Protecting a threatened piece of the AmazonThe Madre de Dios region is part of the Vilcabamba-Amboró Corridor, one of the largest areas with the highest biodiversity in the world. In addition to endangered species such as the mahogany tree, jaguar, puma, howler monkeys, macaws and the boa, several indigenous peoples also live here. However, their valuable habitat is threatened by the Transamazônica road construction project across Brazil and Peru. This favours immigration into the ecologically sensitive area and associated developments such as agriculture and livestock breeding.
This leads to massive deforestation, as can be seen from the finished part of the road in Brazil. Numerous resistances, e.g. from environmental and indigenous groups, have so far prevented the completion of the Peruvian section.
Since 2009, our project protects an area of 100,000 hectares and helps local communities to manage it sustainably.
How does forest protection help fight global warming?Forests are not only among the planet's most important carbon reservoirs. They also are home to an enormous diversity of species and are the livelihood for all people. However, global forest areas have declined sharply in recent decades due to increasing settlement, agricultural use, illegal logging and mining.
Forest protection projects ensure that forests are preserved in the long term and that the protection of forests is given a higher value than their deforestation. Together with the local population, project participants protect the area from negative influences. To allow for this the projects create alternative sources of income and educational opportunities. Depending on the project region, forests store varying amounts of carbon per hectare. Particularly high amounts of carbon are stored in the vegetation and soil of tropical swamp forests, primary rainforests, or mangroves. Forest protection projects in the ClimatePartner portfolio are registered with international standards.
