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Brazil launches operation against illegal logging
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…
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Brazil boosts rainforest protection
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…
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USAID Closure Impacts Rainforest Conservation
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…
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Bird declines due to climate crisis
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…
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Amazon Rainforest: Deforestation Rebounding, Fires Destroying Livelihoods
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…
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Brazil prepares for COP30
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…
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Wildfires ravage the Amazon: many countries affected
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…
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Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Nuclear Leak
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…
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The Danger of Declining Water Levels in the Amazon River
Falling Water Levels in the Brazilian Amazon: According to the Brazilian Geological Survey in January 2025, several rivers in the Amazon basin have fallen to historic lows, threatening to dry up the once-thriving rainforest. If the “green lungs” of the Amazon rainforest cease to exist, the impact on the global ecosystem will be devastating.
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Brazil: a new journey in the development of the bioeconomy
According to the Global News on January 6, Brazil actively promotes the development of bioeconomy and expects the bioeconomy market in the Amazon region to reach 8.1 billion U.S. dollars by 2050.20 In June 2024, Brazil formally promulgated the National Bioeconomy Strategy, which encourages innovations and technological advances in related fields, establishes the Brazilian National…