Indigenous rights’ groups and WWF International are beginning to train Andean tribes people deep within the Amazon rainforest in the use of drones so that they, as forest-dwelling specialists, can help protect wildlife, and identify, compile evidence for, and report on, illegal logging activities.
Countries: Brazil
Brazil deploys thousands of troops to protect Amazon’s trees
Brazil has deployed thousands of soldiers to protect the Amazon as the government mounts an early response to surging deforestation in the run-up to the high season for forest fires.
Indigenous group in Brazil wins decades-long battle over illegal logging
The Ashaninka indigenous community will receive $3 million in compensation and an official apology from companies. Experts said the case could serve as a legal precedent in other indigenous and environmental lawsuits in Brazil.
A wild tapir gave birth in Brazil for the first time in more than a century
Scientists said video clips of the baby tapir proved the initial success of a re-introduction strategy for the threatened mammal, which is often described as “a forest gardener” because it plays a vital role in the dispersal of seeds.
Humpback whales in the South Atlantic have recovered from near-extinction
A new count shows the population off Brazil went from about 450 in the 1950s to 25,000 now
Brazil’s top court votes to make homophobia and transphobia crimes
Six out of 11 judges voted to consider discrimination against gays and transgender people equivalent to racism.
Brazilian couple plant 4 million trees in 20 years to restore a destroyed forest
Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado and his wife Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado founded Instituto Terra, a small organization that has since planted 4 million saplings and has brought the forest back from the dead.
Investor coalition joins manifesto to halt deforestation in the Cerrado region of Brazil
A coalition of investors managing over US$5.6 trillion in assets joined a coalition of more than 70 large food companies in calling for zero deforestation in Brazil’s Cerrado region.
Brazil’s solar capacity expected increase by 358% in 2018
Brazil now has 320 MW of distributed solar generation a sector which grew 270% in 2016, 304% in 2017, and is expected to increase by 358% in 2018.
Brazil announces end to Amazon mega-dam building policy
The Temer government claims the decision is a response to intense resistance from environmentalists and indigenous groups