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62-577: Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network ( Red Eclesial Panamazónica , REPAM) is a network with a thousand organizations from the Amazon "to create a development model that privileges the poor and serves the common good". There are local, national and international instances, congregations, institutions, specialized teams and missionaries from Brazil , Venezuela , French Guiana , Guyana , Suriname , Colombia , Ecuador , Peru and Bolivia that coordinate to work together to protect human rights, indigenous peoples and

124-611: A warlike tribe that expanded along the Tapajós river and its tributaries and were feared by neighboring tribes. In the early 19th century, the Munduruku were pacified and subjugated by the Brazilians. During the Amazon rubber boom it is estimated that diseases brought by immigrants, such as typhus and malaria , killed 40,000 native Amazonians. In the 1950s, Brazilian explorer and defender of indigenous people, Cândido Rondon , supported

186-706: A complex civilization was flourishing along the Amazon in the 1540s. The Pre-Columbian agriculture in the Amazon Basin was sufficiently advanced to support prosperous and populous societies. It is believed that civilization was later devastated by the spread of diseases from Europe, such as smallpox . This civilization was investigated by the British explorer Percy Fawcett in the early twentieth century. The results of his expeditions were inconclusive, and he disappeared mysteriously on his last trip. His name for this lost civilization

248-478: A different approach to the territory of the Amazon. It was born to be a counterpoint to the states that have prioritized economic growth ahead of human rights violations and the attack on indigenous peoples. At the 2007 Aparecida Conference convened by John Paul II and concretized by Benedict XVI , the bishops warned that the Amazon was "only at the service of the economic interests of transnational corporations." After his election in 2013, Pope Francis addressed

310-422: A hazard. Among the largest predatory creatures are the black caiman , jaguar , cougar , and anaconda . In the river, electric eels can produce an electric shock that can stun or kill, while piranha are known to bite and injure humans. Various species of poison dart frogs secrete lipophilic alkaloid toxins through their flesh. There are also numerous parasites and disease vectors. Vampire bats dwell in

372-433: A long time, it was thought that the Amazon rainforest was never more than sparsely populated, as it was impossible to sustain a large population through agriculture given the poor soil. Archeologist Betty Meggers was a prominent proponent of this idea, as described in her book Amazonia: Man and Culture in a Counterfeit Paradise . She claimed that a population density of 0.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (0.52/sq mi)

434-408: Is also formed by 20% of the cerrado biome and part of the pantanal . Its population is 12.4% of the national population (21,056,532 inhabitants). A total population of 24.7 million inhabitants lives in the area, including more than 300,000 indigenous people belonging to more than 170 ethnicities. Among these are many traditional extractive communities . Because of its remoteness, this region

496-774: Is believed that the drainage basin of the Amazon was split along the middle of the continent by the Purus Arch . Water on the eastern side flowed toward the Atlantic , while to the west water flowed toward the Pacific across the Amazonas Basin . As the Andes Mountains rose, however, a large basin was created that enclosed a lake; now known as the Solimões Basin . Within the last 5–10 million years, this accumulating water broke through

558-519: Is considerable, and areas cleared of forest are visible to the naked eye from outer space. In the 1970s, construction began on the Trans-Amazonian highway . This highway represented a major threat to the Amazon rainforest. The highway still has not been completed, limiting the environmental damage. Between 1991 and 2000, the total area of forest lost in the Amazon rose from 415,000 to 587,000 km (160,000 to 227,000 sq mi), with most of

620-477: Is divided into two parts: Western Amazon (Amazônia Ocidental, in portuguese) and Eastern Amazon (Amazônia Oriental, in portuguese). Amazônia Ocidental comprises the states of: Acre, Amazonas, Roraima and, Rondônia. Amazônia Oriental comprises the states of: Pará, Maranhão, Amapá, Tocantins and, Mato Grosso. The western region corresponding to 42.97% of the territorial extension of the Legal Amazon (60% of

682-426: Is estimated at 356 ± 47 tonnes per hectare. To date, an estimated 438,000 species of plants of economic and social interest have been registered in the region with many more remaining to be discovered or catalogued. The total number of tree species in the region is estimated at 16,000. The green leaf area of plants and trees in the rainforest varies by about 25% as a result of seasonal changes. Leaves expand during

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744-571: Is the conversion of forested areas to non-forested areas. The main sources of deforestation in the Amazon are human settlement and the development of the land. In 2022, about 20% of the Amazon rainforest has already been deforested and a further 6% was "highly degraded". Research suggests that upon reaching about 20–25% (hence 0–5% more), the tipping point to flip it into a non-forest ecosystem – degraded savannah – (in eastern, southern and central Amazonia) will be reached. This process of savanisation would take decades to take full effect. Prior to

806-638: Is the maximum that can be sustained in the rainforest through hunting, with agriculture needed to host a larger population. However, recent anthropological findings have suggested that the region was actually densely populated. The Upano Valley sites in present-day eastern Ecuador predate all known complex Amazonian societies. Some 5 million people may have lived in the Amazon region in AD 1500, divided between dense coastal settlements, such as that at Marajó , and inland dwellers. Based on projections of food production, one estimate suggests over 8 million people living in

868-511: The Amazon Forest ), most preserved part.  It is made up of the brazilian states of: Amazonas, Acre, Rondônia and, Roraima. The economy of region is based on: agroindustry, fish farming, livestock farming, food industry, plant and mineral extraction, agriculture and ecotourism, in which economy and sustainability go hand in hand. The western region is made up of the brazilian states of: Pará, Maranhão, Amapá, Tocantins and, Mato Grosso. This

930-455: The Amazons of Greek mythology , described by Herodotus and Diodorus . Based on archaeological evidence from an excavation at Caverna da Pedra Pintada , human inhabitants first settled in the Amazon region at least 11,200 years ago. Subsequent development led to late-prehistoric settlements along the periphery of the forest by AD 1250, which induced alterations in the forest cover . For

992-521: The Eocene era (from 56 million years to 33.9 million years ago). It appeared following a global reduction of tropical temperatures when the Atlantic Ocean had widened sufficiently to provide a warm, moist climate to the Amazon basin. The rainforest has been in existence for at least 55 million years, and most of the region remained free of savanna -type biomes at least until the current ice age when

1054-574: The North Region ( Acre , Amapá , Amazonas , Pará , Rondônia , Roraima and Tocantins ), as well as most of Mato Grosso in the Center-West Region and the western part of Maranhão in the Northeast Region . Amazônia Legal is a 5,016,136.3 km region with around 24 million inhabitants; in other words 59% of the geographic territory of Brazil is part of Amazônia Legal, but only 12.34% of

1116-677: The Peruvian Amazon ), indigenous peoples ' rainforest communities continue to disappear, while others, like the Urarina continue to struggle to fight for their cultural survival and the fate of their forested territories. Meanwhile, the relationship between non-human primates in the subsistence and symbolism of indigenous lowland South American peoples has gained increased attention, as have ethno-biology and community-based conservation efforts. Amaz%C3%B4nia Legal The official designation Amazônia Legal encompasses all seven brazilian states of

1178-565: The Villas-Bôas brothers ' campaign, which faced strong opposition from the government and the ranchers of Mato Grosso and led to the establishment of the first Brazilian National Park for indigenous people along the Xingu River in 1961. In 1961, British explorer Richard Mason was killed by an uncontacted Amazon tribe known as the Panará . The Matsés made their first permanent contact with

1240-528: The rainforest . This region includes territory belonging to nine nations and 3,344 indigenous territories . The majority of the forest, 60%, is in Brazil , followed by Peru with 13%, Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts in Bolivia , Ecuador , French Guiana , Guyana , Suriname , and Venezuela . Four nations have " Amazonas " as the name of one of their first-level administrative regions , and France uses

1302-434: The release of the carbon contained within the vegetation, which could accelerate global warming . Amazonian evergreen forests account for about 10% of the world's terrestrial primary productivity and 10% of the carbon stores in ecosystems – of the order of 1.1 × 10 metric tonnes of carbon. Amazonian forests are estimated to have accumulated 0.62 ± 0.37 tons of carbon per hectare per year between 1975 and 1996. In 2021 it

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1364-461: The 2000s. Oil companies have to set up their operations by opening new roads through the forests, which often contributes to deforestation in the region. 9.4% of the territory of the Amazon is affected by oil fields. Mining is also a major driver of deforestation. 17% of the area of the Amazon Rainforest is affected by mining. The transition to solar and wind energy, digitalization, raised

1426-455: The Amazon in 1492. By 1900, the native indigenous population had fallen to 1 million and by the early 1980s it was less than 200,000. The first European to travel the length of the Amazon River was Francisco de Orellana in 1542. The BBC's Unnatural Histories presents evidence that Orellana, rather than exaggerating his claims as previously thought, was correct in his observations that

1488-516: The Amazon rainforest are probably the result of centuries of human management, rather than naturally occurring as has previously been supposed. In the region of the Xingu tribe, remains of some of these large settlements in the middle of the Amazon forest were found in 2003 by Michael Heckenberger and colleagues of the University of Florida . Among those were evidence of roads, bridges and large plazas. In

