Inside the Amazon: Wild, Dangerous, and Under Industrial Siege
- Liyana Zaman
- Feb 18
- 8 min read
The Restored Lands Advocate
Part 2 of 3: Inside the Amazon Series
by Liyana Zaman
A Rainforest Vital to Earth
Spanning across 9 countries, the Amazon Rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the World, supporting over a million different species from insects to mammals and considered the most bio diverse region on the planet. Often referred to as the “lungs of the Earth,” the Amazon plays a critical role in regulating the global climate, maintaining biodiversity, providing food and water, and storing carbon (Banjo, 2025). Through photosynthesis, the trees absorb a great volume of carbon dioxide, which slows down the pace of climate change. Scientists estimate that tens of billions of tons of carbon are stored in vegetation, soil, and trees, and when this resource is cut or burned, it releases that carbon back into the atmosphere, further feeding global warming. The more deforestation takes place, the weaker the Amazon becomes in its function as a carbon sink, pushing it to a tipping point (Heath, 2024). The Amazon also regulates rainfall across South America and beyond. Through a process known as evapotranspiration, trees release moisture into the atmosphere by creating air currents that carry water vapor across the continent. These moisture systems influence weather patterns to places as far as North America, demonstrating how deeply connected this ancient rainforest is to global climate stability.
Our Planet’s Lungs at Risk
Due to accelerating deforestation in the Amazon, the likelihood of drought is ever-increasing. In 2014, São Paulo and other large metropolitan areas of southeastern Brazil experienced one of the most severe droughts in its history, leaving around 40 million people facing water shortages as rainfall declined and temperatures reached record highs (Nobre, 2016). Scientists later linked the severity of this drought to deforestation in the Amazon.
Nearly a decade later, the pattern repeated itself. In 2023, rainfall across the nine Amazonian countries fell to its lowest level in 40 years, prompting Brazil to declare a state of emergency as water levels reached historic lows (Amazon, 2025); additionally the Rio Negro River was at it lowest in over 100 years. Scientists now warn that if deforestation continues, the rainforest could undergo an irreversible transformation, resulting in drier ecosystems, less climate regulation, food instability, and carbon sequestration. The Amazon’s responses to environmental collapse allow us to better understand the fate of the planet as a whole.
Destruction of Wildlife
While deforestation statistics often focus on land loss and carbon emissions, the most immediate victims are the species who cannot escape the destruction. In addition to logging, mercury pollution from gold mining, illegal hunting and the exotic animal trade, fires are set intentionally to clear land for cattle ranching or extraction operations. Countless species are burned alive or left with severe injuries as their habitats burn to ashes (Vergara, 2022).
Habitat loss isolates species, limiting access to food, shelter, and mates. As biodiversity declines, ecosystems become destabilized, pushing already endangered populations closer to extinction.
Paul Rosolie and Junglekeepers
Junglekeepers founder and New York Times best selling author, Paul Rosolie, recognized early on that conservation efforts cannot succeed without collaboration. Through Junglekeepers, Rosolie works directly with Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon to protect large areas of threatened rainforest (Junglekeepers, 2026). Rather than excluding those who rely on the land for survival, the organization prioritizes partnership with Indigenous communities, ensuring conservation efforts are community-led and economically sustainable.
One of the nonprofit’s most impactful strategies has been hiring former loggers and miners, and retraining them as eco-tourism guides and land rangers. These individuals patrol protected areas, monitor illegal activity, and guide visitors through the forest. By transforming people once involved in deforestation into protectors of the land, Junglekeepers addresses both environmental destruction and economic necessity. To this day, Rosolie’s work has helped protect over 100,000 acres of rainforest.
The Push for Permanent Protection
Despite these successes, conservation efforts remain weak without legal protection. Junglekeepers is working to establish permanently protected areas that could eventually gain national park or reserve status. Legal recognition would significantly reduce exploitation and create long-term accountability for land preservation.
However, the obstacles Rosolie faces are immense. In his books and interviews, he speaks openly about corruption, government-issued permits, and economic systems that prioritize resource extraction over environmental protection (Fridman, 2026). Legal mining and logging operations often border Indigenous lands, creating access points that later allow illegal operations to flourish. This blurred line between legality and exploitation leaves both ecosystems and communities dangerously exposed.
In an interview, Rosolie powerfully pointed out how “If someone was to go into New York City and destroy a building, they'd be in jail for life. But we can go and destroy a river that sustains millions and millions of people ... and that's not considered a crime”. Rosile continues to say, “so we need to update our software and how we think about these things because it's all wrong and remember that we are connected to the land” (Cheaib, 2019). The government and banks need to realize the harm of the inconsistency of legal enforcement in the Amazon. By simultaneously supporting resource extraction and turning a blind eye on the life-threatening environmental threats, the natural components we all depend on for survival are slowly dying.
Signs of International Accountability
However, there are signs of growing international awareness. In the summer of 2025, an international sting operation involving multiple governments targeted environmental crime networks operating in the Amazon. Known as Operation Green Shield, over 1,500 officers from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru oversaw hundreds of raids to combat illegal mining, logging, and wildlife trafficking (Grattan, 2025). With over 90 arrests made, this coordinated effort signaled growing recognition that environmental destruction is not just an ecological issue, but a matter of global security and human rights (Grattan, 2025). Action taken by higher authority suggests a possible shift in how governments approach environmental protection, but only time will tell how big its impact truly is. Over the years, the outcomes seen are temporary with illegal operations expanding thereafter.
