The Amazon is a vast region that spans the border of eight rapidly developing countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, an overseas territory of France.
The landscape contains:
Unfortunately, deforestation may release significant amounts of this carbon, which could have catastrophic consequences around the world.
Protecting and conserving the Amazon, a place two-thirds the size of the U.S., is a big job. ;WWF has been working in the Amazon for 40 years and is at the forefront of efforts to protect the forests, species and people that call it home. We engage local communities and partner with governments to identify solutions that bridge the needs of economic development and conservation.
The landscape contains:
- One in ten known species on Earth
- 1.4 billion acres of dense forests, half of the planet’s remaining tropical forests
- 4,100 miles of winding rivers, the source of almost one-fifth of all free-flowing fresh water on Earth
- 2.6 million square miles, about 40 percent of South America, in the Amazon Basin
Unfortunately, deforestation may release significant amounts of this carbon, which could have catastrophic consequences around the world.
Protecting and conserving the Amazon, a place two-thirds the size of the U.S., is a big job. ;WWF has been working in the Amazon for 40 years and is at the forefront of efforts to protect the forests, species and people that call it home. We engage local communities and partner with governments to identify solutions that bridge the needs of economic development and conservation.
