Large parts of Amazon may never recover, major study says

Swathes of rainforest have reached tipping point, research by scientists and Indigenous organisations concludes

Left: Satellite image of South America and Amazon rainforest. Top right: A burned section of the Amazonian rainforest which has flipped from a carbon sink to a major polluter after decades of human activity made it vulnerable to drought and wildfires. Bottom right: Indigenous leader Sonia Guajajara from the Guajajara ethnic group shows her hands painted in red symbolising blood, during a protest against Violence, illegal logging, mining and ranching. Picture: AP Photo/Andre Penner

Environmental destruction in parts of the Amazon is so complete that swathes of the rainforest have reached tipping point and might never be able to recover, a major study carried out by scientists and Indigenous organisations has found.

“The tipping point is not a future scenario but rather a stage already present in some areas of the region,” the report concludes.