Latin America harbours the world’s largest and most species-rich tropical
rainforest: Amazonia. Larger than the European Union, Amazonia stores
20% of global vegetation carbon, has around 400 billion trees, is the world’s
largest freshwater system and provides the home for people speaking 300
different languages. The future of Amazonia is of paramount importance
for regulating global climate, maintaining biodiversity and providing other
ecosystem services, but it is threatened by human activities. More sustainable
management practices are needed to mitigate the threats and avoid global
tragedies. Involving both local people and the global scientific community is
important to achieve these goals.