MAAP #178: Gold Mining Deforestation Across the Amazon
Gold Mining is one of the major deforestation drivers across the Amazon. Although not typically at the scale of agricultural deforestation, gold mining has the potential to severely impact critical areas such as protected areas & indigenous territories. Relatedly, gold…
MAAP #171: Deforestation in Mining Corridor of Peruvian Amazon (2021-2022)
Gold mining continues to be one of the main deforestation drivers in the southern Peruvian Amazon (Madre de Dios region). In a recent report (MAAP #154), we highlighted the key cases of illegal mining in this area. In an attempt…
MAAP #168: Amazon Fire Season 2022
Here we provide a concise review of the 2022 Amazon fire season, based on the unique data from our real-time Amazon Fires Monitoring app.* In a novel approach, the app combines data from the atmosphere (aerosol emissions in smoke) and…
MAAP #166: Mennonites have deforested 4,800 hectares (11,900 acres) in the Peruvian Amazon
Since 2017, the Mennonites have arrived in the Peruvian Amazon and created 5 new colonies. Here, we show that these colonies have caused the deforestation of more than 4,800 hectares (11,860 acres) of tropical forest, including 650 hectares (1,600 acres)…
MAAP #164: Amazon Tipping Point – Where Are We?
It is increasingly reported that the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon, is rapidly approaching a tipping point. As repeatedly highlighted by the late Tom Lovejoy (see Acknowledgements), this tipping point is where parts of the rainforest will convert…
MAAP #165: Confirming Deforestation by Mennonites in the Peruvian Amazon
In a series of previous reports, we have documented the extensive recent deforestation from new Mennonite colonies arriving in the Peruvian Amazon (see MAAP #149). However, despite the extensive evidence provided by satellite images, the Mennonites have repeatedly denied this…
MAAP #160: Lasers Estimate Carbon in the Amazon – NASA’s GEDI Mission
NASA’s GEDI mission uses lasers to provide cutting-edge estimates of aboveground biomass and related carbon on a global scale. Launched in late 2018 and installed on the International Space Station, GEDI’s lasers return an estimate of aboveground biomass density at…
MAAP #158: Amazon Deforestation & Fire Hotspots 2021
We present a detailed look at the major 2021 Amazon forest loss hotspots, based on the final annual data produced by the University of Maryland. This dataset is unique in that distinguishes forest loss from fire, leaving the rest as…
MAAP #157: New and Proposed Roads Across the Western Amazon
Extensive deforestation, especially along the major road networks, has shockingly turned the eastern Brazilian Amazon into a net carbon source (see MAAP #144). Fortunately, the greater Amazon across all nine countries is still a net carbon sink, largely thanks to…
MAAP #154: Illegal Gold Mining in the Peruvian Amazon – 2022 update
Illegal gold mining reached crisis levels in the southern Peruvian Amazon in 2017 and 2018, clearing over 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) in the most critically impacted area, known as La Pampa (located in the buffer zone of Tambopata National Reserve,…