As gold prices continue to increase (over 30% during the last 12 months), small-scale gold mining activity has emerged as one of the major deforestation drivers across the Amazon. It often targets remote areas, thus impacting carbon-rich primary forests within protected areas and Indigenous territories. Moreover, in many cases, we presume that this mining is illegal based on its […]
The Colombian Environment Ministry recently announced that, after the country experienced its lowest deforestation in over 20 years in 2023, forest clearing rose 35% in 2024 (Graph 1). In addition, the Ministry reported an increase in medium-sized clearing, indicating relatively organized and funded operations (Note 1). Over the past 10 years, 60% of the national deforestation […]
In part 1 of this series (MAAP #215), we introduced a critical new dataset (Planet’s Forest Carbon Diligence) with wall-to-wall estimates for aboveground carbon at an unprecedented 30-meter resolution between 2013 and 2022. This data uniquely merges machine learning, satellite imagery, airborne lasers, and a global biomass dataset from GEDI, a NASA mission. In part […]
In a series of reports, we have demonstrated that the Mennonites have become a leading cause of large-scale deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon. The Mennonites, a global religious group dating back to the 1600s, often require vast tracts of land to support their characteristic industrialized agricultural activity. As such lands have become scarce in other […]
In a series of previous reports, we warned about the emergence and expansion of mining deforestation in the Ecuadorian Amazon (MAAP #151, MAAP 182, MAAP #219). Illegal mining in Ecuador tends to operate in remote areas, such as protected areas. Furthermore, this activity’s proximity to Colombia and Peru facilitates cross-border flows essential for the gold trade. […]
In part 1 of this series (MAAP #215), we introduced a critical new resource (Planet Forest Carbon Diligence) that provides wall-to-wall estimates for aboveground carbon density at an unprecedented 30-meter resolution. This data uniquely merges machine learning, satellite imagery, airborne lasers, and a global biomass dataset from GEDI, a NASA mission.4 In that report, we […]
In a series of previous reports, we warned about the emergence and expansion of illegal mining deforestation in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon, in the area surrounding the Punino River, located between the provinces of Napo and Orellana (MAAP #182, MAAP #151). In the most recent report, we informed that this mining impact had […]
Amazon Conservation’s MAAP program specializes in reporting on the most urgent deforestation threats facing the Amazon and producing big-picture analyses of key Amazon-wide issues. This report uniquely presents a view into the complicated but critical issue of murders of environmental defenders, […]
The Amazon biome has long been one of the world’s largest carbon sinks, helping stabilize the global climate. Precisely estimating this carbon, however, has been a challenge. Fortunately, new satellite-based technologies are providing major advances, most notably NASA’s GEDI mission (see MAAP #213) and, most recently, Planet Forest Carbon Diligence.1 Here, we focus on the latter, analyzing […]
A burst of new data and online visualization tools are revealing key land use patterns across the Amazon, particularly regarding the critical topic of agriculture. This type of data is particularly important because agriculture is the leading cause of overall Amazonian deforestation. These new datasets include: Crops. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a […]
