The World Wildlife Fund predicts that 55 percent of the Amazonian forests will be gone by 2030!
Deforestation
17 % of the Amazon forest has been lost in the last 50 years.
Extensive cattle ranching accounts for 80% of current deforestation, while agriculture is largely responsible for the rest. The vast majority of the deforestation can be found in the eastern and southeastern part of the Amazon (Brazil) in the so-called Arc of Deforestation, and the Northwestern brim of the Basin’s headwaters, primarily in Colombia and Ecuador. The impacts of deforestation
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Belo Monte Dam
The Brazilian Government is building the world's third largest hydroelectric dam on the Xingu River. one of the Amazon's major tributaries. The Belo Monte Dam will divert 80% of the Xingu River's flow affecting an area of over 1,500 square kilometers of the rainforest and leaving up to 40,000 people homeless.
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