Jim EastUK ‘green’ jet fuel imports linked to illegal Amazon deforestation
Mennonites from Belize spark deforestation fears with new settlement plans in Suriname
Mennonites from Belize spark deforestation fears with new settlement plans in Suriname - SLRPNK
> - Mennonite families in Belize could pay millions to settle on around 24,000 hectares (59,300 acres) in Para, Suriname, a district with around 90% forest cover. > - Community leaders from Shipyard and Indian Creek, Belize, have taken multiple trips to Suriname to analyze soil quality and learn about the country’s farming regulations. Members from Spanish Lookout, another Mennonite community, have also started looking into a Suriname relocation. > - The move is being facilitated by Braganza Marketing Group, run by Ruud Souverein, a Dutch national living in Suriname who was involved in a previously failed government program to bring Mennonites from Bolivia in 2023. > - Environmental groups have expressed concern about Mennonites’ tendencies to expand into forested areas, circumvent environmental regulations, and settle on land without proper titles. — > “If everything was virgin forest and intact — no food, you’d go hungry tonight.” > “There has to be a balance.” Food forests are the balance. [https://amazonrestore.codeberg.page/food-forests/]
Novel research finds unexpected climate resilience in up to 36% of Amazon forest
Novel research finds unexpected climate resilience in up to 36% of Amazon forest - SLRPNK
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/36439248 [https://slrpnk.net/post/36439248] > > - In recent decades, the Amazon Rainforest has repeatedly and increasingly been struck by devastating drought along with record heat due to climate change. Add to this record wildfires, rapid deforestation and land conversion for agriculture. > > - Numerous field studies and modeling have found that these extreme changes are pushing the Amazon toward a tipping point and collapse of the biome — an ecological disaster that would release large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. > > - But one research team, in a recently published study, offered up some hope: They found that little-studied low water table wetland Amazon forests — constituting up to 36% of Amazon trees — have stood up well to, and even thrived, during major droughts, with an increase in aboveground biomass. > > - Those findings, the research team says, put the inevitability of an Amazon tipping point and collapse in some doubt, with the possibility that low water table forests could serve as a refugia for biodiversity. They also urge that these areas become a priority for protection and conservation as a hedge against future climate change.
How quickly do tropical forests recover? Faster than expected, but slower than it seems
How quickly do tropical forests recover? Faster than expected, but slower than it seems - SLRPNK
> - Tropical forests can regrow within decades, with species abundance and diversity recovering quickly, but full ecological recovery—especially the return of original species composition—takes much longer. > - Many mobile species such as birds, bats, and bees persist or return early, helping drive regeneration by dispersing seeds and pollinating plants, while slower-moving or long-lived species lag behind. > - Forests may regain high numbers of species relatively fast, but the specific mix of old-growth species takes decades or longer to reassemble, meaning a regrown forest is not the same as the one that was lost. > - Recovery depends on time, prior land use, and proximity to intact habitat, suggesting that protecting and allowing secondary forests to regenerate can be a practical and cost-effective path for restoring biodiversity.
Chile’s ancient conifers host underground web of life that sustains forests: Study
Chile’s ancient conifers host underground web of life that sustains forests: Study - SLRPNK
> - Estimated to be more than 2,400 years old, one alerce tree in Chile’s Alerce Costero National Park hosts about twice as much fungal diversity underground as younger alerce trees, a team of researchers found. > - The scientists found 361 fungal DNA sequences unique to this tree, indicating that older trees harbor a vaster fungal network that benefits other plants on the forest floor. > - Real estate expansion, climate change and infrastructure projects continue to threaten the alerce, which is listed as endangered. Although Chile protects the species, experts say older trees that support complex ecosystems should enjoy higher levels of protection and limited interaction from humans.
How Forests Start to Fail, One Leaf at a Time
Experience: I climbed the tallest tropical tree in the world
Las rutas del tren bioceánico: expertos advierten posibles impactos de la megaobra que cruzará la Amazonía
Las rutas del tren bioceánico: expertos advierten posibles impactos de la megaobra que cruzará la Amazonía - SLRPNK
> - El anuncio de la construcción de un tren bioceánico entre Perú y Brasil ha despertado preocupación por los posibles impactos sociales y ambientales. > - Los expertos alertan sobre las consecuencias en la zona que cruzará la Amazonía peruana y brasileña, por las afectaciones a los pueblos indígenas y a la biodiversidad. > - Hasta ahora no hay una ruta definitiva, sin embargo, los posibles trazos cruzarían por Ucayali o Madre de Dios, en Perú. > - El Gobierno Regional de Ucayali ha manifestado su interés en que el tren pase por ese departamento porque impulsa la agenda de integración amazónica y la mejora de la conectividad con Brasil.
Peru-Brazil Bioceanic Railway brings too much risk to the Amazon, experts warn
Peru-Brazil Bioceanic Railway brings too much risk to the Amazon, experts warn - SLRPNK
> - Discussions around the construction of a railway line linking the Atlantic and Pacific coasts in South America have raised concerns about the potential social and environmental impacts. > - Experts warn about the consequences within and around the proposed routes of the Bioceanic Railway between Peru and Brazil, potentially harming Indigenous communities as well as the native Amazonian ecosystem. > - While authorities told Mongabay that there’s no “definitive route” to date, all the potential routes would cross through environmentally sensitive areas of the Peruvian regions of Ucayali and Madre de Dios. > - Critics also warn that opening new routes inside the Amazon could boost criminal activity, paving the way for illegal mining and drug trafficking.
The Trump Administration’s New Biofuels Targets Threaten Carbon-Rich Rainforests
