Nature

Brazil pledges on climate change, zero deforestation are a ‘crushing disappointment’

VICE News

SÃO PAULO — Brazil announced to much fanfare this week plans to zero illegal deforestation on its territory by 2030 and restore an area of rainforest the size of Pennsylvania. But experts say the plans are unambitious and activists called the promises “a crushing disappointment” that mounted to nothing more than targets already stipulated by Brazilian law.

Climate change was among the headlining issues in a joint declaration made Tuesday by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and US President Barack Obama at the White House.

“We have committed to reach … a zero illegal deforestation rate between now and 2030,” Rousseff said, describing climate change as “one of the world’s central challenges for the 21st Century.”

Rousseff also vowed Brazil would restore 120,000 square kilometers (46,330 square miles) of forest over the same period.

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Huge observation tower takes shape in Amazon rainforest

Anadolu Agency

SÃO PAULO — Work has begun on a giant observation tower in the middle of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest in a bid to boost understanding of atmospheric interactions, including global climate change, one of the project’s coordinators confirmed to the Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday.

Once complete, the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) is expected to rise some 330 metres from the forest floor, in an area around 160km northeast of the Amazonian city of Manaus, capital of Brazil’s Amazonas state.

The tower, a joint project between the Brazilian National Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) and Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, is set to gather data on the atmosphere, including greenhouse gases, aerosol particles and the weather.

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Brazil police break up key Amazon deforestation gang

Anadolu Agency – Image: Deforested area of Mato Grosso, photo by Ben Tavener

SÃO PAULO — Seven people suspected of orchestrating mass logging operations in the Amazon have been arrested as part of a long-running investigation, police in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso confirmed to the Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

Police chief Maria Alice Barros Amorim, who is coordinating the operation, told AA that in all 13 arrest orders had been issued in the state, meaning six individuals are still wanted in connection with logging and other environmental crimes.

Officers from the special environment police department have also carried out searches at 18 locations as part of Operation Fluxo Verde (Green Flow) and say “huge quantities” of illegally-logged wood have been found.

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Deforestation up 9% in Brazil’s endangered Atlantic forest

Anadolu Agency – photo by Ben Tavener

SÃO PAULO – Brazil’s Atlantic forest has suffered its worst level of deforestation since 2008, an NGO report published on Tuesday revealed.

Between July 2012 and June 2013, deforestation affected nearly 24,000 hectares (92 square miles) of native Atlantic forest and so-called “restinga” coastal forest, an increase of around 9% on the 22,000 hectares lost in the 2011-2012 period.

It is the third time in a row that deforestation has increased in Brazil’s most threatened type of native habitat. The state of Minas Gerais is the worst offender of the 17 Brazilian states the forest crosses.

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PHOTOS: Brazil’s glorious Amazon Rainforest

November sunrise over Cristalino

After a year in the planning, I spent three months in the north of Mato Grosso state working as part of a team guiding ecotourists at the Cristalino Jungle Lodge and Cristalino Private Nature Reserve, part of the southern extreme of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest.

Along with 410 species of birds – including the majestic harpy eagle – I also encountered a host of fantastic mammals, from spider monkeys, caimans and tapirs to anteaters, marmosets and tayras.

The photos in this album are just a taster of the wildlife extravaganza that awaits you in Brazil’s phenomenal rainforest.

VIDEO: Coral Reef Snorkelling near Natal in Brazil’s Northeast

As part of our trip to Natal, Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil’s blissfully beach-packed northeast region, we went snorkelling on a coral reef.

The reef is located some 7km out in the Atlantic Ocean off the seaside town of Maracajaú. Using our new GoPro Hero 2 camera, capable of filming up to 60m below the surface, we filmed what we could – despite the sea being very choppy and quite bubbly!

Music – Under the Sea by Bena Lobo.

VIDEO: The Tandayapa Hummingbirds – A Who’s Who

The hummingbird feeders at Tandayapa Bird Lodge in northwestern Ecuador are second to none.

Just a 1.5-hour drive from the country’s capital, Quito, you are soon immersed in fabulous cloudforest, with 625+ species birdable within a two-hour drive of the lodge.

Have a look at the video that I filmed in April 2012 to see just a few of the 25-or-so species that frequent the feeders at some time of the year or another.