Protecting the Amazon rainforest

The Amazon region is an example of the rapid global loss of rainforest. In 2021 alone, the tropics lost 3.75 million hectares of rainforest worldwide (University of Maryland, online monitor "Global Forest Watch"). This corresponds to an area loss of ten soccer pitches per minute.

In the Amazon region, around 13,200 square kilometers of forest were cut down in the same year. Since 1990, over 400,000 square kilometers of forest have been cleared in the Amazon region. This corresponds to an area roughly the size of the national territories of Germany and Denmark combined (source: Statista).

Economic interests, illegal land grabbing and overexploitation are massively destroying the northern Amazon region and thus one of the most important ecosystems with its great importance as a "green lung" for the global climate. That is why we act. Our projects to protect the indigenous peoples in Brazil mean safeguarding their habitats.

We are aware that it is only a matter of time before the sensitive and vital ecosystem with its unique flora and fauna is irretrievably destroyed - and with it the habitat of the indigenous peoples. The current threats to the rainforest are perhaps stronger than ever before. For TARGET, this is motivation to work with donors to protect the Amazon habitat - and thus also the home of the Waiãpi.