Every year around this time, global and societal leaders gather at the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) to find solutions and tackle the climate crisis that threatens society as a whole. At these meetings, we often hear that the Amazon rainforest is the “lungs of the earth,” but this year marks the end of his 27th COP, so if you want to make a more accurate analogy, the Amazon should be mentioned. as “Heart of the Earth”.
The Amazon River nourishes 2.86 million square miles of tropical forest. This is about the size of the adjacent US landmass. This green space covers about 5% of the earth’s land surface and critically regulates the earth’s climate system. Additionally, the Amazon is a hotspot of unrivaled biodiversity. It is home to about one-third of the known terrestrial species of plants, animals and insects, 10% of all biomass on earth and 20% of the world’s freshwater. Most importantly, there are over 500 indigenous peoples of her in the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon is the lifeblood of a complex network of interconnected ecosystems.
However, this system is on the brink of collapse, with little support from politicians and civil servants in the Amazon nations and elsewhere.
Businesses that extract natural resources and commodities of great value in international markets, such as oil, timber, minerals, agriculture and livestock, are destroying the Amazon’s land and water. The Amazon will reach a point of no return in the next 30 years, according to monitoring by the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP). Contrary to what many people think, protecting the Amazon is not a regional issue for the nine countries that make up the Amazon region. This is a global priority that affects us all and should be recognized as such.
It is imperative that governments, businesses, civil society and international organizations support indigenous peoples in the urgent restoration of ecosystems. Despite the Global North’s responsibility for causing this unparalleled catastrophe, we believe it is the indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin who will usher in the most lasting and bold solutions to the current crisis.
Indigenous groups have been organized in Ecuador and Peru, including the Inter-Ethnic Association for the Development of the Rainforests of Peru (AIDESEP), the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE), and the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA). increase. To protect their Pachamama, as they call Mother Nature. The alliance, called the Amazon Sacred Water Sources Initiative, covers 86 million acres of biosphere and is home to more than 600,000 people from 30 indigenous peoples.
Because the Alliance is an initiative of indigenous peoples organizations led by indigenous peoples (27 of the 29 members of the Steering Committee are representatives of indigenous peoples organizations), it is one of the largest permanent forest protection programs in the world. Because there is nothing like it. Socio-ecological transition planning with both local and global actions.
The main vehicle for achieving the Alliance’s goals is the Bioregion Plan 2030. The plan has been developed over four years with the support of leading elders of the Amazon community, known as ‘Savios’, and world-class international scientists. The plan outlines nine transition pathways that generate social and economic benefits that prioritize the protection of nature and people living in the Amazon region, including community-based renewable energy systems and regenerative entrepreneurship. The plan shows that a different vision of development that does not violate human rights or ecology is possible. It enhances the well-being of the Amazon, ensures self-determination and territorial sovereignty for indigenous peoples, and discourages the advancement of extractive industries. This plan will blend both the ancient knowledge of indigenous peoples with the most rigorous modern science to produce, for the first time, a comprehensive document on how to solve this crisis.
Ancestral knowledge related to the relationship between Amazonian peoples and their territories and forests is also at risk. These indigenous peoples are the ancestors of the Amazon, and the companies and governments that support their mining regardless of environmental or human costs have largely destroyed and displaced them over the last 50 years. This is in addition to lost species of plants and animals, many of which are rare and do not exist anywhere else on Earth. Loss of these species means loss of genetic information that can tell us about evolution, disease, immunity and adaptation to environmental changes such as climate change. Beyond this, numerous studies have demonstrated links between biodiversity loss and new diseases, such as the zoonotic diseases that led to the COVID-19 pandemic around the world. There are studies showing the impact of diversity loss and climate change on infectious diseases and public health, especially in the Amazon.
Fortunately, the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative isn’t the only collaboration to restore the Amazon Basin. The Amazon Science Panel of more than 240 scientists is the first high-level science initiative dedicated to the Amazon. The Commission was established to clarify the scientific, economic and moral basis for nature conservation and to address the widespread deforestation, forest degradation and wildfires that have intensified in recent years. The 2021 Amazon Assessment Report, launched at COP 26, has been described as an “encyclopedia” of the Amazon region, unprecedented in its scientific and geographic reach, inclusion of indigenous scientists and transparency, It has undergone peer review and public consultation. .
The situation is dire, but not hopeless. There is no more room for small actions. It’s time for systemic change. A study by researchers at Princeton University and others concluded that deforestation in the Amazon could reduce rainfall in the northwestern United States by up to 20%.Hundreds of billions of trees in the Amazon biome absorb over a billion tons of CO2 It represents about 4% of the world’s fossil fuel emissions annually. However, recent research suggests that deforestation and degradation are turning the Amazon from a net carbon sink to a carbon source. Because its destruction is not just a “regional” problem. The wide range of consequences has made it a global problem.
This effort is a call to those who no longer trust the rhetoric of major world events, national governments, or traditional systems of governance. Beyond the arguably necessary financial support, this and other similar efforts seek to avoid paths that lead to destruction and death and to promote paths that lead to regeneration. A place where all creatures, Amazonian and non-Amazonian, human and non-human, can live in dignity and safety while avoiding climate collapse. We must act boldly and quickly. Why not start by protecting the heart of the earth?
This is an opinion and analysis article and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily Scientific American.
