Amazon Rainforest

— The Amazon rainforest (or Amazonia) covers most of the Amazon River basin in South America and is distributed across nine nations. Brazil contains the largest portion of that rainforest with nearly 60% of its entirety. Not only is the Amazon River the most voluminous river in the world (the Nile is the longest), its basin also has enormous proportions. It covers 2,700,000 sq mi (7,000,000 sq km) and is mostly contained in Brazil.

According to Wikipedia, the Amazon rainforest “is home to about 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2,000 birds and mammals.” Furthermore, “to date, at least 40,000 plant species, 2,200 fishes, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region.” Among those animals, you can find the squirrel monkey, as I previously featured in another entry.

Known to many people as the lungs of the world, the Amazon rainforest does indeed encompass half of the world’s remaining rainforests. Deforestation and fires are among the main causes for the reduction in size of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Just in 2019, there were 72,843 fires in the Brazilian rainforest. Much of that deforestation is caused by the creation of farm land, too. The forest destruction affects climate change and biodiversity and could lead to its total destruction.

The photos here date back to our last trip to the Amazon in 2014. As we walked on an elevated platform deep inside the rainforest, we could see a few wild animals and hear a lot of different sounds from other animals. The squirrel monkeys were the friendliest of them all and even tended to follow us. On the banks of the river, we were also able to visit with some of the indigenous people who inhabit the area. Although progress has reached them, they still lead a simple life when it comes to their accommodations (last photo).