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A section of the Amazon rainforest stands next to soy fields in Belterra, Para state, Brazil, on Nov. 30, 2019. Image by AP Photo/Leo Correa.

Amazon deforestation may rise 30% as major traders exit historic soy pact

Fernanda Wenzel 2 Feb 2026

In Brazil, planting forests for carbon credits could help ecosystem restoration

Constance Malleret 23 Jan 2026
After burning off the mercury, a relatively pure piece of gold remains. Image by Thomas Graham for Mongabay.

Turning the Amazon’s toxic gold mine waste liability into economic opportunity (analysis)

Timothy J. Killeen 13 Jan 2026
The Indigenous Macaquiño community on the banks of the Vaupés River in Colombia’s Vaupés region. Image by Aimee Gabay/Mongabay.

Urban sprawl and illegal mining reshape a fragile Amazon frontier

Aimee Gabay 6 Jan 2026
The mining dredges installed along the Nanay River have begun to consume sections of forest. Image courtesy of FCDS Peru.

Mercury, dredges and crime: Illegal mining ravages Peru’s Nanay River

Enrique Vera 31 Dec 2025
A jaguar

The Amazon in 2026: A challenging year ahead, now off the center stage

Alexandre de Santi 22 Dec 2025

Stricter rules adopted to protect sloths from pet trade and selfie tourism

Fernanda Wenzel 9 Dec 2025
Satellite image showing the destruction of the Sararé Indigenous Territory in Mato Grosso state, Brazil, left behind by illegal gold mining. Image via Google.

One small Indigenous territory emerges as illegal mining hotspot in Brazil’s Amazon

Shanna Hanbury 28 Nov 2025
Global March of Indigenous Peoples at COP30 in Belém. Image courtesy of Bruno Peres/Agência Brasil.

Brazil aims for alternative route to fossil fuel road map after COP30 failure

Carla Ruas 25 Nov 2025
Marina Silva, Brazil's Minister of the Environment and Climate Change (left), Fernando Haddad, Brazil's Minister of Finance (center), and Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sônia Guajajara (right) during a press conference on the Tropical Forest Forever Fund (TFFF). Image courtesy of Rafa Neddermeyer/COP30 Brasil Amazônia/PR.

Brazil’s forest fund faces a slow takeoff at COP30 despite initial support

Carla Ruas 24 Nov 2025
Environmentalists say traffic from large vessels could affect the migration and reproduction of Amazonian turtles in the Monte Cristo tabuleiro, one of the largest turtle sanctuaries in Brazil. Image courtesy of Roberto Lacava/Ibama.

Amazon Indigenous groups fight soy waterway as Brazil fast-tracks dredging

André Schröder 19 Nov 2025
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is in an arm wrestling match with environmental agents to unlock oil extraction on the Amazon North shore. Image by Ricardo Stuckert/PR.

Strategic ignorance, climate change and Amazonia (commentary)

Philip M. Fearnside 13 Nov 2025
Collage: A group of security guards preventing people from crossing a checkpoint and Fernanda Wenzel Mongabay reporter

On the frontline of the Amazon land war

Julia Lima, Fernanda Wenzel, Fernando Martinho 13 Nov 2025
Defo

In the Amazon, political systems fail to prioritize the environment

Timothy J. Killeen 12 Nov 2025
An Indigenous man takes part in a demonstration in defense of the Amazon during the COP30 U.N. Climate Summit, in Beléem, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2025. Image by AP Photo/Eraldo Peres.

Brazil hosts COP30 with high ambitions — and scaling environmental ambiguities

Carla Ruas 10 Nov 2025
Waorani leader Nemonte Nenquimo stands next to an oil spill near Shushufindi

These banks fund oil & gas in the Amazon amid climate crisis: Report

Constance Malleret 4 Nov 2025

Critical minerals drive legalization of mining on Amazon Indigenous lands

Lucas Berti 3 Nov 2025
Beatriz Matos (left) and Alessandra Sampaio (right), widows of Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips,

Dom Phillips & Bruno Pereira ‘would be killed again,’ Indigenous leader says

Karla Mendes 24 Oct 2025
Researcher measures fire behavior during the 2023 dry season in the Tapajós National Forest (PA). Image courtesy of Marizilda Cruppe/Rede Amazônia Sustentável.

Heat surges put preserved Amazon areas at high risk, study says

Giovana Girardi/Agência Pública 20 Oct 2025
Timber is sorted for transport in Uruará in the state of Pará.

Amazon countries use variety of legal tools to fight environmental crime

Timothy J. Killeen 10 Oct 2025
Banner image: Houses of Shawi community residents on the banks of the Paranapura River in Peru.

New road in Peruvian Amazon sparks fear of invasion among Indigenous Shawi

Geraldine Santos 8 Oct 2025
Miners pan for gold at a gold mine in El Callao, Bolivar state, Venezuela, Friday, April 28, 2023. Miners pan for hours in ponds where standing water fosters mosquitos that transmit diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever. Photo by: AP Photo/Matias Delacroix.

Amid Venezuela’s illegal gold heist are armed groups, gangs & elites, report says

Aimee Gabay 2 Oct 2025
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Environment Minister Marina Silva attend the launch of a program to reduce deforestation and forest fires in the Amazon, in April 2024.

New deal pushes Amazon’s controversial ‘tipping point road’ ahead

Rafael Spuldar 29 Sep 2025
The second instance court sentencing in the Saweto case was held August 25 and lasted approximately eight hours. Image by Geraldine Santos.

Peru court upholds 28 years in prison for loggers in Indigenous murders

Geraldine Santos 26 Sep 2025

The fate of flying rivers could decide Amazon ‘tipping point,’ report says

Maxwell Radwin 26 Sep 2025
BR-364 paved the way for the widespread conversion of Amazon Rainforest in Rondônia into land for agriculture and cattle ranching. Image courtesy of Cleber Carvalho/Ministério dos Transportes.

Brazil’s first private Amazon road paves new trade route to China

André Schröder 25 Sep 2025

The mire of Brazil’s BR-319 highway: Deforestation, development, and the banality of evil (commentary)

Philip M. Fearnside 19 Sep 2025
Seen through Santarém’s fish auction: ocean-faring vessel being loaded at the Cargill soy terminal.

An ancient Indigenous civilization endures beneath an Amazon urban soy hub

Peter Speetjens 16 Sep 2025

‘Independent’ auditors overvalue credits of carbon projects, study finds

Carla Ruas 8 Sep 2025

Report sees $20B in revenue for Amazon REDD+ projects despite unmet promises

Carla Ruas 4 Sep 2025
The paving of the BR-319 highway would open the Amazon to further deforestation, affecting Brazil's rain cycle and endangering Indigenous communities. Image courtesy of the National Department of Transport Infrastructure (DNIT).

Brazil’s new licensing accord is a gateway to forest destruction via the BR-319 highway (commentary)

Philip M. Fearnside 20 Aug 2025
Park guide Luana Wanessa Assunção points at the remarkable Painel do Pilão, which could be the first-ever solar calendar of the Americas. Image by Peter Speetjens.

Soy crops squeeze Amazon park with 11,000-year-old rock paintings in Brazil

Peter Speetjens 4 Aug 2025

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