As many of us have seen across the news channels and social media platforms, the Amazon Rainforest is burning right now and this is a direct consequence of accelerated deforestation. The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest and therefore a key ally in fighting the forever growing climate crisis and despite it only covering 1% of the Earth's surface, there is no way we can fight the climate crisis without stopping the destruction of not just the Amazon Rainforest but forests all over the world!
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?
Fires in the Amazon are deliberately started to illegally claim land to clear the area for agriculture and cattle farming. The trees are cut down and left to dry before they are set of fire so that the ashes can fertilise the soil. This process happens every year but not to the sheer extent that we've seen happen in 2019; almost 73,000 fires have been recorded to date in the Amazon this year alone. The scale of these fires are the direct result of increases in deforestation rates by farmers going largely unchecked by the Brazilian government and weakening of environmental policies in countries where we are seeing these large outbreak of wild fires.
Deforestation is the permanent destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses, particularly the tropical rainforests are targeted. An estimated 18 million acres of forest are lost each year across the planet. The soils in the Amazon are deemed productive for short periods of time, because of this farmers are having to constantly move to new areas, hence having to clear more land and setting fire to the dried out trees but this process taking place in the dry season also contributes to the rapid spread of these fires and farmers loose the ability to keep them controlled. These farming practices have led to deforestation and have also caused extensive environmental damage. The impact of deforestation in the Amazon alone is considerable and areas of cleared forest are visible to the naked eye from outer space. In 2018, about 17% of the Amazon rainforest was already destroyed, this now stands at around 20% to date and some scientists believe an increase of 5% more could be the tipping point, so it's more important than ever to stop the destruction of this beautiful rainforest.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP?
The WWF have released ways in which we can help tackle the on going destruction to our Amazon Rainforest:-
1. Donate to the WWF Emergency Appeal.
The money raised goes directly to the Amazon teams along with local organisations who will carry out urgent work on the ground including:-
Supporting key local communities' needs for medical support, fire fighter training and security
Working with local governments where possible to fight deforestation
Wildlife monitoring and rescue projects
Campaigning for action from the Government
As this is a emergency appeal, the WWF will keep reviewing where the money is most urgently required within the Latin American region.
The WWF is not the only organisation that are appealing for emergency donations, others include the Amazon Watch and the World Land Trust. Wherever you may choose to donate, please make sure that you fully do your research to ensure the money you are kindly donating is going to the right places.
I myself donate monthly to the amazing and vital work the WWF do to tackle the climate crisis and protect some of the world's most vulnerable animals and places in the world. So this was the most obvious place for me to donate to their emergency appeal.
2. Show Your Outrage!
We need to keep sharing these events across all social media platforms, talk to our friends and families about the impacts. It's literally up to us to make the destruction of our all our rainforests unacceptable and to help stop this happening again in the future. Let's make our voices and concerns heard!!
3. Sign the Petition.
Please kindly head over to the wwf.org.uk website to sign the petition to demand that the UK Government must end the importation of products that cause deforestation and not allow them to be sold in the UK.
Whilst the Boris Johnson has pledged a contribution of £10million to help the Amazon wildfires together with further donations from other G7 Nations, the fight is not over! We need to help break the system driving this, both in the Amazon and other key landscapes across the planet. We need our world leaders to work together to tackle to deforestation emergency!
4. Educate Ourselves
Whilst I sit here and write this blog, I am in noway an expert on the climate crisis nor do I see myself as one. I myself am starting to learn how to change so I can help have a good impact on the environment.. I am only at the start of this journey but I intend to educate myself further to fully understand the things I may do in every day life that have a negative affect on our planet. As I am a member of the WWF I tend to read in depth every email they send out, just so I can have a better understanding of the work that they do but also for my own personal benefit of the lifestyle changes I can make.
The main change I am working on at the minute is to eat less meat and diary products. Whilst I don't think I'll ever fully become a vegetarian (well, never say never), I am starting to moderate the about of meat that I consume. I have begun to introduce more vegetarian meals into my diet than before, whilst 2-3 lunches and evening meals a week might not seem a lot it's definitely a start, as before every meal would always have some form of meat included; but this is something I'm enjoying as I love to learn new recipes and try new meals/foods I may never have thought to cook before - Probably a topic for my next blogs, or at least one in the future :)
Thank you for taking your time to read this blog. Should you want further information relating to the Amazon Rainforest, please follow the link below which will take you to the WWF's website. They have lots of information for you to read and tips on what we can do to help the current crisis.
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The fires too have outraged me, and I have been feeling helpless. This post brought me some hope that I can, in fact, do something. You have done more than you know by sharing this!