–8% more of the Amazon is lost](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00508-4) to deforestation, it could reach a tipping point, meaning the rainforest will not be able to produce enough rain to sustain itself. This would have a disastrous impact on the whole world’s climate.

The nearby Cerrado in central Brazil is also being destroyed for industrial meat through the expansion of soya farms. Most of this soya is used to feed farm animals around the world.

Logging, mining and dam-building are also responsible for Amazon deforestation, but cattle rearing for meat and dairy products is estimated to account for at least [80% of the destruction](https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/wp-content/uploads/legacy/Global/usa/planet3/PDFs/slaughtering-the-amazon-part-1.pdf).

[![Giant iguana in a tree looking back towards the camera](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GP01K41_crop1-32x0-c-default.jpg)\
\
Forests\
\
**Amazon wildlife: 10 bizarre creatures you could meet in the rainforest** \
\
There’s a reason that the Amazon rainforest inspired scientists to invent the word ‘biodiversity’ – the region is home to 10 percent of all plant and animal species known on Earth. Let’s meet some of the weird and wonderful creatures you could find there.](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/in-pictures-10-bizarre-creatures-you-could-meet-in-the-amazon/)

[![An Indigenous man stands in front of a fallen tree with a serious expression.](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/09_GP0STSKHI_PressMedia-32x0-c-default.jpg)\
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Explainer\
\
**Deforestation: what you need to know** \
\
Deforestation is the cutting down and removal of natural forests. It’s one of the biggest threats to wildlife, the natural world and the climate. Here are some key facts about deforestation in forests like the Amazon.](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/forests/deforestation/)

[![A group of around 20 adults and children stand by a river in a group, all looking into the camera. Some of the children are wet from swimming in the river.](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Karipuna-riverside-group-cropped-scaled-1-32x0-c-default.jpg)\
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Environmental justice\
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**Meet the Indigenous community that’s fighting deforestation – and winning** \
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Through high-tech forest monitoring and persistent legal action against invasions, the Karipuna Indigenous People are beginning to win the fight against deforestation in their Amazon lands. Here’s their remarkable story.](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/meet-the-indigenous-community-thats-fighting-deforestation-and-winning/)

[![Bright blue, green, yellow, orange and red feathers](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GP0STPOE6_-32x0-c-default.jpg)\
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Forests\
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**10 fascinating Amazon Rainforest facts to inspire change** \
\
The Amazon might be the world’s best-known rainforest, but most people don’t know how incredible it really is. Get informed with these 10 Amazon facts.](https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/forests/amazon-rainforest/amazon-rainforest-facts/)

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