MAAP #122: Amazon Deforestation 2019
Newly released data for 2019 reveals the loss of over 1.7 million hectares (4.3 million acres) of primary Amazon forest in our 5 country study area (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru).* That is twice the size of Yellowstone National…
MAAP #121: Reduction of Illegal Gold Mining in the Peruvian Amazon
Thanks to the support of the USAID, via the Prevent Project, dedicated to the prevention and combat of environmental crimes in the Amazon, we conducted a detailed analysis of recent illegal gold mining deforestation in the southern Peruvian Amazon. The…
MAAP Synthesis: 2019 Amazon Deforestation Trends and Hotspots
MAAP, an initiative of Amazon Conservation, specializes in satellite-based, real-time deforestation monitoring of the Amazon. Our geographic focus covers five countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (see Base Map). We found that, since 2001, this vast area lost 65.8…
Amazon Deforestation Trends, 2001-2019
These graphs correspond to MAAP Synthesis: 2019 Amazon Deforestation Trends and Hotspots.…
MAAP #115: Illegal Gold Mining in the Amazon, part 1: Peru
In a new series, we highlight the main illegal gold mining frontiers in the Amazon. Here, in part 1, we focus on Peru. In the upcoming part 2, we will look at Brazil. The Base Map indicates our focus areas…
MAAP #112: Mennonite Colonies – New Deforestation Driver in the Amazon
The Mennonites, a religious (Christian) group often dedicated to organized agriculture, are increasingly inhabiting the western Amazon (Peru and Bolivia). Here, we reveal the recent deforestation of 18,500 acres (7,500 hectares) in three Mennonite colonies (see the Base Map below).…
MAAP #107: Seeing the Amazon Fires with Satellites
Fires now burning in the Amazon, particularly Brazil and Bolivia, have become headline news and a viral topic on social media. Yet little information exists on the impact on the Amazon rainforest itself, as many of the detected fires originate…
MAAP #105: From satellite to drone to legal action in the Peruvian Amazon
Amazon Conservation, in collaboration with its Peruvian sister organization, is implementing a project aimed at linking cutting-edge technology (satellites and drones) with legal action, in the southern Peruvian Amazon (Madre de Dios region). The project is building a comprehensive deforestation…
MAAP #104: Major Reduction in Illegal Gold Mining from Peru’s Operation Mercury
In February 2019, the Peruvian government launched Operation Mercury (Operación Mercurio), a major multi-sectoral crackdown on the illegal gold mining crisis in the area known as La Pampa,* located in the southern Peruvian Amazon (Madre de Dios region). Note that…
MAAP #100: Western Amazon – Deforestation Hotspots 2018 (a regional perspective)
For the 100th MAAP report, we present our first large-scale western Amazon analysis: Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and western Brazil (see Base Map). We use the new 2018 data for forest cover loss, generated by the University of Maryland (Hansen…