Archives
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MAAP #131: Power of Free High-resolution Satellite Imagery from Norway Agreement
This report demonstrates the powerful application of freely available, high-resolution satellite imagery recently made possible thanks to an agreement between the Government of Norway and several satellite companies.* This unprecedented agreement will bring commercial satellite technology, previously out of reach to many, to all... -
MAAP #130: Illegal Gold Mining Down 78% in Peruvian Amazon, But Still Threatens Key Areas
As part of USAID’s Prevent Project (dedicated to combating environmental crimes in the Amazon), we conducted an updated analysis of illegal gold mining deforestation in the southern Peruvian Amazon. In early 2019, the Peruvian government launched Operation Mercury, an unprecedented crackdown on the rampant illegal... -
MAAP #129: Amazon Fires 2020 – Recap of Another Intense Fire Year
Following the intense Amazon fire season of 2019 that made international headlines, here we report another major fire year in 2020. Using the novel data from our real-time Amazon Fires Monitoring app,* we documented over 2,500 major fires across the Amazon in 2020... -
MAAP #128: United Cacao Case – 7 Years After Massive Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon
Here, we confirm the massive deforestation of primary forest (more than 2,000 hectares) in the Peruvian Amazon by the company United Cacao between 2013 and 2016. We present a series of recently obtained (and never before published) satellite images to emphasize the reality... -
MAAP #127: Mennonite Colonies Continue Major Deforestation in Peruvian Amazon
The Mennonites, a religious group often associated with organized agricultural activity, have started three new colonies in the Peruvian Amazon. We have documented the deforestation of 8,500 acres (3,440 hectares) in these three colonies over the past four years (updated October 2020). The...
Synthesis
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MAAP Synthesis: 2019 Amazon Deforestation Trends and Hotspots
MAAP, an initiative of Amazon Conservation, specializes in satellite-based, real-time deforestation monitoring of the Amazon. Our geographic focus covers five countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (see Base Map). We found that, since 2001, this vast area lost 65.8 million acres (26.6... -
MAAP #113: Satellites Reveal what Fueled Brazilian Amazon Fires
As part of our ongoing coverage, we present two key new findings about the Brazilian Amazon fires that captured the world’s attention in August (see our novel satellite-based methodology below). First, we found that many of the fires, covering over 450,000 hectares, burned... -
MAAP #100: Western Amazon – Deforestation Hotspots 2018 (a regional perspective)
For the 100th MAAP report, we present our first large-scale western Amazon analysis: Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and western Brazil (see Base Map). We use the new 2018 data for forest cover loss, generated by the University of Maryland (Hansen et al 2013)... -
MAAP Synthesis #3: Deforestation in the Andean Amazon (Trends, Hotspots, Drivers)
MAAP, an initiative of the organization Amazon Conservation, uses cutting-edge satellite technology to monitor deforestation in near real-time in the megadiverse Andean Amazon (Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia). The monitoring is based on 5 satellite systems: Landsat (NASA/USGS), Sentinel (European Space Agency), PeruSAT-1, and the companies Planet and DigitalGlobe. For more information about our... -
Science Magazine_Combating Deforestation: From Satellite to Intervention
************************************************************************************************** Science Magazine: Combating deforestation: From satellite to intervention Full text Reprint (PDF): *Note: The article can only be viewed for free via this author page. ************************************************************************************************ A new policy article entitled “Combating deforestation: From satellite to intervention” was just published in Science, one... -
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 that deforestation and...