A big green flag showed up for the Amazon rainforest! Deforestation dropped positively in the first half of the year, but the fight for the forests is still on.
Global (12 July, 2023)— Recently, the Brazilian government waved a green flag of good news for its ecosystems, revealing a steep drop in deforestation levels in the Amazon rainforest. The drop was roughly 34% as observed in first half of 2023, which has also been indicated to be the lowest level of deforestation experienced in the past four years for this time frame.
This means that less forest space was cleared in 2023 up to April in comparison to previous years, which is fantastic. But the fight for the forests still continues.
Now, you don’t need a degree in environmental studies to know that destroying forests and chopping down trees spanning thousands of kilometres probably isn’t a good idea for delicate ecosystems, or most life forms.
Still, deforestation antics are prevalent and the consequences impact all of us. Around 10% of global warming contributors goes to forest loss and damage. While there are tons of incredibly people leading reforestation efforts, the problem is still, well, a problem. The deforestation drop news at least shows us that the problem has the chance of becoming much smaller.
According to the WWF Brazil’s Mariana Napolitano, the recent Amazon rainforest figures are a positive sign but enforcement measures are necessary to deem the trend truly downward, as deforestation figures are still high accumulatively.
Still, more drops for more time frames is a possibility, especially as so many people tap into their environmentally savvy eras. Public pressure matters, and so does active global citizenship!
So, what can we do in South Africa? Beyond staying informed as a global citizen, there are plenty of teams working hard to plant trees and plant seeds of change. You can join the ‘treevolution’ through organisations like GreenPop and lend your spade to the mission.
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