Deforestation

The effects of climate change: from rainforest to savanna

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Illegal deforestation on farm.

The Amazon rainforest makes its own rain. And less forest means less precipitation. As forest destruction affects climate and vice versa, the concern is that the Amazon will be caught up in a set of feedback loops that could dramatically speed up the pace of forest loss and degradation and bring the Amazon to a point of no return. This ‘tipping point’ may occur when a certain percentage of Amazonian habitat dies, after which it will all turn into a savanna-like ecosystem. 

Amazon birds come for a visit

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Chivi Vireo (Vireo chivi), isolated, perched among foliage. endemic bird of south america

Tanagers, Yellow Warblers, Bobolinks, Chivi Vireo, and more are all different types of migratory birds from the Amazon. Tanagers come in a wide variety of colors such as red and orange or a more grayish-blue. The male Scarlet Tanagers are known as the most gorgeous birds seen in the north during the summer, but they … Read more

The origin of cocaine – a survival of the fittest

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Coca consumption has its origins in the ancient Inca tradition, but the scale at which it is used now has nothing to do with beautiful rituals anymore. It causes deforestation, contamination and violence.

Roads, rice and ranches

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The metal bridge in downtown Puerto Maldonado, above the mighty and murky Madre de Dios river, is not just any bridge. This 750-meter long suspension bridge, officially called the ‘Puente Guillermo Billinghurst’ after a Peruvian congressman, was finished in July 2011 and completed the 2600km-long Interoceanic Highway, which runs from the Atlantic Ocean through Brazil … Read more

Down the logging road

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Illegal Logging

As a novice conservation ecologist I had the adventurous task of monitoring wildlife populations in the Peruvian Amazon. My perspiring students and I would walk in a straight line through pristine rainforest, holding a GPS, binoculars and a datasheet, to record any monkey, jaguar or rat that we encountered. We had research permits to do … Read more

THE BLUE MORPHO BUTTERFLY: An Amazonian icon

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Blue Morpho Butterfly

The Blue Morpho butterfly is an unforgettable sight for anyone who has been able to witness it flying through its natural habitat of the Amazon rainforest. The Blue Morpho certainly is a species that carries with it the true essence of the Amazon: beauty found in the heart of wildlife and a natural coexistence maintaining … Read more

Can We Learn From Our Mistakes? A Tale of Two Forests

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I was immersed in half-empty forest fragments, surrounded by concrete or pastures, for most of my life. The once-thriving Atlantic Forest along Brazil’s coast was burned and razed over centuries of development, leaving behind mostly small and degraded patches of forest that account for less than 30% of its original extent. However, an incredible amount … Read more