A burst of new data and online visualization tools are revealing key land use patterns across the Amazon, particularly regarding the critical topic of agriculture. This type of data is particularly important because agriculture is the leading cause of overall Amazonian deforestation. These new datasets include: Crops. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a […]
In a recent report (MAAP #199), we presented the updated version of NASA’s GEDI data,1 which uses lasers aboard the International Space Station to provide cutting-edge estimates of aboveground carbon globally, including our focal area, the Amazon. These lasers, however, have not yet achieved full coverage, leaving considerable gaps in the data and resulting maps. Here, we […]
Gold Mining is one of the major deforestation drivers across the Amazon.* It often targets remote areas, thus impacting carbon-rich primary forests. Moreover, in most cases, this mining is illegal, given that it is occurring in protected areas and indigenous territories. Given the vastness of the Amazon, however, it has been a challenge to accurately monitor mining deforestation across the […]
Illegal gold mining has generated massive deforestation in the southern Peruvian Amazon (MAAP #208). This activity also affects several of the main rivers (such as the Madre de Dios, Inambari, Tambopata, Malinowski and Colorado), and also their tributaries and secondary bodies of water. All of them are contaminated by excess sediment and the presence of […]
With the technical support of USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and Norad (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation),1 we have published a series of reports on the dynamic situation regarding gold mining in the southern Peruvian Amazon during recent years 2. Illegal gold mining reached crisis levels between 2017 and 2018 in the area known […]
Illegal roads are a major threat to the Colombian Amazon, often opening remote primary forests to the main drivers of deforestation: cattle pastures, land grabbing and coca production. These illegal roads threaten protected areas (including national parks) and indigenous territories (known as Resguardos in Colombia). In 2024, in collaboration with our Colombian partner FCDS, we […]
Last year, in collaboration with the organization SOS Orinoco, we published an urgent report about illegal mining on top of a sacred tepui in the heart of Yapacana National Park in Venezuela (MAAP #169). Tepuis are stunning table-top mountains found in northern South America. They are considered sacred by indigenous groups of the region; in fact, the word tepui means “house […]
In a series of previous reports, we warned about the emergence of alluvial mining in the Ecuadorian Amazon, specifically in the area around the Punino River, located between the provinces of Napo and Orellana (MAAP #151, MAAP #182). Here, we highlight the rapid growth of mining activity in the Punino area: 784 hectares in 2023, […]
We analyze a new road project that enters the western sector of the Waorani Indigenous Territory, located in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon (see Base Map, below). The project, called “Construction of the Arajuno-Nushiño-Ishpingo-Toñampade Road”, has been designed in response to the mobility needs of eight Waorani communities in the area, including Toñampade, the […]
In the recent MAAP #203, we reported that the government of Suriname is preparing to clear large tracts of Amazon rainforest for agriculture. Specifically, we estimated that a shocking 451,000 hectares (1.1 million acres) of primary forest were threatened in the proposed agricultural plots. Intertwined with this issue are additional reports indicating that groups of Mennonites are in […]
