Amazon Week 2024

September 16-27th

A series of multisectoral events on the sustainable development of the Amazon rainforest

Berlin, Brussels and Paris

Photographs provided by Araquém Alcântara

The Amazon today

The Amazon is almost mythical: a green and vast world of waters and forests, where the canopies of immense trees hide the humid birth, reproduction and death of more than a third of the species on Earth. Continental in size, it occupies 40% of South America. It is also home to 50 million people, including 400 indigenous peoples who speak 300 different languages.

The Amazon basin

The Amazon basin is the largest river basin in the world: it covers around 6 million km2 and has 1,100 tributaries. Its main river, the Amazon, cuts through the region to flow into the Atlantic Ocean, releasing around 175 million liters of water into the sea every second.

Tropical forests are more than ecological sanctuaries

The rights of their inhabitants to a dignified life must also be ensured, respecting the three inseparable dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social, and environmental. A just economic-ecological transition requires cooperation, supported by adequate resources and technology transfer.

Potential risks of permanent damage

All this greatness does not hide the fragility of the local ecosystem. The forest lives off its own organic material, and its delicate balance is extremely sensitive to any interference. The damage caused by human action is often irreversible.

Reduction in deforestation

The area under deforestation alerts in the Amazon fell 38% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, according to data from the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), released in July 2024. This is in addition to the fact that, in 2023, there was already a 50% reduction of deforestation in the Amazon region compared to 2022.