BOGOTA, Colombia — 2024 has been a brutal yr for the Amazon rainforest, with rampant wildfires and extreme drought devastating large swaths of a biome that represents a vital counterweight to climate change.
A warming climate led to droughts, which in turn led to the worst fires since 2005. And these fires contributed to deforestation, with authorities suspecting that some fires were set to more easily clear land for livestock.
The Amazon is twice the dimensions of India and spans eight countries and one territory. It stores large amounts of carbon dioxide that may otherwise warm the planet. It has about 20% of the world's fresh water and a tremendous biodiversity, including 16,000 known tree species. But governments have historically viewed it as an area to be exploited without regard for sustainability or the rights of its indigenous peoples, and experts say exploitation by individuals and arranged crime is increasing at an alarming rate.
“The fires and drought in the Amazon rainforest in 2024 could be ominous signs that we are reaching the long-feared ecological tipping point,” said Andrew Miller, advocacy director at Amazon Watch, a corporation that works to guard the Amazon rainforest. “Humanity’s window of opportunity to reverse this trend is shrinking, but it is still open.”
There were some vivid spots. Amazon forest loss has declined in each Brazil and Colombia. And nations gathered on the annual United Nations Biodiversity Conference agreed to present indigenous peoples more of a say in conservation decisions.
“If the Amazon rainforest is to avoid tipping point, indigenous people will have been a critical factor,” Miller said.
Forest fires and extreme drought
Forest loss within the Brazilian Amazon – home to most of this rainforest – fell 30.6% in comparison with last yr, the bottom level of destruction in nine years. The improvement under left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva contrasted with deforestation, which reached its highest level in 15 years under Lula's predecessor, far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro.
In July, Colombia reported a historic low in deforestation in 2023, reflecting a decline in environmental degradation. The country's environment minister, Susana Muhamad, warned that the 2024 numbers might not be so promising, as a big increase in deforestation had already been recorded in July as a consequence of dry weather brought on by El Niño, a weather phenomenon that’s warming the central Pacific . The illegal economy continues to drive deforestation within the Andean country.
“It is impossible to overlook the threat that organized crime and the economies it controls pose to Amazon protection,” said Bram Ebus, Crisis Group adviser in Latin America. “Illegal gold mining is increasing rapidly, driven by rising world prices, and the revenues of the illegal economy often exceed the government budgets allocated to combat it.”
In Brazil, large parts of the rainforest were covered in smoke in August after fires raged within the Amazon, the Cerrado savannah, the Pantanal wetland and the state of Sao Paulo. Fires are traditionally used to clear forests and manage pastures, and these human-caused fires were largely answerable for starting the wildfires.
In the second yr, the Amazon sank to desperate lows, prompting some countries to declare a state of emergency and distribute food and water to struggling residents. The situation was most important in Brazil, where considered one of the Amazon's important tributaries sank to its lowest level ever recorded.
Cesar Ipenza, an environmental lawyer who lives in the guts of the Peruvian Amazon, said he believes individuals are becoming increasingly aware of the Amazon's fundamental role “in the survival of society as a whole.” But like Miller, he worries a couple of “point of no return” to the destruction of the Amazon.
According to the nonprofit Rainforest Foundation US, it was the worst yr for Amazon fires since 2005. Between January and October, an area larger than the state of Iowa burned – 37.42 million acres, or about 15.1 million hectares of the Brazilian Amazon. Bolivia recorded a record variety of fires in the primary ten months of the yr.
“Forest fires have become a constant, especially in the summer months, requiring special attention from authorities who do not know how to deal with or respond to them,” Ipenza said.
Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Guyana also saw a rise in fires this yr.
Indigenous voices and rights advanced in 2024
The United Nations Conference on Biodiversity – known this yr as COP16 – was hosted by Colombia. The meetings put the Amazon within the highlight and a historic agreement was reached to present indigenous groups a greater say in conservation decisions, a development that builds on a growing movement to strengthen the role of indigenous peoples in protecting land and combating climate change recognized.
Both Ebus and Miller saw great promise within the appointment of Martin von Hildebrand as the brand new Secretary General of the Amazon Treaty Cooperation Organization, announced during COP16.
“As an expert on Amazon communities, he must unite governments on joint conservation efforts. “If the political will is there, international donors will step forward to fund new strategies to protect the world's largest tropical rainforest,” Ebus said.
Ebus said Amazon countries must cooperate more closely, whether in law enforcement, deploying joint emergency teams to fight wildfires or providing health care in distant areas bordering the Amazon. But they need assistance from around the globe, he said.
“The well-being of the Amazon is a shared global responsibility as consumer demand worldwide drives trade in commodities that finance violence and environmental destruction,” he said.
Next yr marks a critical moment for the Amazon as Belém do Pará in northern Brazil hosts the region's first UN COP focused on climate.
“Leaders from Amazon countries have the chance to present strategies and demand concrete support,” said Ebus.
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