Sowing seeds of hope for Amazon conservation

In just 50 years, 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been lost. Agriculture, mining, and climate change are adding pressure on this critical global resource.

In Southern Amazonia, communities work together to rebuild their forest from the soil upwards, coordinated by initiatives like the Socio-Environmental Institute and the Xingu Seed Network.

Many of these initiatives are supported by the pan-Amazon RAINFOR network and the pan-tropical ForestPlots.net initiative, led by Professor Oliver Phillips at the University of Leeds.

Impact

• International collaboration: building a research community between the UK, Brazil, and communities in the Amazon Rainforest
• Climate change adaptation: mapping trees in the Amazon Rainforest allows researchers to understand tree health over time and how it is affected by climate change and other challenges
• Knowledge equity: sharing knowledge, funding, and resources to build capacity for more equitable grassroots research.

Key information

• Major funders: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (Andes and Amazon Initiative), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), European Research Council (ERC), The Royal Society, Newton Fund, British Council, European Space Agency (ESA)
• Partners and collaborators: Brazil’s State University of Mato Grosso (UNEMAT), Xingu Seed Network, Socio-Environmental Institute, RAINFOR, ForestPlots.net
• Disciplines: geography, environment, sustainability
• Investigators: Professor Oliver Phillips.

Keywords: Amazon Rainforest, geographical mapping, GIS, forests, trees, climate adaptation, climate change, global warming, South America, Latin America, climate change mitigation and adaptation