Amazon Watch

19 Nov 7:07 am by Mark Kalch Category: The Expedition

If you are on this expedition website or have been following our journey you will be aware that we are partnered with action group Amazon Watch. This is in an attempt to raise awareness of their work in the Amazon region and help out in anyway we can. Since hitting the flatwater we are edging closer and closer to the Amazon region of Peru.

Approximately 11 percent of the Amazon rainforest lies in Peru, an area nearly twice the size of California that is home to some of the world’s most biodiverse primary tropical rainforests and some of the last indigenous peoples still living a traditional, isolated lifestyle.

Currently, deforestation around the world, but especially in the tropics, accounts for between one fifth and one quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions, with the Brazilian Amazon alone accounting for an estimated 600 million tons of carbon emissions every year – more than U.S. automobile use.

Please visit the Amazon Watch website NOW and regularly. Their latest press releases concern a worrying new free trade agreement tabled between the U.S and Peruvian governments. This FTA grants new rights for oil companies to drill in the Peruvian Amazon, the results of which will be catastrophic for the environment and indigenous populations.

1 Comment »

Mark you are featured in the Coolum local rag this week.
I am following, with great interest your magnificent journey.
Look forward to the documentary once you return.

Comment by Judie (Donna's friend) — November 30, 2007 @ 9:36 am