Newly designated Medio Putumayo-Algodón Protected Area safeguards 283,000 hectares of Amazon rainforest—home to jaguars, giant river otters,
From the article:
• Newly designated Medio Putumayo-Algodón Protected Area safeguards 283,000 hectares of Amazon rainforest—home to jaguars, giant river otters, harpy eagles, and more than 1,800 documented species.
• The area fills a critical gap in a nearly 2-million-hectare conservation corridor, supporting Peru’s progress toward global biodiversity and climate goals.
•Co-created with 16 Indigenous communities, the designation strengthens territorial rights and recognizes Indigenous leadership in stewarding the region’s forests, rivers, and wildlife.
Brazil is seeking to share the cost and burden of protecting the rainforest with the private sector. But it has found few firms willing to help.
Excerpt from this story from the New York Times:
Facing strong international condemnation over the destruction of the Amazon, President Jair Bolsonaro’s government came up with a strategy: It offered companies the chance to “adopt” a patch of rainforest.
But the plan — which invites companies to contribute money to help preserve the forest — has been marred by disorganization and met with skepticism by critics, who see it as an effort to “green wash” the Bolsonaro administration’s poor record on the environment.
It also hasn’t found many takers.
The program was announced in February, as the Biden administration made clear that it expected Brazil to reverse some of the forest loss and dismantling of environmental protections that marked Mr. Bolsonaro’s first two years in office.
As proposed, the Adopt-a-Park program would accomplish two of the Bolsonaro administration’s goals: redeem Brazil’s tarnished environmental image, which industry leaders have feared could shut them out of international markets, and outsource the costs of conservation at a time of tightening budgets.
The government offered 132 federal reserves in the Amazon for sponsorship. So far, only three foreign companies — the grocery chain Carrefour, Coca-Cola and Heineken — and five Brazilian corporations have enrolled. Their donations total just over $1 million — a tiny fraction of the $600 million that Mr. Salles aspires to raise.
And no reserves have been formally allocated to a sponsor, even though at least one of the companies said it delivered all the requested paperwork more than a month ago.
Land titles are the most effective way to reduce deforestation in Indigenous peoples’ territory, resulting in a 66% reduction in forest cove
From the article:
On May 21, twenty communities in the Peruvian Amazon received long-awaited legal titles to their traditional lands, marking a significant victory in the struggle for Indigenous peoples’ land rights and environmental protection.
Encompassing approximately 75,000 acres, an area three times the size of Manhattan, the titles were delivered during a well-attended ceremony in the Huitoto Murui Indigenous community of Centro Arenal, in the state of Loreto. Indigenous leaders traveled from remote rivers that feed into the Amazon to receive their titles in person. Local and state officials also attended.
“Today we can say that our lands are indeed ours, and we can defend ourselves from any aggression that arrives at our community,” said Anibal Oliveira, Indigenous Ticuna leader of the San Salvador community.
Last year, an innovative strategy devised with our partners allowed Rainforest Foundation US to secure more land titles in ten months than in the previous three years. Now, in 2024, we are already surpassing that record. An additional 10,500 acres of titles are expected to be delivered to communities in the same region over the next couple months.
We celebrate the creation of the Arroyo Guarichona Municipal Protected Area in the department of Beni, Bolivia. Home to floodplains, tributa
From the article:
Andes Amazon Fund celebrates the creation of the Arroyo Guarichona Municipal Protected Area in the department of Beni, Bolivia. Home to floodplains, tributaries, expansive grasslands, vast forests, and evidence of pre-Columbian societies, Arroyo Guarichona safeguards both the cultural and ecological heritage of Northern Bolivia. The new area covers 492,815 acres (199,435 ha), and is home to Indigenous peoples, farmers, and local communities that pushed for the creation of the conservation area.Â
