Understand how responsible trips to the Amazon is a way to collaborate with the cease of catastrophic effects of climate change
The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-26) is taking place in Glasgow, United Kingdom, until November 12th. This is a meeting that brings together the signatory countries of the Paris Agreement (which replaces the Kyoto Protocol from 2020 on), which represent global commitments to contain climate change. The main component of this agreement are efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5°C by 2030.
As you can imagine, Brazil and especially the Amazon is of central importance in this debate. In an interview with BBC News Brasil, the researcher of public policies at the Rain Forest Foundation (Norwegian environmental NGO) Carlos Rittl says that
"Brazil is one of the largest historical emitters of greenhouse gases, when taking into account all the deforestation that has occurred in all regions since the industrial revolution. It has an important role in reducing emissions, despite still being a country in development with challenges for poverty reduction".
In addition to the climate impact of being a major carbon emitter, Brazil, because of the Amazon, is of crucial importance for the success or failure of the Paris Agreement target, as the forest helps to balance the planet's climate, by capturing and storing huge amounts of carbon dioxide (CO₂), one of the main greenhouse gases.
Thus, it is essential to stimulate clean economies in this, which is one of the main stars of events such as COP-26. And it is here that we, at Uakari Lodge, believe that tourism is a sustainable economic activity that can become an alternative to the extensive extraction and use of natural resources in the Amazon.
A traveler's visit to the Mamirauá Reserve, for example (our house!) represents more than the realization of a dream for tourists: it is with their visit that we collaborate with the maintenance of the peoples of the forest, we encourage the use of one of the main and cleaner natural resources (the landscape!) and we have become an alternative to extensive extraction of local fauna and flora. No wonder that we annually receive a series of recognitions and awards across the country and the world, which you can check here.
If you still cannot or intend to visit us, there are still several ways to contribute to a cleaner Amazon. One of them is making donations, of any size, to institutions such as the Mamirauá Institute (our co-founder), which, together with riverside populations, develops a series of social technologies that promote the sustainability of this biome. To learn more about Instituto Mamirauá and how to donate, visit this link :-)
And finally, try to follow the discussions and new agreements at COP-26. This is a fundamental way that we can all take responsibility for understanding the future that awaits us and the expectations of actually achieving the goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.
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Credits: Gui Gomes
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