Amazonia facts

The Amazon rainforest is vital to life on Earth. Do you know why?

The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical forest in the world, spanning nine countries and home to more than 30 million people. The region influences global weather and stores massive amounts of carbon, giving it a critical role in stabilizing Earth’s climate. Simply put, people cannot thrive without the Amazon rainforest — but humanity is driving this ecosystem to the brink of destruction.

Learn more about Amazonia and why we need to protect it:​​

How many of the world’s known species are found in the Amazon?

The Amazon rainforest boasts the richest biodiversity of any ecosystem on the planet. It is home to at least 10 percent of the world’s known species.1 One region in the Ecuadorian Amazon is regarded as the most biodiverse area of land in the world2, boasting more different species of trees in a given hectare of forest than exist in all of North America.

How much carbon does the Amazon rainforest store?

The world’s forests absorb about 7.6 billion metric tons of carbon each year.3 The Amazon rainforest does much of the heavy lifting, removing a yearly total of 1.2 billion metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere.4 But if forest loss continues at current rates, the region could lose its ability to absorb and store carbon, eventually becoming a net source of emissions.

How much of the Amazon is under the control of Indigenous people?

Indigenous communities legally own more than a quarter of the Amazon. They manage 35 percent of Latin America’s forests and nearly half of the forests in the Amazon Basin.5 Studies have shown that areas under the secure management of Indigenous Peoples are typically better protected and better managed than those under government control.6

How fast is the Amazon shrinking?

In the past 60 years, more than 13 percent of the Amazon has been deforested7 — an area nearly the size of Alaska.8

Will the Amazon always be a rainforest?

As more trees are cleared, the Amazon is losing its ability to retain moisture. If this cycle of destruction continues, the rainforest will be pushed to an ecological tipping point — gradually turning into a dry savanna.7

How can protecting the Amazon help halt climate change?

Protecting the Amazon and other tropical forests could get us at least 30 percent9 of the way to solving the climate crisis, while also providing a host of additional benefits — filtering fresh water, providing breathable air — that other climate solutions don’t offer.

You can be a part of solution

From establishing a carbon tax to creating new protected areas, countries across Amazonia are working tirelessly to ensure this tropical forest is conserved. Want to do your part? Here are five ways you can help fight climate change.

Related content

More about AmazoniaClimate change factsDeforestation facts
Now viewing: One-time donation

One-time donation

Your gift funds urgent conservation work, helping us move quickly to protect the places that need it most.

Monthly giving

Our monthly donors provide the steady support we need to plan ahead and deliver lasting conservation impact.

Giving Circles

Our Emerald Circle and Azure Circle donors help power large-scale, long-term conservation efforts around the world.

Corporate partners

Help make business part of the solution — funding nature projects and better ways of doing business.

Grantmakers and Foundations

Support big-picture change like national policies, climate plans and global partnerships.

References

  1. Guayasamin, J. M., Ribas, C. C., Carnaval, A. C., Carrillo, J. D., Hoorn, C., Lohmann, L. G., Riff, D., Ulloa Ulloa, C., & Albert, J. S. (2021). Chapter 2: Evolution of Amazonian biodiversity. In Amazon Assessment Report 2021. UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). https://doi.org/10.55161/czwn4679
  2. Bass MS, Finer M, Jenkins CN, Kreft H, Cisneros-Heredia DF, McCracken SF, et al. (2010) Global Conservation Significance of Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park. PLoS ONE 5(1): e8767. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0008767
  3. Harris, N.L., Gibbs, D.A., Baccini, A. et al. Global maps of twenty-first century forest carbon fluxes. Nat. Clim. Chang. 11, 234–240 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-00976-6
  4. Harris, N., Gibbs, D. (2021, January 21). Forests Absorb Twice As Much Carbon As They Emit Each Year. World Resources Institute. https://www.wri.org/insights/forests-absorb-twice-much-carbon-they-emit-each-year
  5. Forest governance by indigenous and tribal peoples. An opportunity for climate action in Latin America and the Caribbean. (2021). FAO. https://doi.org/10.4060/cb2953en
  6. Porter-Bolland, L., Ellis, E. A., Guariguata, M. R., Ruiz-Mallén, I., Negrete-Yankelevich, S., & Reyes-García, V. (2012). Community managed forests and forest protected areas: An assessment of their conservation effectiveness across the tropics. In Forest Ecology and Management (Vol. 268, pp. 6–17). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2011.05.034
  7. Nobre, C. A., Sampaio, G., Borma, L. S., Castilla-Rubio, J. C., Silva, J. S., & Cardoso, M. (2016). Land-use and climate change risks in the Amazon and the need of a novel sustainable development paradigm. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Vol. 113, Issue 39, pp. 10759–10768). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1605516113
  8. Butler, R.A. (2022, February 25). 10 Facts about the Amazon Rainforest in 2022. Mongabay. https://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon-rainforest-facts.html
  9. Griscom, B. W., Adams, J., Ellis, P. W., Houghton, R. A., Lomax, G., Miteva, D. A., Schlesinger, W. H., Shoch, D., Siikamäki, J. V., Smith, P., Woodbury, P., Zganjar, C., Blackman, A., Campari, J., Conant, R. T., Delgado, C., Elias, P., Gopalakrishna, T., Hamsik, M. R., … Fargione, J. (2017). Natural climate solutions. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Vol. 114, Issue 44, pp. 11645–11650). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1710465114