Amazon Biodiversity News

Visit by Pope Francis to Peru brought needed attention to Amazon deforestation and indigenous suffering due to illegal mining, but will the pontiff’s words be a game changer?

Pope Francis will visit one of the Peruvian Amazon’s most threatened regions today, where the leader of the Catholic Church is expected to address escalating deforestation and uncertainty about indigenous…

Pristine areas of Amazon rainforest are usually considered to be ancient, untamed jungles overflowing with old trees and biodiversity that have grown for centuries untouched by human hands. But that…

Flood pulses, important to Amazon basin aquatic and terrestrial ecology, are being severely impacted by both large and small hydropower dams.

President Temer, pressed by the ruralist lobby, attacked indigenous and traditional land rights, conserved lands, and Amazon forests this year, and retreated from Brazil's Paris climate goal – analysis.

A new study of dung beetles offers evidence for the need to adopt new forestry practices creating a patchwork of highly logged sites and intact forest reserves.

Habitat fragmentation and biomass reduction on isolated forest islands at the Balbina dam – with trees replaced by lianas – resulted in increased carbon emissions.

A new study demonstrates that the extraordinary breadth of fish species found in streams and tributaries of the Amazon isn’t afforded much protection from the effects of agriculture under current…

27 percent of Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park in Goiás state has burned; flames blazed for 12 days. Arson is suspected, with recent park enlargement a possible motive.

During the wet season, manatees swim Amazon basin floodplains; in dry times they migrate to lakes. Hundreds of planned dams could disrupt that cycle.

The conservation NGO WWF UK is calling on consumers to cut back the amount of meat they eat. Land used to produce feed crops for livestock and farmed fish threatens…

Colombia is home to more bird species than any other country on Earth. It’s also well-known for a long-simmering conflict that has only recently begun to cool. Now, a pair…

In an exclusive Mongabay interview, Luis Gilberto Murillo, Colombia’s minister of the environment, tells how his nation has become a global leader in forest conservation.

14 million Amazon animals and plants — caiman skins, turtles, parrots, orchids and more — are legally exported annually. Illegal trafficking levels are unknown.

Brazilian politicians and economically dominant social classes have for centuries exploited nature as if it was infinite. It is not. The consequences are more than evident.

Study warns that six hydroelectric mega-dams proposed for Andean highlands would put environment and food security at risk in Amazon basin.

It’s not uncommon to find ecologist Greg Asner flying transects over the rainforests of the Amazon or Borneo. His specially outfitted plane has helped map out the three-dimensional structure of…

Conservationists call for total halt to deforestation and implementation of sustainable agroforestry in Brazilian state of Maranhão.

Brazilian president’s order to open 17,800 square miles of Amazon rainforest to mining met by crushing opposition; voided by judge (this story has been updated).

The president opens vast Amazon lands to mining; decrees new mining code that guts environmental monitoring, puts mining companies in charge of enforcement, opponents say.

Tambopata National Reserve is a haven for plants and wildlife, not to mention ecologists eager to understand the mysteries of the forest in this corner of the Peruvian Amazon. “It’s…

Stable climates tend to have more bird species, according to new research. There’s a widespread notion that climate change encourages the proliferation of new animal species. But ecologist Roland Jansson…

Mining of vast diamond reserves, plus three new dams which could power the mines, would likely harm Indians on Roosevelt and Aripuanã rivers.

Planet Earth is barreling through its sixth mass extinction right now, and there’s little doubt among scientists that we humans are responsible. Despite the challenges we face, the encouraging twist…

Three new frog species have been discovered in the montane forests and Andean grasslands of Peru’s Pui Pui Protected Forest. Rudolf von May, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of…

Brazil’s president approves new criteria for indigenous land demarcation to deny Indians their traditional lands; opens door to elite land thieves, agribusiness, opponents say.

The sweet-tasting tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) is a popular staple on grills and dinner tables in Manaus, Brazil. But as the human population of the Amazonian city has soared, the effects…

The first bursts of deforestation in tropical areas can push a lot of species – more so than previously though – closer to extinction due to the loss of habitat, as…

Sorting out where to create parks, reserves and other protected areas typically involves looking for spots with high densities of different species of animals. But, according to a new global…

Many dozens of major infrastructure projects — including highways, dams and mines — have been given the green light in the Brazilian Amazon in recent years, and hundreds more are…