On May 5th, Science Panel for the Amazon authors Marina Hirota, Tasso Azevedo, and Carlos Souza had the opportunity to speak at the “Amazonian Leapfrogging” conference organized by PIIRS’s Brazil LAB, the High Meadows Environmental Institute and Amazônia 2030. The theme of the conference was “Tackling the Climate Crisis and Social Inequality with Nature-Based Solutions”. The authors presented alongside various powerful actors for the Amazon, including the Indigenous and climate activist, Txai Suruí. Marina Hirota and Tasso Azevedo both presented on “The Amazonian Nexus in the Planet’s Green Shift” and Carlos Souza presented on “Curbing Amazonian Deforestation”, covering various topics found in the 2021 Amazon Assessment Report.
A video titled “Amazon: The Tipping Point” was also showcased by Tasso Azevedo’s organization MapBiomas which set the tone for the event, focusing on the urgency of action needed for the Amazon. MapBiomas is a multi-institutional initiative involving universities, NGOs and technology companies, united to contribute to the understanding of territory transformations based on the annual mapping of land cover and use in Brazil. MapBiomas Amazonia was created to contribute to the understanding of the transformations occurring in the Amazon territory through the annual mapping of land cover and land use in the Amazon. It is an innovative tool used to track deforestation enforcement and land-use changes in the region and its data helped Dr. Azevedo to present a powerful argument to support the idea of going beyond solutions only inspired by nature and embracing nature-based solutions where we use the power of the ecosystems to provide the natural service. With the Brazilian elections coming up in October, this is a very important year for Brazil and for the Amazon. This event included a rich variety of stakeholders and researchers from the Amazon region who gave insight into the data behind why this year is so important and why we have to act on the four key SPA recommendations urgently. If you were unable to attend, you can watch the full Amazonian Leapfrogging event online.
