The importance of the Amazon has become increasingly evident in the twenty-first century. Firstly, for its biodiversity, which has incalculable value to life on Earth. Secondly, for its influence on climate dynamics, which we now know goes far beyond its own borders. Fears about ongoing destruction of the biome have sparked discussions about its occupation (and preservation) by Indigenous peoples and the perspectives of its almost 30 million inhabitants.
Brazil’s satellite monitoring capabilities are comprehensive and highly respected. Data are collected and analyzed by specialists at public institutions and the voluntary sector. This system allows for immediate oversight while supporting policy decisions and international negotiations, in addition to feeding scientific and technological research that in turn enables the production of more and better data.
This issue’s cover story presents five deforestation-monitoring systems currently used in the Amazon, including their individual characteristics, methodologies, and purposes. It also describes the joint INPE and EMBRAPA system that maps the use of deforested land in the region. After a period of inactivity, the project has resumed data collection and released an overview of the year 2020.
What began with the idea of explaining the existing monitoring systems—the data from which are often divergent, often causing a surprise when widely covered in the media—ended up as a small special edition about the Amazon. There are 25 pages on the topic in this issue, from geological secrets behind the formation of the rainforest to a guide to Amazonian snakes and marmosets that have changed the way they communicate due to urban noise.
It also features an interview with ecologist Ima Vieira of the Emílio Goeldi Museum of Pará, who studies forest regeneration. At a time of great concern for the biome and its inhabitants, the first move must be to listen to those who have dedicated themselves long-term to field studies of Amazonian issues. Vieira is part of the group that proposed the goal of zero deforestation by 2030, which the current federal government has adopted.
The researcher maintains that with 20% of the Amazon already cleared, no more should be deforested. Public policies targeted at the region reflect conflicting interests, and the productivity of agriculture in the area is very low. Vieira currently advises FINEP on the development of public policies for strengthening the region’s science, technology, and innovation ecosystem.
“The marginalized are occupying academia,” declared Racionais MC’s in 2018, when it was announced that their album Sobrevivendo no inferno (Surviving in hell) was to be included as a topic on UNICAMP’s 2020 entrance exam.
God made the sea, the trees, the children, love.
Man gave me the favela, crack, betrayal, guns, alcohol, women.
Me?! I have an old Bible, an automatic pistol, and a feeling of revolt.
I’m trying to survive in hell.
The rap group from São Paulo is one of the best-known in Brazilian hip-hop, a social, political, and cultural movement that emerged 50 years ago against a backdrop of poverty and violence. The genre is now a subject of study in many universities, seen as key to understanding the situation faced by many in Brazil.
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