1550-704: The Amazon rainforest comes from the Bodélé depression in Northern Chad in the Sahara desert. The dust contains phosphorus , important for plant growth. The yearly Sahara dust replaces the equivalent amount of phosphorus washed away yearly in Amazon soil from rains and floods. NASA's CALIPSO satellite has measured the amount of dust transported by wind from the Sahara to the Amazon: an average of 182 million tons of dust are windblown out of

1612-532: The Amazon rainforest could become unsustainable under conditions of severely reduced rainfall and increased temperatures, leading to an almost complete loss of rainforest cover in the basin by 2100., and severe economic, natural capital and ecosystem services impacts of not averting the tipping point. However, simulations of Amazon basin climate change across many different models are not consistent in their estimation of any rainfall response, ranging from weak increases to strong decreases. The result indicates that

1674-460: The Amazon rainforest, rather than being a pristine wilderness , has been shaped by man for at least 11,000 years through practices such as forest gardening and terra preta . Terra preta is found over large areas in the Amazon forest; and is now widely accepted as a product of indigenous soil management . The development of this fertile soil allowed agriculture and silviculture in the previously hostile environment; meaning that large portions of

1736-561: The Amazon region. In August 2019 there were a record number of fires. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rose more than 88% in June 2019 compared with the same month in 2018. The increased area of fire-impacted forest coincided with a relaxation of environmental regulations from the Brazilian government. Notably, before those regulations were put in place in 2008 the fire-impacted area

1798-481: The Amazon, which are subdivided into 9 different national political systems and 3,344 formally acknowledged indigenous territories . Indigenous peoples make up 9% of the total population, and 60 of the groups remain largely isolated. Large scale deforestation is occurring in the forest, creating different harmful effects. Economic losses due to deforestation in Brazil could be approximately 7 times higher in comparison to

1860-515: The Amazon, wrote that before REPAM there were "limitations and fragmentations" and with the organization, it was possible "to deal with such a complex reality and changing". Since then, REPAM has coordinated the work of the Catholic Church in the Amazon region, the work of priests, missionaries, representatives of Caritas and has worked to defend indigenous peoples and the environment. In the encyclical Laudato si' of 2015 Pope Francis talked about

1922-759: The Amazonas, there has been fighting and wars between the neighboring tribes of the Jivaro . Several tribes of the Jivaroan group, including the Shuar , practised headhunting for trophies and headshrinking . The accounts of missionaries to the area in the borderlands between Brazil and Venezuela have recounted constant infighting in the Yanomami tribes. More than a third of the Yanomamo males, on average, died from warfare. The Munduruku were

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1984-544: The Brazilian population lives there. The administrative unit was initially established by Federal Law No. 5.173 (Art. 2). Although called Amazônia Legal, the region overlaps three different biomes : all of Brazil's Amazon biome , 37% of the Cerrado biome, and 40% of the Pantanal biome. The main characteristic of the region is the abundant and tropical vegetation , including large sections of rainforest . The Legal Amazon

2046-668: The Commission for the Amazon of the Brazilian Bishops' Conference . At the creation of the organization, in September 2014, Cardinal Claudio Hummes said that the Church should have "an Amazonian face", "a mission to become incarnate, inculturated in the indigenous population her, in this particular reality of creation". In 2015 Cardinal Michael Czerny , who was one of the organizers of the Synod for

2108-611: The Purus Arch, joining the easterly flow toward the Atlantic. There is evidence that there have been significant changes in the Amazon rainforest vegetation over the last 21,000 years through the last glacial maximum (LGM) and subsequent deglaciation. Analyses of sediment deposits from Amazon basin paleolakes and the Amazon Fan indicate that rainfall in the basin during the LGM was lower than for

2170-581: The Sahara each year (some dust falls into the Atlantic), 15% of which of falls over the Amazon basin (22 million tons of it consisting of phosphorus). CALIPSO uses a laser range finder to scan the Earth's atmosphere for the vertical distribution of dust and other aerosols. and regularly tracks the Sahara-Amazon dust plume. CALIPSO has measured variations in the dust amounts transported – an 86 percent drop between

2232-407: The area and so the lower the yield per hectare becomes. So despite the popular perception, there has been no economical advantage for Brazil from logging rainforest zones and converting these to pastoral fields. The needs of soy farmers have been used to justify many of the controversial transportation projects that are currently developing in the Amazon. The first two highways successfully opened up

