What is happening in the Amazon Rainforest?

The amazon forest fires are a yearly occurrence with blazes set deliberately by loggers and ranchers who are clearing the land for further agricultural development. From July to December, the Amazon Basin dries out and fires become frequent. This year, however, due to drought and deforestation many of the blazes are burning with such intensity they are threatening massive swathes of the forest. With firefighters and military desperately working to control the blames, the encroaching dry season will only escalate the inferno. According to Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research, over 76,000 individual fires were last counted. This is an alarming increase of 80% when compared to data from 2018 .

How important is the Amazon Rainforest?

The vast rainforest covers 5,500,000 of land and spans over 9 countries in South America. It represents more than half of the world’s remaining rainforest , and its biodiverse habitats are the home to a myriad of endangered species found nowhere else in the world. Its’ estimated 390 billion trees  have also been referred to as the lungs of the earth, as they sequester carbon dioxide while generating 16% of the planets oxygen . The forest fires are threatening the endemic species, lives, and livelihoods of the indigenous peoples, and are expected to keep spreading. Losing so many trees mean extreme carbon emissions, with some scientists, such as Carlos A Nobre , concerned we might be close to a tipping point for climate change.

Sitting on the other side of the world, we feel a little helpless with seemingly no way to protect the magnificent forests from destruction. However, there are things you can do! So, let’s not just #prayforamazonia, instead, here are 5 ways you can help the amazon rainforest today.

1. Buy some land to protect

Since 1993, the Rainforest Action Network has been purchasing one acre of the rainforest at a time to help local activists regain control of the traditional territories, and reinstate sustainable practices. In a combination of Human Rights and Forest Protection, Protect An Acre  has allowed over 200 communities and indigenous-led organisations to protect millions of acres around the world. You can also purchase some land through the Rainforest Trust to protect it from logging, mining, and burning. There are many donation options so you can be part of saving the Amazon rainforest.

If you would prefer to protect forests closer to home, you can check out Rainforest Rescue which focuses on rainforests in Queensland. If you personally want to get involved and get out on the land, you can become the owner of a special property which works to conserve Queensland’s natural environment.

2. Buy Local Wood and Paper

Just like our blog article about the benefits of buying local fruits and vegetables, you can decrease the demand of wood and paper from the amazon by buying locally produced materials.

Buying less in general is the better alternative, as one of the main reasons the fires were set was to clear land for easier extraction of timber. Reducing the demand, will reduce commercial pressure on the Amazon and other forests around the world.

You can always check out whether the protects you are purchasing are rainforest safe with the handy guide provided by the Rainforest Alliance .

3. Eat Less Beef

The second reason the fires were set, is to clear land for the cattle industry in Brazil. Current studies show that 80% of the forest cleared in the Amazon  is due to cattle ranching. Majority of this land is cleared to grow the soybean which is exported across the world as cattle feed to support the demand for beef.

Unlike American Beef, which primarily depends on soy as Australia’s beef industry uses a higher proportion of wheat, barley, sorghum and triticale  in cattle feed. Imported meat, however, would have potentially been fed soy grown in the Amazon Basin .

Australia is one of the largest consumers of beef in the world, with the average Australian consuming over 25kg of beef a year . Any decrease in consumption would benefit the rainforests, reduce methane and carbon emissions, and along with improving your health. Consider meat free Mondays as an beginning step!

4. Vote for the Future

While we cannot vote in Brazil, we have power and responsibility in our own democratic country by voting for the future we wish to live in. The fires in the Amazon Rainforest are impacting the whole world, but we do not have to look across the Pacific Ocean to see forests habitats being destroyed. Queensland, Australia is one of the world’s worst places for deforestation. Agriculture has cleared over 395,000 hectares of forest just between 2015 and 2016 . From that number, 40,000 hectares has been prime koala habitat . Now due to a combination of deforestation and drought which is aggravated by the clearing, the marsupials have seen a decline of 65% in the ten years monitoring of the Koala Coast koala population . The rate of deforestation in Queensland outpaces Amazon’s logging by double, with 1,000 rugby pitches cleared per day .

5. Vote with your Dollar

As individuals, we have a tiny environmental footprint when compared to massive companies which are the leaders of destruction  of resources on our planet. The best way to show unity with Amazonia, is to spend money in small, and local businesses rather than massive corporations. We have the choice to not buy the products sold by these mega corporations. Ethical Consumer  is a great website if you want to learn more about ethical consumption.

Create the type of world you want to live in, by voting with your wallet.

Conclusion

We may be on the other side of the world, but here are 5 ways that you can help the amazon rainforest today. Hopefully you have found them helpful and are inspired to create some positive change. It will not put out the blaze, but hopefully we can protect larger tracks of the precious rainforest and decrease the stresses and pressures on the resources. Let’s save the amazon rainforest, and while we are at it, protect the ones in Australia.

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