Dangers on the Mission
Environmental crime in the Amazon is deeply intertwined with organized criminal networks. Illegal gold mining, logging, and wildlife trafficking are often linked to narco-trafficking routes, making conservation work a direct threat to powerful interests.
For most, survival in the forest does not entail dodging Narco-traffickers and assaination attempts, no matter how untamed it is. But, this has become the reality in the daily life of Paul Rosolie, as he, his right-hand man JJ, and his team navigate the Amazon River basin. Just recently, in the Las Piedras river corridor, his friend–a local policeman–was murdered after assisting Rosolie and his boat full of potential new Junglekeepers donors out of a tense scuffle that involved an arms-bearing boat chase with narcos.
This new reality for Rosolie could threaten the mission of his organization and the success of buying back the Amazon. However, through the turmoil, he carries on, working alongside Indigenous communities and former loggers to protect the ancient rainforest, and achieve the creation of a new national park. For Rosolie, protecting the Amazon rainforest is not just an act of survival, but his life’s mission playing out.
Rosolie’s attempted assassination underscores the dangers faced by those who challenge these networks to defend the rainforest (Fridman, 2026). Indigenous leaders, land defenders, and environmental activists are frequently threatened or killed for protecting their territories. These attacks are meant to silence resistance, but they also expose how valuable this rainforest is: an ecosystem so profitable that lives are put at risk for its survival.
Reasons for the Amazon’s Decline
The pressures on the Amazon are complex and interconnected. Below is a condensed list of major impacts affecting the rainforest:
Illegal Logging: Drives deforestation, fragments ecosystems, and opens access routes into protected, untouched areas.
Industrial Agriculture: Large-scale cattle ranching and soy farming account for significant forest loss.
Mining (Legal and Illegal): Gold mining contaminates rivers, plants and animals with mercury, harming ecosystems and human health.
Bioaccumulation: the absorbtion of toxic substances like mercury when built up in plants, animals, soil and water; leading to biomagification.
Biomagnification: occuring through ingestion of these contaminated resources and effecting the species overtime
Wildlife Poaching and Illegal Trade: Endangers species and destabilizes food webs.
Infrastructure Development: Roads, dams, and pipelines accelerate land clearing and settlement.
All together, a cycle of destruction has taken hold with few to keep those responsible in check. However, there still is hope and you can help fuel it.
An Ecosystem Still Worth Fighting For
Despite the challenges, the Amazon is not beyond saving. Indigenous-led conservation, international cooperation, and efforts from organizations like Junglekeepers demonstrate that protection is still possible.
The rainforest is still standing and people are still fighting for it. As long as that resistance continues, the fate of the Amazon remains undecided.
Check out Paul Rosolie’s new best-selling book:
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Written by: Liyana Zaman
Edited by: Henry Passerini
Liyana Zaman is from Long Island, New York, currently pursuing a degree in Psychology at New York University on the pre-law track, with hopes of working in environmental law in the future. With a deep passion for environmental awareness and strong interested in how advocacy, education, and policy can create change, she is excited to contribute to the Restored Lands mission and protect our environment for generations to come!
References
Amazon Rainforest Drought - Rainforest Foundation US. (2025, August 11). Retrieved from Rainforest Foundation US website: https://rainforestfoundation.org/our-work/where-we-work/amazon-region/amazon-rainforest-drought/
Banjo, F. (2025, May 14). The Amazon Rainforest: Our Planet’s Lungs at Risk – Why We Must Act Now. Retrieved from Global Citizen website: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/the-amazon-rainforest-our-planets-lungs-at-risk/
Cheaib, N. (2019, November 6). Q&A: “We need radical change” to protect the Amazon. Retrieved from Al Jazeera website: https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/11/6/qa-we-need-radical-change-to-protect-the-amazon
Fridman, L. (2026, January 13). Transcript for Paul Rosolie: Uncontacted Tribes in the Amazon Jungle | Lex Fridman Podcast #489 - Lex Fridman. Retrieved January 22, 2026, from Lex Fridman website: https://lexfridman.com/paul-rosolie-3-transcript/
Grattan, Steven. (2025, July 10). UAE-led operation targets Amazon crime network. Retrieved from AP News website: https://apnews.com/article/amazon-uae-environmental-crime-operation-arrests-8361b6e0570a00ac14b40aab62937efc
Heath, V. (2024, November 25). What would happen if the Amazon was destroyed? Retrieved from Geographical website: https://geographical.co.uk/news/what-would-happen-if-the-amazon-disappeared
Junglekeepers. (2026). Stop irreversible damage to the Amazon. Retrieved from Junglekeepers website: https://www.junglekeepers.org/
Nobre, C., & Marengo, J. (2016, October 17). Water crises and megacities in Brazil: Meteorological context of the São Paulo drought of 2014-2015. Retrieved from Global Water Forum website: https://www.globalwaterforum.org/2016/10/17/water-crises-and-megacities-in-brazil-meteorological-context-of-the-sao-paulo-drought-of-2014-2015/
Vergara, A. (2022, November 8). The Amazon Is at a Tipping Point. Retrieved from World Wildlife Fund website: https://www.worldwildlife.org/news/stories/the-amazon-in-crisis-forest-loss-threatens-the-region-and-the-planet/
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