MAAP #93: Shrinking Primary Forests of the Peruvian Amazon
The primary forests of the Peruvian Amazon, the second largest stretch of the Amazon after Brazil, are steadily shrinking due to deforestation. Here, we analyze both historic and current data to identify the patterns. The good news: As the Base…
MAAP #92: New Deforestation Threats in the Peruvian Amazon (Part 2: Agriculture Expansion)
In this ongoing series, we describe major new projects that may lead to the rapid deforestation of large areas of primary Amazon forest. The first report (MAAP #84) described the deforestation associated with the construction of the Yurimaguas – Jeberos…
MAAP #91: Introducing PeruSAT-1, Peru’s new High-resolution Satellite
In September 2016, Peru’s first satellite, PeruSAT-1, launched. It is Latin America’s most powerful Earth observation satellite, capturing images at a resolution of 0.70 meters. The cutting-edge satellite was constructed by Airbus (France) and is now operated by the Peruvian…
MAAP #90: Using Drones to monitor Deforestation and Illegal Logging
For the past three years, the organization Amazon Conservation has been working to establish a sustainable, local-based drones program for environmental monitoring in the southern Peruvian Amazon (Madre de Dios region). This program is based on two types of drones,…
MAAP #87: Gold Mining deforestation continues in the Peruvian Amazon
We have reported extensively on the ongoing gold mining deforestation crisis in the southern Peruvian Amazon (see Archive), estimating the loss of over 17,500 acres in the five years between 2013 and 2017. Here, we present new analysis showing that…
MAAP #85: Illegal Logging in the Peruvian Amazon, and how Satellites can help address it
We propose a new tool to address illegal logging in the Peruvian Amazon: using cutting-edge satellites to monitor logging road construction in near real-time. Illegal logging in the Amazon is difficult to detect because it is selective logging of individual…
MAAP #84: New Threats to the Peruvian Amazon (Part 1: Yurimaguas-Jeberos Road)
The efforts and international commitments of the Peruvian Government to reduce deforestation may be compromised by new projects do not have adequate environmental assessment. In this series, we address the most urgent of these projects, those that threaten large areas…
MAAP #83: Climate Change Defense: Amazon Protected Areas and Indigenous Lands
Tropical forests, especially the Amazon, sequester huge amounts of carbon, one of the main greenhouse gases driving climate change. Here, we show the importance of protected areas and indigenous lands to safeguard these carbon stocks. In MAAP #81, we estimated…
MAAP #81: Carbon loss from deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon
When tropical forests are cleared, the enormous amount of carbon stored in the trees is released to the atmosphere, making it a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions (CO2) that drive climate change. In fact, a recent study revealed…
MAAP #80: Amazon Beauty, in High-Resolution
MAAP tracks the most urgent deforestation cases in the Andean Amazon, thus it can be a bit depressing. However, it is important to remember why we do it: the Amazon is spectacular. Here, we present a series of high-resolution satellite…