The Amazon contains the single largest tropical rainforest on the planet. Covering some 40% of the South American continent, it spans more than 1600 million acres across nine countries. Stretching east from the foothills of the Andes Mountains, the upland glaciers, streams, and wetlands feed the Amazon Rivers that wind all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, creating the world’s largest river basin. The Amazon’s forests and waters make it the most important terrestrial biome on the planet.
Not only is the Amazon also a biodiversity hotspot, it is also home to a wide range of indigenous groups. Over 400 tribes, each with a distinct culture, language, and territory, continue to live and support themselves and their communities utilizing forest products and relying on these forests for their survival. Nearly 100 of these tribes are “uncontacted” or in “voluntary isolation,” and the forest offers their only protection.
This webinar will expand on the importance of indigenous peoples in protecting the Amazon for all those that call it home and explore what they need to make conservation happen in their territories.
