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 […]
In a recent article, the environmental science news platform Mongabay reported that, according to their review of official documents, the government of Suriname is preparing to clear large tracts of Amazon rainforest for agriculture. Mongabay reported that a massive amount of land (365,704 hectares, or 903,674 acres) was being targeted for new agriculture plots being established for […]
Here, we present a model river conservation strategy proposed by the Ecuadorian Rivers Institute, designed to protect strategic free-flowing river corridors with intact surrounding forests in the critical transition zone between the Andes mountains and the Amazon lowlands. The vision is to conserve freshwater resources and their surrounding riparian forests, encourage sustainable economic alternatives, and preserve […]
The first MAAP report, published in March 2015, took a detailed look at the escalating gold mining deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon. The following 198 reports, over the past 8.5 years, continued to examine the most urgent deforestation-related issues across the Amazon. For our 200th report, we provide our rapid assessment of the current state […]
As national policymakers begin the global COP28 climate summit in Dubai, we provide here a concise update on the current state of Amazon forest loss and remaining carbon reserves, both based on the latest cutting-edge data. For Amazon forest loss, we analyze the primary forest loss alerts known as GLAD-S2, which are based on 10-meter […]
In the context of overall Amazon gold mining, where illegal mining is rampant, southern Peru is an important case study given that the government has created the “Mining Corridor“, where mining is allowed in order to organize and promote this activity. In this large area, officially known as the “Zone of small-scale and artisanal mining […]
As we approach the COP28 climate summit, starting in Dubai in late November, we provide here a concise update on the current state of remaining Amazon carbon reserves. We present the newly updated version of NASA’s GEDI data1, which uses lasers aboard the International Space Station to provide cutting-edge estimates of aboveground biomass density on […]
