The Amazon Rainforest is a moist broadleaf forest in the Amazon Basin of South America.
The area, also known as Amazonia or the Amazon Basin encompasses seven million square
kilometers (1.2 billion acres), though the forest itself occupies some 5.5 million square kilometers,
located within nine nations: Brazil (with 60 percent of the rainforest), Colombia, Peru, Venezuela,
Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. States or departments in four nations bear
the name Amazonas after it. The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests
and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world.
Tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species rich than the wet forests in Africa and Asia.
The region is home to about 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2000
birds and mammals. To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 427
amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region . Scientists have
described between 96,660 and 128,843 invertebrate species in Brazil alone.
The diversity of plant species is the highest on earth with some experts estimating that one square
kilometre may contain over 75,000 types of trees and 150,000 species of higher plants.
One square kilometre of Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,790 tonnes of living plants.
This constitutes the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world. One in five
of all the birds in the world live in the rainforests of the Amazon. To date, an estimated 438,000
species of plants of economic and social interest have been registered in the region with many
more remaining to be discovered or catalogued.
Deforestation is the conversion of forested areas to non-forested areas. The main sources of
deforestation in the Amazon are human settlement and development of the land. Between
1991 and 2000, the total area of forest lost in the Amazon rose from 415,000 to 587,000 km², an
area twice the size of Portugal, with most of the lost forest becoming pasture for cattle.
Amazonian colonization was ruled by cattle raising because ranching required little labor,
generated decent profits, and awarded social status in the community. However the results of
the farming lead to extensive deforestation and caused extensive environmental damage.
The people of Brazil have always thought of the Amazon as a communal possession which they
felt free to hack, burn, and abandon at will.”
Brazil is currently the second-largest global producer of soybeans after the United States, and as
prices for soybeans rise, the soy farmers are pushing northwards into forested areas of the Amazon.
We must unite and act against the deforestation in the Amazon threatening to kill the richest diversity
of plants and animals species.
I will bury my hands to plant the seed
I will sweat to see it grow
I will rest in the land given to me
I will eat from the tree what I have planted...
WE ARE THE INTELLIGENCE OF OUR SOIL DON’T CROSS YOUR ARMS.... Rich Spirit
This design was inspired by our trip to the Amazon in Iquitos, PERU. The image of an
ancient “Amazonic Shaman” in a dancing ritual possition along with a map of South America,
reading under the art, “Amazon Preservation” with gold foil print representing the rich culture
of the amazon...Listen Movement
Price:$23.00
