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AMAZON RAINFOREST

Key Facts

6,288 km² of rainforest lost in 2023–2024

Wildfires up 846% in 2024 compared to 2023

Illegal mining alerts in Mato Grosso doubled in early 2024

26,000 mercury poisoning cases reported in 2023

20,000 uncontacted Indigenous people at risk

Current Situation

The Amazon Rainforest, often called the “lungs of the Earth,” stretches across nine countries and is home to over 30 million people, including hundreds of Indigenous communities. But today, this vast green expanse is under siege. While satellite images might show a slowdown in deforestation in some regions, on the ground, people are losing their homes, their health, and their way of life. In 2024, devastating wildfires ripped through Brazil’s Amazon, while illegal miners and loggers encroached further into Indigenous territories. The fight for survival is getting harder every day.

Underlying Causes

Infrastructure Development

Major infrastructure projects, like Brazil’s Avenida Liberdade highway, were meant to connect people and places. But in the Amazon, they are tearing communities apart. Tens of thousands of acres of precious rainforest have been destroyed to make way for this highway, displacing wildlife and Indigenous families who have lived in balance with the forest for generations.

Illegal Mining

Gold fever is ravaging the Amazon. Illegal mining camps are spreading like a disease, poisoning rivers with mercury and bringing violence and exploitation to Indigenous territories. In places like Mato Grosso, Brazil, families are forced to flee as their water becomes undrinkable, their lands invaded, and their leaders threatened.

Oil and Gas Extraction

Deep in the rainforests of Peru and Ecuador, oil and gas companies are drilling into some of the last untouched places on Earth. These projects bring toxic spills and disease, endangering uncontacted Indigenous peoples who have no immunity to outside illnesses. Their forests, once a haven, are turning into graveyards.

Climate Change

Climate change is not a distant threat—it is here, drying up rivers and fueling catastrophic fires. Droughts are starving communities of fish and game, leaving villages isolated without transport or supplies. If the Amazon dies, we all lose its vital role in stabilizing the world’s climate.

Humanitarian Challenges

Displacement of Indigenous Communities

Across the Amazon, Indigenous families are being driven from their lands. They leave behind ancestral homes, sacred sites, and the graves of their ancestors. In cities, they face discrimination and poverty, their cultures at risk of being lost forever.

 

Health Crises

Mercury from illegal mining is poisoning rivers, contaminating fish—the main food source for many tribes. Children are falling ill, their tiny bodies burdened by toxins they can’t escape. Malnutrition is on the rise as forest resources dwindle, and many communities have little or no access to healthcare.

Violence and Exploitation

Armed groups, driven by greed, invade Indigenous territories with impunity. Women and girls face sexual violence, and environmental defenders who speak out are silenced—sometimes permanently. Entire villages live under the shadow of fear.

Environmental Degradation Impacting Livelihoods

With forests burned and rivers poisoned, traditional hunting and fishing have all but disappeared in some regions. Entire ways of life are vanishing, along with the knowledge and traditions that have safeguarded the Amazon for centuries.

Further Resources

Stay Informed and Updated

Amazon Conservation Association – Amazon Deforestation Monitoring

Survival International – Reports on Indigenous Rights

Rainforest Foundation US – Amazon Rainforest News

Greenpeace International – Amazon Campaign Updates

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – Amazon Conservation Reports

Work Cited

  1. New York Post. (2025, March 12). Massive stretch of Amazon rainforest destroyed for upcoming COP30 climate summit’s 4-lane highway: ‘This is a loss’. Retrieved from
  2. Reuters. (2024, August 22). Illegal gold mine surges in Brazil farm state bordering Amazon. Retrieved from
  3. The Sun. (2024, December 8). BBC ‘sex for gold’ doc reveals horrors of Brazil miners. Retrieved from
  4. The Guardian. (2024, October 17). ‘I’ve seen the dark, fat grease stuck to the leaves’: Oil and gas encroach on Peru’s uncontacted peoples. Retrieved from
  5. Vogue. (2024, November 12). We will be jaguars: Indigenous leaders on protecting the Amazon. Retrieved from
  6. Associated Press. (2024, November 9). Drought, fires and deforestation battered Amazon rainforest in 2024. Retrieved from
  7. Le Monde. (2024, November 9). Deforestation of the Amazon at a nine-year low. Retrieved from
  8. Wired. (2023, August 16). The Amazon rainforest and Indigenous peoples’ fight for justice and stewardship. Retrieved from
  9. Survival International. (2024, March 20). The uncontacted tribes of the Amazon. Retrieved from
  10. The Guardian. (2025, February 3). ‘Hope has returned’: Tribe hails Lula’s fight against illegal mining in Amazon. Retrieved from