Op-ed by Juan Bello, Regional Director and Representative in the UNEP Latin America & the Caribbean Office on occasion of the International Day for Biological Diversity, 22 May 2023.
The Amazon constitutes the world's largest tropical forest, accounting for about 40 per cent of the world's remaining rainforests, with the water flowing in its rivers accounting for close to 15 per cent of the world's river discharge to the oceans. Altogether, the Amazon River contains some of the world's richest biodiversity while being home to nearly 50 million people and over 400 indigenous ethnic groups, with a massive human richness in cultures and languages. This mega-diverse ecosystem is not only vital to the livelihoods of local people, but also plays a critical role in tackling the climate and nature crisis. It is one of the climate tipping points. If it were to collapse, the global climate balance would spiral out of control in a cascading process.
AN URGENT SITUATION
The Amazon biome has already lost about 20 per cent of its original area, and experts say it is rapidly reaching a "point of no return", pushing it towards becoming a savannah unless urgent action is taken. Despite its global importance, it is being degraded by multiple threats: deforestation, illegal mining, occupation of public lands, forest fires, agribusiness intrusion and large infrastructure projects who do not apply due safeguards, with direct impacts on indigenous and traditional communities and biodiversity. This may be our last chance to reverse the Amazon destruction, and we need ambitious, coordinated, and large-scale action across countries in the region.
HOPE ON THE HORIZON
International cooperation and action are critical to support a rapid implementation of the national and regional policies for the protection, restoration and sustainable use of the Amazon biome. The Amazon is an inter-connected ecosystem, which needs solutions and responses that are integrated, multi-dimensional, and with a long- term vision. Joint and structural responses on deforestation, climate change, water resources, environmental crimes, and bioeconomy, are urgently needed.
There are four key elements that could trigger a rapid and systemic transformation for the protection of the Amazon and its peoples:
1. NO AMAZON PROTECTION WITHOUT PROTECTING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
Indigenous peoples and traditional communities are critical to halt and reverse deforestation and protect biodiversity. Historically and today, they are threatened by a range of environmental crimes and violation of human rights. Supporting these leaders, communities and the institutions that represent them is an essential part of protecting the Amazon, and land tenure is a key issue that needs to be addressed. To ensure biodiversity conservation and climate stability, the entire region needs to increase the creation of
protected areas, such as indigenous lands, conservation units and other sustainable management areas, and improve the management and protection of existing protected areas.
2. ANOTHER ECONOMY IS POSSIBLE: BIOECONOMY
To address this complex social and environmental context, it is necessary to develop new economic alternatives for the peoples of the Amazon. Bioeconomy is an economic system that maintains the forest standing and protects the original peoples, valuing traditional knowledge and promoting scientific innovation. It has the potential to be an alternative economic system that promotes sustainable development and generates income through inclusive and socially responsible activities, enabling biodiversity to thrive. Due to its vast biodiversity, biological resources and traditional knowledge, the Amazon bioeconomy can become an alternative to deforestation and nature degradation. This will require public and private investments, and enabling regulations to secure these investments while fair benefit sharing is materialized to its inhabitants.
3. GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
There is the need for the development of green infrastructure that would enable new economic models and support sustainable development. This kind of infrastructure does not include the traditional large ‘grey’ infrastructure projects we are accustomed to seeing in the Amazon, such as mega dams, oil drilling or large roads developed in the last century. These will only exacerbate environmental destruction and biodiversity loss, accelerating climate change. The infrastructure the Amazon needs is one which creates the conditions to improve the quality of life of its citizens, while preserving biological diversity.
4. MAKE FINANCE FLOW
Protecting the Amazon depends on increasing financial resources to Amazonian countries to address the region's biodiversity and environmental challenges. There are well known financial transfer mechanisms to enable resources to protect and restore the Amazon. These include carbon markets, payment for ecosystem services, results-payments, and others. As various Amazon basin countries move to design their national carbon and biodiversity credit systems, implementing them regionally would create economies of scale and make investments in the ecosystem more attractive. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its future fund are a key steppingstone to accelerate action across sectors and society to achieve the goals and targets and bring into focus the urgent need to address the key drivers of biodiversity loss.
The Amazon is a critical ecosystem to ensure the future of biodiversity and the climate’s balance of the entire region and beyond. The Amazon countries still have the opportunity to change the current trajectories and to take actions to realize in the Amazon the global vision of life and prosperity in harmony with nature. Regional efforts, such as the forthcoming Amazon Summit that will be held in the Brazilian City of Belem in August 2023, have the power to rapidly align efforts and initiate systemic transformations to ensure the Amazon ecosystems are protected and restored, while ensuring the sustainable development of its peoples.
