Lawmakers just passed a controversial law that could change the Amazon forever: 'An area the size of Costa Rica'
This newly passed law could have a devastating impact on the Amazon rainforest.
What's happening?
In early January, lawmakers in Mato Grosso, Brazil, voted to pass a law that would loosen environmental protections in the state and allow for massive amounts of deforestation.
The law would reclassify certain areas of the Amazon as Cerrado areas and loosen protections by doing so. Existing "Mato Grosso properties sitting on the Amazon biome, which have to protect 80% of native vegetation as per Brazil's Forestry Code, could have been converted into Cerrado areas, which have to preserve a much lower 35%," per Reuters.
Why is preserving the Amazon important?
The newly designated Cerrado areas will lead to the destruction of native vegetation to make way for large-scale agricultural and industrial projects.
The Amazon Environmental Research Institute stressed that the amount of land lost could be massive.
"The new legislation could cause an increase in deforestation estimated at 5.2 million hectares ... an area the size of Costa Rica," the institute said, according to Reuters.
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The Amazon is the world's largest forest — it spans over eight countries and is nearly the size of the continental United States. The Amazon is home to nearly 40 million people, hundreds of billions of trees, and "about one in 10 known species on Earth," the World Wildlife Fund reported.
Despite its massive size, nearly 20% of the forest has been destroyed in just 50 years. As deforestation continues, the Amazon could reach its "tipping point," where it can no longer sustain itself and will collapse. As one of our planet's largest carbon sinks, this would have a devastating impact on the planet and accelerate changes to the climate.
What's being done to protect the land?
The governor of Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes, vetoed the bill and insisted a new bill, "'consistent with the environmental laws,' will be presented in up to 90 days," quoted Reuters.
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Meanwhile, activists, researchers, and conservationists work in many different ways to protect the Amazon's land, people, and wildlife. Preservation and restoration are working — deforestation has been drastically reduced, coalitions are formed to better protect the land, and endangered species populations are on the rise.
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Lawmakers just passed a controversial law that could change the Amazon forever: 'An area the size of Costa Rica' first appeared on The Cool Down.
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