AMAZON RAINFOREST:   By the time you finish reading this paragraph, another acre of the Amazon rainforest will have been lost (nearly four acres are lost every minute). 

With unchecked logging, mining, cattle farming, and oil drilling driving more and more deforestation, scientists are warning of the risk of irreversible destruction to the fragile ecosystem. Many parts of the once pristine Amazon rainforest are already turning into a savannah – plains with sparse trees and no lush rainforest tree canopies.

The science is clear. And so is the pathway to protecting the Amazon. A coalition of Indigenous leaders from the Amazon basin, together with a group of global environmental organizations, including Stand.earth, are calling for the protection of 80% of the Amazon by 2025.

We need to build global momentum to help protect the remaining intact parts of the Amazon Rainforest. Will you add your name to the Amazonia 80x2025 declaration and join in solidarity with the Indigenous peoples who call the Amazon their home?

The latest report on the state of the Amazon, released just last week, identifies 255 million hectares of currently intact rainforest – the size of the entire Mediterranean Sea – unprotected by conservation policies and facing imminent danger of deforestation.

The Indigenous-led Amazonia for Life 80x2025 initiative has laid out a pathway for protecting the remaining parts of the Amazon. It centers on recognizing territorial rights of native populations and legislating protections for 80% of the remaining rainforest. The initiative has been backed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and is now gaining traction at the United Nations.

This is very much a race against the clock. We need to generate global momentum behind this initiative and ensure government leaders around the world support its implementation.

Will you add your name to the Amazonia 80x2025 Initiative?

The Stand community was born out of efforts to protect forests. And we have successfully gone up against banks, corporations, governments, and lobbyists to stand with communities protecting their homes. We have shifted billions of dollars from fossil fuel projects in the Amazon and secured commitments from six banks to stop financing Amazon oil and gas.

The momentum to protect the Amazon is stronger than ever. Just as the Amazon rainforest plays a critical role in protecting our climate, so does the global community play a role in protecting the rainforest from further destruction.

Via - Stand.Earth