Brazil’s Amazon Summit Advances Forest Protection in Region Threatened by Deforestation

This week, the Amazon Summit brought together leaders of the eight Amazon River basin countries to halt deforestation. Cristián Samper, the Managing Director and Leader for Nature Solutions at the Bezos Earth Fund, said the following:

“Brazil’s Amazon Summit marks a significant milestone, reuniting Amazon country leaders after a 14-year gap. The Belém Declaration promotes cooperation, created a new alliance to combat deforestation, recognizes the role and rights of Indigenous and local communities, and established a scientific body to report annually on the state of the Amazon forest.

While the summit’s declaration falls short of outlining clear, measurable goals, we welcome calls for greater cooperation and a roadmap to fight deforestation. Specifically, we call for a commitment to halt deforestation and expand protected and conserved areas to 80 percent by 2030.

Tropical forests play a critical role in our climate as carbon stocks and sinks. We must protect them, restore them, and support a new economy based on the value of living, standing forests. The world must unite to save the Amazon and support the livelihoods of the approximately 47 million people living there, including 2 million Indigenous people. They are the region’s longtime guardians and are critical to protecting its future.

The Bezos Earth Fund has committed $1 billion for conservation. So far, we have allocated more than $200 million to local and international organizations working in the Amazon and Tropical Andean region to advance climate and nature solutions, halt deforestation, and create alternative paths to prosperity for people living in the Amazon.”