On the 8th of August 2023, Eight of the leaders; Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname, who share Borders with the Amazon rainforest came together for an urgent summit with regards on how to tackle the issue of deforestation faced by the Amazon.  

The Amazon covers an area of 6.7 million and is home to over 16,000 species of plants. But in the last 5 decades, it has been faced with serious issues of deforestation.

According to reports from the guardian, 1over 800million trees have been cut down in the amazon in just the first half of the year. This number makes up to more than 1% of the total tree population in the amazon, and it could increase even further before the year ends. 

According to reports from Al Jazeera, 2 Scientist claims that if the deforestation level gets to about 20 to 25 %, it could amount to huge lost in biodiversity as there could be reduced rainfall which in potentiality can result to convertion of the rainforest into Savannah which could lead to death of various animal and plants species that are unable to adapt to the change in environmental factors.

With most of this deforestation caused by lumbering and other human activities that are of personal benefits to the Human development, most of this leaders are now faced with a dilemma, with Brazil being the worst hit, as its government are seriously in consideration to start drilling for oil at the amazon river.


Why is so much importance placed on the amazon though?

As I said earlier, the amazon population of over 60billion trees, makes it the most important ecosystem in the planet. But its importance is not just the amount of trees it inhabits.

Based on its population of trees, the amazon is considered as a lungs of the planet to help cleanse the earth of carbon emissions. It is also considered as a home for renewable energy. But mostly, its functionality is on the factor of being the most biodiverse ecosystem in the world, enabling a free flow of energy through the ecosystem


What was concluded at the Summit?

A joint final declaration which is to be known as the Belem Declaration was created as an alliance to combat deforestation, with each of the Eight Nations told to set up their own methods to combat deforestation.