2294-805: The bishops of Brazil to request that the church should assume a new role in the Panamazon region and asked for courage. He said that working for the preservation of nature in that region, especially the most disadvantaged, "is at the heart of the Gospel". REPAM was established in September 2014 as a common initiative of several groups: the Latin American Bishops' Conference (CELAM), the Confederation of Latin American Religious (CLAR), Caritas Latin America , and

2356-471: The climate was drier and savanna more widespread. Following the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event , the extinction of the dinosaurs and the wetter climate may have allowed the tropical rainforest to spread out across the continent. From 66 to 34 Mya , the rainforest extended as far south as 45° . Climate fluctuations during the last 34 million years have allowed savanna regions to expand into

2418-504: The cost of all commodities produced through deforestation. In 2023, the World Bank published a report proposing a non-deforestation based economic program in the region. The name Amazon is said to arise from a war Francisco de Orellana fought with the Tapuyas and other tribes. The women of the tribe fought alongside the men, as was their custom. Orellana derived the name Amazonas from

2480-538: The demand for cassiterite (the main ore of tin used also for financing gold mining ), manganese and copper , which attracrted many illegal miners to the Amazon. This led to deforestation, different environmental and social problems. Hydropower also creates significant problems in the Amazon. Such activities are defined by the World Rainforest Movement as " Green extractivism ". The European Union–Mercosur free trade agreement , which would form one of

2542-421: The dry season when sunlight is at a maximum, then undergo abscission in the cloudy wet season. These changes provide a balance of carbon between photosynthesis and respiration. Each hectare of the Amazon rainforest contains around 1 billion of invertebrates . The amount of species per hectare in the Amazon rainforest can be presented in the next table: The rainforest contains several species that can pose

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2604-591: The early 1960s, access to the forest's interior was highly restricted, and the forest remained basically intact. Farms established during the 1960s were based on crop cultivation and the slash and burn method. However, the colonists were unable to manage their fields and the crops because of the loss of soil fertility and weed invasion. The soils in the Amazon are productive for just a short period of time, so farmers are constantly moving to new areas and clearing more land. These farming practices led to deforestation and caused extensive environmental damage. Deforestation

2666-558: The highest amount of dust transported in 2007 and the lowest in 2011. This is possibly causing by rainfall variations is the Sahel , a strip of semi-arid land on the southern border of the Sahara.. Amazon phosphorus also comes as smoke due to biomass burning in Africa. Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich biome , and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species rich than

2728-487: The last consequences, although we still have a long way to go as a Church to give the deserved space to these voices". Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest , also called Amazon jungle or Amazonia , is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America . This basin encompasses 7,000,000 km (2,700,000 sq mi), of which 6,000,000 km (2,300,000 sq mi) are covered by

2790-400: The lost forest becoming pasture for cattle. Seventy percent of formerly forested land in the Amazon, and 91% of land deforested since 1970, have been used for livestock pasture . Currently, Brazil is the largest global producer of soybeans . New research however, conducted by Leydimere Oliveira et al., has shown that the more rainforest is logged in the Amazon, the less precipitation reaches

2852-404: The name " Guiana Amazonian Park " for French Guiana's protected rainforest area. The Amazon represents over half of the total area of remaining rainforests on Earth , and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world, with an estimated 390 billion individual trees in about 16,000 species. More than 30 million people of 350 different ethnic groups live in

2914-553: The need to protect the planet's biodiversity "in the Amazon and the Congo, or the great aquifers and glaciers" because of its importance "for the whole earth and the future of humanity." REPAM had a fundamental role in the Synod for the Amazon convened by Pope Francis in 2017 and that took place from 5 to 29 October 2019 in Rome with the aim of "find new paths for the evangelization of that portion of

2976-498: The outside world in 1969. Before that date, they were effectively at-war with the Peruvian government. Nine countries share the Amazon basin—most of the rainforest, 58.4%, is contained within the borders of Brazil. The other eight countries are Peru with 12.8%, Bolivia with 7.7%, Colombia with 7.1%, Venezuela with 6.1%, Guyana with 3.1%, Suriname with 2.5%, French Guiana with 1.4% and Ecuador with 1%. The rainforest likely formed during

3038-417: The people of God, particularly the indigenous people who are often forgotten and often face a bleak future due to the crisis of the Amazon rainforest, a fundamental lung for our planet." The president and general rapporteur was Claudio Hummes and vice-president Pedro Barreto . The organization positively valued the Synod in considering that "a woman’s voice, intercultural, and courageous dedication for life to

3100-411: The present, and this was almost certainly associated with reduced moist tropical vegetation cover in the basin. In present day, the Amazon receives approximately 9 feet of rainfall annually. There is a debate, however, over how extensive this reduction was. Some scientists argue that the rainforest was reduced to small, isolated refugia separated by open forest and grassland; other scientists argue that

