How drugs are destroying the Amazon

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🗞️ Driving the news: The Amazon Basin faces critical challenges from deforestation and degradation, driven by organized crime, especially drug production and trafficking
• To tackle these issues, Brazil is hosting a summit involving the eight Amazon Basin countries on Aug. 8 and 9 in Belém, aiming to end deforestation, restore degraded areas, and support the inhabitants of the region

🔭 The context: Illegal activities such as logging, agriculture, mining, and "narco-deforestation" are fueling deforestation in the Amazon Basin, creating a nexus with organized crime
• A U.N. report highlights the indirect connections between drug markets and deforestation, underscoring the resulting environmental and human toll

🌎 Why does it matter for humanity: The destruction of the Amazon not only threatens biodiversity but also impacts the world's climate
• Addressing organized crime is essential for the protection of this vital region, affecting millions of people living there and countless others reliant on the health of the global ecosystem

⏭️ What's next: Combining law enforcement measures with economic alternatives and focusing on regional and international cooperation will be key to achieving long-term success
• The Belém declaration may incentivize collaboration, but greater safeguards for environmental defenders and adequate enforcement are needed

📈 One stat: Over 1,000 metric tons of cocaine transit through the Amazon Basin region each year

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