Greater Amazon
The Greater Amazon forest, comprising the tropical forests of South America, is the largest expanse of tropical forest on Earth. In addition to the forests within the Amazon Basin—include those of Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia—the carbon-rich tropical forests also stretch well into all of the neighboring countries. The Greater Amazon is carbon-rich and the cost of land is low, making it a prime location for cost-effective forest carbon investments. Moreover, many countries in South America have better governance and market readiness than tropical forest nations in other parts of the world, making them well suited to take early action on forest conservation.
Topography and Forest Ecology
Topographically, this vast expanse of forests encompasses a wide range of ecotypes over different terrains. Most of the vegetation within the Greater Amazon is classified as lowland moist forest, concentrated in relatively flat areas along the Amazon River and its tributaries, but parts of western Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador also include submontane and montane forest.
Deforestation Trends
Deforestation rates vary significantly both among and within countries. In Guyana and Peru, rates are very low, whereas in Ecuador and Brazil, they are much higher. Within Brazil, deforestation is low in the state of Amazonas but high in Mato Grosso.
These varying rates are attributable to different drivers of deforestation. In the Peruvian Amazon, a primary cause is the expansion of small-scale subsistence agriculture, rather than large-scale commercial timber and agriculture operations. In contrast, commercial agriculture in Brazil (mostly livestock and soybeans) is responsible for the bulk of deforestation, much of which is driven by government incentives. In Colombia, illegal logging is a major cause of deforestation, along with agriculture, energy development, and the cocaine trade.
Brazil’s sheer size and relatively rapid deforestation make it one of the most important in the global effort to reduce emissions from tropical deforestation. Emissions from deforestation alone in Brazil account for 2.5 to 5.0 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, making it the fourth-largest emitter in the world. Over the past 30 years, about 15 percent of the 1.2-billion-acre Amazon region has been deforested, with rates fluctuating between about 2.5 million and 7 million acres per year, driven by long-term economic cycles and periodic policy interventions.
Despite these trends, no country is more engaged in finding solutions than Brazil. Most farmers in the Amazon region are now required by national and local conservation laws to keep 50 to 80 percent of their land forested. In the past, these laws have been enforced sporadically, but efforts to crack down on illegal forest conversion have increased in recent years, resulting in dozens of convictions and imprisonments.