3162-438: The rainforest and can spread the rabies virus. Malaria , yellow fever and dengue fever can also be contracted in the Amazon region. The biodiversity in the Amazon is becoming increasingly threatened, primarily by habitat loss from deforestation as well as increased frequency of fires. Over 90% of Amazonian plant and vertebrate species (13,000–14,000 in total) may have been impacted to some degree by fires. Deforestation

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3224-464: The rainforest and led to increased settlement and deforestation. The mean annual deforestation rate from 2000 to 2005 (22,392 km or 8,646 sq mi per year) was 18% higher than in the previous five years (19,018 km or 7,343 sq mi per year). Although deforestation declined significantly in the Brazilian Amazon between 2004 and 2014, there has been an increase to the present day. Brazil's President, Jair Bolsonaro, has supported

3286-612: The rainforest could be threatened through the 21st century by climate change in addition to deforestation. In 1989, environmentalist C.M. Peters and two colleagues stated there is economic as well as biological incentive to protecting the rainforest. One hectare in the Peruvian Amazon has been calculated to have a value of $ 6820 if intact forest is sustainably harvested for fruits, latex, and timber; $ 1000 if clear-cut for commercial timber (not sustainably harvested); or $ 148 if used as cattle pasture. As indigenous territories continue to be destroyed by deforestation and ecocide (such as in

3348-409: The rainforest remained largely intact but extended less far to the north, south, and east than is seen today. This debate has proved difficult to resolve because the practical limitations of working in the rainforest mean that data sampling is biased away from the center of the Amazon basin, and both explanations are reasonably well supported by the available data. More than 56% of the dust fertilizing

3410-645: The region. One in five of all bird species are found in the Amazon rainforest, and one in five of the fish species live in Amazonian rivers and streams. Scientists have described between 96,660 and 128,843 invertebrate species in Brazil alone. The biodiversity of plant species is the highest on Earth with one 2001 study finding a quarter square kilometer (62 acres) of Ecuadorian rainforest supports more than 1,100 tree species. A study in 1999 found one square kilometer (247 acres) of Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,790 tonnes of living plants. The average plant biomass

3472-490: The relaxation of regulations placed on agricultural land. He has used his time in office to allow for more deforestation and more exploitation of the Amazon's rich natural resources. Deforestation reached a 15 year high in 2021. Since the discovery of fossil fuel reservoirs in the Amazon rainforest, oil drilling activity has steadily increased, peaking in the Western Amazon in the 1970s and ushering another drilling boom in

3534-512: The tropics. During the Oligocene , for example, the rainforest spanned a relatively narrow band. It expanded again during the Middle Miocene , then retracted to a mostly inland formation at the last glacial maximum . However, the rainforest still managed to thrive during these glacial periods , allowing for the survival and evolution of a broad diversity of species. During the mid-Eocene , it

3596-614: The wet forests in Africa and Asia. As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled biodiversity . One in ten known species in the world lives in the Amazon rainforest. This constitutes the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world . The region is home to about 2.5 million insect species , tens of thousands of plants, and some 2,000 birds and mammals . To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 2,200 fishes , 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in

3658-495: The world's largest free trade areas, has been denounced by environmental activists and indigenous rights campaigners. The fear is that the deal could lead to more deforestation of the Amazon rainforest as it expands market access to Brazilian beef. According to a November 2021 report by Brazil's INPE , based on satellite data , deforestation has increased by 22% over 2020 and is at its highest level since 2006. There were 72,843 fires in Brazil in 2019, with more than half within

3720-410: Was also larger compared to the regulation period of 2009–2018. As these fire continue to move closer to the heart of the Amazon basin, their impact on biodiversity will only increase in scale, as the cumulative fire-impacted area is correlated with the number of species impacted. Environmentalists are concerned about loss of biodiversity that will result from destruction of the forest , and also about

3782-414: Was reported that the Amazon for the first time emitted more greenhouse gases than it absorbed. Though often referenced as producing more than a quarter of the Earth's oxygen, this often stated, but misused statistic actually refers to oxygen turnover. The net contribution of the ecosystem is approximately zero. One computer model of future climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions shows that

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3844-447: Was the City of Z . Since the 1970s, numerous geoglyphs have been discovered on deforested land dating between AD 1–1250, furthering claims about Pre-Columbian civilizations. Ondemar Dias is accredited with first discovering the geoglyphs in 1977, and Alceu Ranzi is credited with furthering their discovery after flying over Acre . The BBC's Unnatural Histories presented evidence that

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