Brazilian potash company plans to invest $2.5 billion to develop the Otazis potash mine in the Amazon hinterland, which is expected to produce 9.2 million tons of potash annually to alleviate the country’s dependence on 83% of potash imports. The project site is adjacent to an area inhabited by the Mula indigenous people, which poses…

The accelerated construction of a four-lane highway through 40,000 acres of rainforest in Belém, Brazil, has sparked an ecological crisis. The project has already destroyed 26,000 ancient trees and cut off migration routes for endangered species. Scientists have warned that the Amazon rainforest is approaching a tipping point of ecological collapse, with only 74% of…

In February 2025, Brazilian environmental enforcement officers launched Operation Maravalia, targeting the areas of the Amazon rainforest most affected by illegal logging. During the two-week raids, nearly a dozen sawmills were shut down and fines totaling 15.5 million reais (about $2.7 million) were issued. Although about 90 percent of the illegally harvested timber in the…

February 12, 2025 – The Brazilian government plans to expand its selective logging policy over the next two years, allowing companies participating in timber concession programs to cut no more than six trees per hectare for 30 years and avoiding rare species. Brazilian President Lula also plans to manage up to 310,000 square kilometers of…

February 5, 2025 – The dissolution of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will have a serious impact on a number of aid programs in South America, including the protection of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.USAID’s largest program in Brazil is the Amazon Biodiversity Conservation Partnership, which works to conserve the rainforest and support…

In the latest news, the Tiputini Biodiversity Research Center, located deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon, has been experiencing an intergenerational decline in bird populations since around 2012, nearly halving by 2022. Scientists ruled out disease, parasites, toxins and pollutants as factors, and concluded that the climate crisis is the most likely factor contributing to bird…

A new report suggests that the Amazon rainforest will be hit hard in 2024 after Brazil’s deforestation rate is reduced by nearly 50 percent in 2023, according to a 22 January 2025 news release.In mid-October, the Global Initiative to Combat Transnational Organized Crime (GICTOC) reported that large-scale fires are raging in the Amazon Basin, where…

The World Economic Forum 2025 Annual Meeting was held in Davos, Switzerland, from January 20 to 24, local time. During a panel discussion on the theme “Brazil: More Action Ahead?” the panelists discussed Brazil’s contribution to sustainable development and renewable energy in the context of COP30. According to Helder Barbalho, Governor of the Brazilian state…

January 3, 2025 – The year 2024 has been brutal for the Amazon rainforest, with extreme droughts and rampant wildfires ravaging much of the Amazon rainforest, which scholars fear is reaching an ecological tipping point. 15.1 million hectares of the Brazilian Amazon were exposed to fires from January to October, and Bolivia had a record…

On January 12, 2025 local time, 29 tons of nuclear waste liquid was abnormally discharged from Unit 2 of the Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea. This is not the first time that the Wolseong plant has been the subject of controversy over safety issues. In June 2024, a leak occurred in…