amazon rainforest

Rain is finally coming to the drought-stricken Amazon. But it may not be enough

5:00am October 30, 2024

The world’s longest river is at its lowest levels after a long drought. That's left the Amazon Rainforest, the vital waterway and tributaries parched, stranding communities and affecting livelihoods.

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People cycle along the street in Afuá, a city in northern Brazil's Pará state, in January. Since 2002, this city on the banks of the Amazon River has been famously off limits to motor vehicles.

A car-free town in the Amazon serves lessons for pedaling to net zero emissions

6:00am May 12, 2024

by Mac Margolis

Afuá, a remote town in the Brazilian Amazon, banned motor vehicles over 20 years ago. Writer Mac Margolis and photographer Stefan Kolumban paid the town a visit to see what life is like.

A woman and her child stand in front of a landscape denuded by gold mining in the southern Peruvian jungle in the Madre de Dios region. This picture is from 2015. Today, there's an effort to plant saplings to revive the forest.

Gold mining reduced this Amazon rainforest to a moonscape. Now miners are restoring it

5:00am April 02, 2024

by Simeon Tegel

Illegal gold mining has ravaged the Peruvian Amazon, leaving behind pollution and denuded landscapes. A group of miners are working with a U.S. charity to restore the forest.

Achuar people ply the Rio Wichimi in a solar canoe. The nonprofit Kara Solar has helped fund a fleet of six sun-powered craft in hopes of benefitting the Indigenous Achuar while reducing pressure to build roads in the rainforest.

Why solar-powered canoes could be good for the future of the rainforest

7:37am December 02, 2023

by Peter Yeung

The Indigenous Achuar people in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest sail in six solar-powered canoes. And it's not just to save money on fuel — the trees of the rainforest will benefit too.

Aerial view showing a fire at the Chapada Diamantina region, between the cities of Andarai and Mucuge, in Bahia state, northeastern Brazil, on October 7, 2020. - Chapada Diamantina National Park preserves areas of three Brazilian biomes: Mata Atlantica, Cerrado and Caatinga among its 152,000 hectares.

Brazil's president will try to rally more support to save rainforest at Amazon Summit

6:20am August 08, 2023

by Carrie Kahn

Leaders of the countries that make up the Amazon say it's time for the rich countries of the world to pay to protect the threatened rainforest. They are meeting Aug. 8 and 9 in Brazil.

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Guarani Indigenous block Bandeirantes highway to protest proposed legislation that would change the policy that demarcates Indigenous lands on the outskirts of Sao Paulo.

Brazil's Indigenous people protest as lawmakers vote to limit their land rights

1:55pm May 31, 2023

by Carrie Kahn

Brazilian Indigenous leaders and environmentalists are outraged after lawmakers approved a measure that would affect claims to Indigenous land, and potentially, environmental protections.

An aerial picture shows an illegal mining camp during an operation by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources against Amazon deforestation at the Yanomami territory in Roraima state, Brazil, on Feb. 24.

World News

Opinion: The global gold rush imperils the Brazilian Amazon

5:01am May 09, 2023

With the dollar weakening, people are turning to gold. Cue the acceleration of an Amazon gold rush, and with it, more challenges for Brazil, write Robert Muggah and Mac Margolis.

View of a deforested and burned area of the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil on Sept. 2, 2022.

Why deforestation means less rain in tropical forests

11:37am April 02, 2023

A new study finds deforestation reduces rainfall in tropical rainforests, which has grave consequences for agriculture, drought and climate resilience.

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Biden and Brazil's Lula find common ground against violent extremism

7:20pm February 10, 2023

by Carrie Kahn

It was just over a month ago that hundreds of extremist supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro, stormed the capital and ransacked the Congress, Supreme Court and the presidential offices.

A riverside fisherman pulls a captured pirarucu into his canoe in Lake Amanã on Nov. 15.

Rare good news from the Amazon: Gigantic fish are thriving again

5:00am December 07, 2022

by John Otis

Conservationists say a sustainable fishing program has helped the recovery of the local pirarucu — which can be up to 10-feet long and weigh 450 pounds.

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