Amazon Monitoring

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Indigenous leaders from across the Amazon are urging South American presidents meeting in Bogota this week to turn promises to protect the region’s rainforest into concrete action, and to give Indigenous groups more say in the region’s future. The Fifth Presidential Summit of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, officially opening Tuesday in the

- Besides being a star in Amazonian cuisine, new research confirms jambu’s spilanthol compound as a temporary pain reliever, circulation enhancer and anti-inflammatory.- Promoting forest-sourced products like jambu, grown in home gardens and small farms, provides new revenue and a pathway for a development model that prioritizes Amazon conservation.- Projections suggest the bioeconomy could expand 30-fold into a multi-billion-dollar market by 2040, while supporting small-scale, sustainable farmers.

- Bolivians will go to the polls on Aug. 17 to vote for a new president, vice president and 166 combined members of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies.- Polls suggest that conservative candidates Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga and Samuel Doria Medina have the best chance of winning, with a focus on economic recovery rather than the environment.- Their policies will determine the future of the lithium industry, illegal gold mining and forest loss in the Amazon and Chiquitania.

- Across the Amazon, governments have tackled deforestation by creating protected areas, formalizing the rights of Indigenous People and by expanding control over how land is used.- Most Amazon countries have also created policies incentivizing landholders to engage in sustainable forestry and agroforestry practices.- When these policies fail, coercive measures can be used to tackle deforestation, including law enforcement and police interventions.

- Between June 23 and July 6, 2025, police forces from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru joined forces in a cross-border law enforcement initiative targeting environmental crimes like illegal mining, wildlife trafficking and illegal logging.- Coordinated by the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Interior, Operation Green Shield led to more than 90 arrests and the seizure of assets worth more than $64 million. Authorities also rescued more than 2,100 live animals and recovered 6,350 dead specimens.- Reactions among local communities were mixed. While some locals were involved in illicit activities, others condemned the environmental destruction and feared reprisals from armed criminal groups operating in their territories.- Although the operation disrupted environmental crimes, experts warn the offenses may shift to other areas. They stress the urgent need for sustainable development alternatives to address the root causes driving illegal activities in the Amazon.