In a new series, we highlight the main illegal gold mining frontiers in the Amazon. Here, in part 1, we focus on Peru. In the upcoming part 2, we will look at Brazil. The Base Map indicates our focus areas in Peru*: Southern Peru (A. La Pampa, B. Alto Malinowski, C. Camanti, D. Pariamanu); Central Peru (E. […]
Yasuni National Park, located in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon, is one of the most biodiverse places in the world and forms part of the ancestral territory of the Waorani (see Base Map). Under the ground of this vast area, however, are large oil fields. In July 2019, the Waorani won an important legal […]
As part of our ongoing coverage, we present two key new findings about the Brazilian Amazon fires that captured the world’s attention in August (see our novel satellite-based methodology below). First, we found that many of the fires, covering over 450,000 hectares, burned areas recently deforested since 2017 (orange in Base Map). That is a […]
The Mennonites, a religious (Christian) group often dedicated to organized agriculture, are increasingly inhabiting the western Amazon (Peru and Bolivia). Here, we reveal the recent deforestation of 18,500 acres (7,500 hectares) in three Mennonite colonies (see the Base Map below). The two colonies in Peru (Tierra Blanca and Masisea) are new, causing the deforestation of 6,200 […]
We begin a new series on how to harness the power of the cloud to improve real-time monitoring in the Amazon and beyond. As the amount of data from satellite images has skyrocketed, so have the challenges of research teams to fully utilize this abundant and heavy (in terms of terabytes) information. In response, tech […]
In MAAP #109 we reported a major finding critical to understanding this year’s fires in the Brazilian Amazon: many of the 2019 fires followed 2019 deforestation events. Here, we present our more comprehensive estimate: 125,000 hectares (310,000 acres) deforested in 2019 and then later burned in 2019 (July-September). This is equivalent to 172,000 soccer fields.* […]
The fires in the Brazilian Amazon have been the subject of intense global attention over the past month. As part of our ongoing coverage, we go a step further and analyze the relationship between fire and deforestation in 2019. First, we present the first known Base Map showing both 2019 deforestation and fire hotspots, and, […]
Here we present an updated analysis on the Amazon fires, as part of our ongoing coverage and building off what we reported in MAAP #107. First, we show an updated Base Map of the “fire hotspots” across the Amazon, based on very recent fire alerts (August 20-26). Hotspots (shown in red, orange, and yellow) indicate the highest […]
Fires now burning in the Amazon, particularly Brazil and Bolivia, have become headline news and a viral topic on social media. Yet little information exists on the impact on the Amazon rainforest itself, as many of the detected fires originate in or near agricultural lands. Here, we advance the discussion on the impact of the […]
We continue our focus on the northwest Colombian Amazon,* one of the most intense deforestation hotspots in the western Amazon (see MAAP# 100). Here, we analyze deforestation data over the past five years (2015-19) to better understand current trends and patterns. We found a major increase in deforestation as of 2016. The Colombian Amazon lost […]
