Due to the worsening situation in South America and ever more catastrophic images, we are receiving more and more inquiries about the state of our protected areas. We can reassure you:
Our protected areas are intact. We are not affected by the ongoing forest fires.
Year after year, we see images of devastating forest fires in the Amazon during the dry season from June to October - and the number is increasing year after year. As it stands, more than 50,000 fires have ravaged the rainforest so far in 2024, while the region is struggling with the worst drought in over 120 years.1 According to our team on the ground, this year's forest fires in Peru are by far the worst they have experienced since 2019. A state of emergency or disaster has already been declared in numerous countries, including Peru.2
These fires not only destroy valuable habitat and claim the lives of many animals that cannot escape quickly enough - they also cause incredibly large amounts of CO2 to be emitted into the atmosphere. According to the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS), 183 megatons of carbon had been released in Brazil alone by September 19 this year - 12.5 times the annual emissions of New York City. These are the highest levels since CAMS began recording data 22 years ago.3 But the direct consequences are also clearly noticeable for the local people: thick layers of dust, ash and smoke cover the cities, obscuring the sun and the horizon, and literally suffocating the people living there.
Large-scale forest fires in intact forests rarely start on their own - they are usually started deliberately by humans.
Put simply, the main reason for the fires is the conversion of rainforest into agricultural land, usually for monocultures or cattle breeding. The areas are first cut down, then left alone for a while to dry out in the sun, and then set alight with the help of plenty of petrol to remove the vegetation - without these intermediate steps and aids, the forest would be far too damp and would not burn at all! If these fires get out of control - and they often do - huge wildfires can result. This year, the situation is exacerbated by the severe drought and lack of rainfall.
I am convinced by the directness of the work. Instead of expensive awareness campaigns, WI actually protects unique wilderness areas. And not only the how, also the what has a hand and foot. Areas are selected on the basis of their acute threat, their ecological importance or their strategic location. All of this can be tracked by anyone using geo-coordinates. More transparency is impossible!
Jenin Ziemens
Environmental Ambassador
The drought and lack of rainfall are also due to increasing deforestation. The natural water cycle in the Amazon rainforest is being disrupted by the deforestation of more and more forest areas. The clouds coming from the Atlantic are driven over the rainforest by the wind and rain down there. Some of the rainwater evaporates again directly and turns into water vapor, the water that reaches the ground is absorbed by the roots of the trees and transported via the trunk into the treetops, where it is "exhaled" and also rises as water vapor to form new rain clouds. These are carried on by the wind, it rains and the cycle starts all over again. However, if more and more trees are cut down, it becomes increasingly difficult for the rainforest to produce "its" rain. This increases temperatures, makes the land drier and thus also encourages the development and spread of forest fires. The deforestation of the rainforest is another example of anthropogenic (man-made), very rapid climate change, which is becoming more and more noticeable in all regions of the world.
Our protected areas are intact ecosystems, and although our team in Peru is also feeling the effects of the increasing drought, there is so much water stored in the vegetation in these forests that forest fires cannot occur. Intact forests do not burn on a large scale - they are simply too moist for that. For these areas to really burn, they have to be cleared and set on fire by human hands. To prevent this, our Forest Guardians patrol our protected areas every day and keep an eye out for illegal activities. They are supported by sensors from our partner Breeze, which are distributed throughout our protected areas and detect and report signs of forest fires at an early stage.
Our team installing the Breeze sensors in our protected areas.
Our agroforestry project also makes a significant contribution to the security of our protected areas, as local communities and farmers are increasingly learning more about agroforestry and sustainable cultivation practices. Among other things, the aim is for them to stop slash-and-burn clearing the forest and instead plant their crops in the shade of large trees.
We support these projects with farmers who own land adjacent to our protected areas. This is because agroforestry with large trees that provide shade and moisture also protects our forests from drought and wind.
If the areas adjacent to our protected areas were to be completely cleared and replaced by monocultures, the drought would also affect the forest edges of our areas and the trees on the borders would be vulnerable to storms.
So our protected areas are safe - for now. According to the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), up to 47 percent of the Amazon rainforest is threatened by droughts and fires.4 If things continue like this, the water cycle continues to be disrupted, the forests get drier and drier and temperatures get higher and higher, then the Amazon rainforest will inevitably approach its tipping point.4 If we exceed this point, it will not only have catastrophic effects on the rainforest, but on our entire global climate system.
Our agroforestry project also makes a significant contribution to preventing forest fires.
The Amazon rainforest is considered to be the most biodiverse place in the world and at the same time has stored gigantic amounts of carbon that would be released back into our atmosphere through deforestation. It also helps to stabilize our global climate and is crucial for our water supply. There is no question that we need to protect the rainforest. But how?
The answer seems simple: we need to protect the last large, contiguous areas of forest, of which there are fortunately still a few in the entire Amazon region. But we have to be quick, because these areas are slowly being torn apart and fragmented further and further. There is still hope of saving the Amazon rainforest and stabilizing our climate - but we must act now and work together to ensure that the tipping point for the rainforest is not passed!
1 https://www.npla.de/thema/umwelt-wirtschaft/es-brennen-die-waelder-lateinamerikas/ (02.10.,14:25)
2 https://latina-press.com/news/329315-waldbraende-peru-verhaengt-den-ausnahmezustand/ (02.10.,14:27)
3 https://www.n-tv.de/ticker/Flaechenbraende-in-Suedamerika-mit-extremen-Kohlenstoff-Emissionen-article25245717.html (02.10., 15:22)
4 https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/latest-news/amazon-rainforest-at-the-threshold-loss-of-forest-worsens-climate-change (accessed 08.10.,15:45)
