Legal protection of the Amazon: Current and future Trends

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The recent Amazon fires of 2019 and 2020 have heightened attention on the region and brought the question of Amazon conservation to the forefront of international debate. The crucial role of primary forests, such as the Amazon, in preventing catastrophic biodiversity loss and climate change is largely recognised in the scientific literature and in policy forums.

Fires on the Amazon fringes

The latest IPCC report, described by the UN Secretary General as a ‘red code for humanity,’ is a call for deep reductions in GHG emissions and the protection of carbon sinks. However, the trends in agriculture and livestock expansion, fires, drought, logging, and mining are leading the Amazon to the ‘point of no return’, as warned by scientists and as recognised by a recent motion passed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Congress in Marseille in 2021.

This webinar was organised by the Western Sydney University School of Law in collaboration with Griffith University's Tropical Primary Forests and Climate Change project, Cardiff School of Law & Politics School and Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at the Columbia Law School.

This webinar discusses our recent Special Issue on ‘The Amazon Rainforest’ which was prepared through a collaboration of academics from around the world and published by the Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law (RECIEL).

Article authors

Dr Brendan Mackey

Brendan Mackey

Project Director and Director of the Griffith Climate Action Beacon at Griffith University, contributing to community planning and engagement in forest projects.
Dr Beatriz Garcia De Oliveira

Beatriz Garcia De Oliveira

Beatriz is a research fellow at the Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law at Sydney Law School and a specialist in environmental law and forest governance and policy.