Living Amazon Report 2016

The Living Amazon Report 2016 provides a comprehensive overview of the Amazon biome, highlighting its immense biodiversity and critical role in global climate and hydrological regulation. It identifies primary threats including large-scale agriculture, cattle ranching, hydropower dams, and extractive industries, while advocating for a coordinated, biome-wide conservation approach. The report emphasizes the importance of protected areas and indigenous territories, which currently cover over 50% of the biome, and recommends strategies for enhancing climate resilience and securing water connectivity.

• The Amazon biome is a critical global regulator of climate and water, with forests recycling 50-75% of annual rainfall and pumping approximately seven trillion tons of water per year into the atmosphere via evapotranspiration, which supports agriculture across South America.
• Biodiversity in the region is vast and still being discovered, with over 2,000 new species of plants and vertebrates described since 1999. The biome contains a tenth of the world's species and the highest diversity of freshwater fish.
• Agriculture and ranching are the primary drivers of forest loss. While the Brazilian Soy Moratorium (established 2006) significantly reduced soy-related deforestation, cattle ranching remains a dominant cause of forest clearance.
• Hydropower development poses a severe threat to the biome's hydrology. There are 154 operational dams and an estimated 277 more planned; if all are built, only three free-flowing tributaries (Juruá, Trombetas, and Içá-Putumayo) would remain in the Amazon basin.
• Extractive industries, particularly mining and oil and gas, frequently overlap with conservation areas. Over 800 claims have been granted within protected areas, and approximately 6,800 more are under consideration.
• Gold mining causes significant environmental damage through deforestation and mercury pollution. In Suriname, 41% of predatory fish were found to have mercury levels exceeding European Union standards for human consumption.
• Protected areas and indigenous territories are effective at curbing deforestation, currently covering over 50% of the biome. However, these areas face threats from 'PADDD' (protected area downsizing, downgrading, and degazettement), particularly in Brazil due to hydropower and settlement.
• Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of droughts and floods. Precipitation has declined across 69% of the tropical evergreen forest since 2000, and approximately 35% of protected areas are at high risk of detrimental changes.
• WWF proposes a 'Zero Net Deforestation and Forest Degradation' (ZNDD) goal by 2020, arguing that most of the forest should remain standing to maintain essential environmental services and climate regulation.
• The report argues that national conservation strategies are insufficient and calls for a coordinated, biome-wide regional strategy that includes a 'bottom-up' approach involving broad social dialogue with indigenous peoples and local communities.

APA

S., C., N., D., D., O., & Stolton, S. (2016). Living Amazon Report 2016. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/483/sf95n96gw_LIVING_AMAZON__REPORT_2016_MID_RES_SPREADS.pdf

Chicago

S., Charity,, Dudley, N., Oliveira, D., and S. Stolton. Living Amazon Report 2016. WWF International, 2016. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/483/sf95n96gw_LIVING_AMAZON__REPORT_2016_MID_RES_SPREADS.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=S. |first1=Charity, |last2=N. |first2=Dudley, |last3=D. |first3=Oliveira, |last4=Stolton |first4=S. |title=Living Amazon Report 2016 |publisher=WWF International |date=June 2016 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/483/sf95n96gw_LIVING_AMAZON__REPORT_2016_MID_RES_SPREADS.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{s2016living, author = {S., Charity, and N., Dudley, and D., Oliveira, and Stolton, S.}, title = {{Living Amazon Report 2016}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2016}, month = jun, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/483/sf95n96gw_LIVING_AMAZON__REPORT_2016_MID_RES_SPREADS.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }