Biodiversity, pronounced as “bai · ow · dai · vuh · suh · tee”, may sound like science fiction, but it’s vital to life on Earth. It refers to all living organisms within an area, from animals and plants, to tiny organisms that are impossible to see without a microscope.

So why does biodiversity matter? Every organism on Earth depends on others to survive in a delicate balance. For example, fungi break down dead organisms, enriching the soil. That soil supports plant growth, which feeds animals — and when animals die, the cycle continues. 

When this balance is disrupted, it sets off a chain reaction where ecosystems collapse, resulting in serious consequences that threaten the overall health and life on our planet. And since we’re part of this ecosystem, we suffer too.

The Amazon’s Biodiversity: Why It Matters

The Amazon spans 6.7 million square kilometres — roughly the size of Australia, the Amazon rainforest is home to 10% of all known species on earth. It is also home to over 400 Indigenous groups whose unique cultural practices are deeply tied to the forest. 

The Amazon’s biodiversity is essential to life as we know it. For example, biodiversity helps preserve entire species from being wiped out, provide cultural and recreational value, and sustain entire economies and livelihoods. 

Here are some other ways the biodiversity in the Amazon shapes our world:

Resilience Against Diseases
The Amazon is often called the world’s largest medicine cabinet because approximately 25% of modern medicines derived from plant species are found in this biodiversity. For instance, quinine, from the South American cinchona tree, was once the only treatment for malaria; the anesthetic Novacaine commonly used in dental procedures comes from the coca plant; and pilocarpine — a drug used to help patients with glaucoma — is derived from the jaborandi plant found in the Amazon. If we lose biodiversity, we risk losing potential cures for current and emerging diseases.

Natural Protection for Crops
Biodiversity plays a vital role in keeping agricultural pests in check. Natural predators in the Amazon such as birds, frogs, and bats do a better job in protecting farm produce when compared to synthetic pesticides, which often introduces harmful toxins into the soil, diminishing its health and wiping out beneficial organisms like earthworms and microbes. 

Supports Food Security
The biodiversity in the Amazon is crucial to local and global food security. Like the cycle explained earlier, its biodiversity sustains the essentials for regulating climate, water cycles and soil which are critical to agriculture. For many Indigenous communities, biodiversity is a way of life. It provides food, shelter, medicine, and materials for clothing. Without it, they would have less to eat and produce.

Absorbs Climate-Harming Carbon
The Amazon’s biodiversity also plays a crucial role in regulating the earth’s carbon cycle. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, process it through photosynthesis, storing greenhouse gases in their leaves, trunks and roots. The vast amount of trees in this region gives it the ability to act as a major carbon sponge. It stores approximately 150 to 200 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) but lately, the amount of carbon absorbed has been decreasing year on year. Here’s why:

The Threats

Despite its importance, the Amazon is under serious threat. 

In 2022, Brazil alone lost around 1.8 million hectares of rainforest (that’s nearly two-thirds the size of Belgium) to deforestation. Fast forward to 2024, deforestation rates in the country have dropped to 30.6%, making it the lowest level in nine years. This is all thanks to Brazil’s president, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's leadership and commitment to halting deforestation by 2030.

But the work is far from complete. Large-scale farming and livestock production is causing soil erosion, destroying habitats, and contaminating rivers with agrochemicals. Mining is also adding to the problem. For instance, mining stripped 1.2 million hectares (approximately the size of 1.7 million FIFA standard soccer fields) of land in the Amazon between 2005 and 2015. 

Climate change is exacerbating these challenges. Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and more frequent droughts threaten the Amazon’s biodiversity, pushing the rainforest ecosystem towards a tipping point. Some studies predict that if climate change, deforestation, mining activities continue to happen unchecked, large areas of the Amazon could turn into savanna.

Indigenous Communities: Protectors of the Amazon

Indigenous peoples are the key defenders of biodiversity. While they make up about 6% of the global population, they protect a large share of the earth’s remaining biodiversity in their territories. 

In the Amazon, indigenous people manage over 3,000 territories protecting about 35% of the region. Together with Brazil’s state-owned protected areas, they protect almost half of the biome. Areas under indigenous community stewardship experience less deforestation and biodiversity loss. Even during years of record-breaking fires and drought, satellite data reveal that Indigenous lands continue to hold the line.

So, how do they do it ? They use a mix of ancestral ecological knowledge with legal land rights, modern tools such as GPS and satellites, funding, and partnerships. In Pará for example, the Kayapó Guardians and their allies safeguard over nine million hectares by establishing guard posts at vulnerable zones. The Kayapó Territorial Surveillance program has kept these lands largely untouched from illegal loggers and miners, in sharp contrast to neighboring areas outside their care, which face severe exploitation.

Another example of one of these indigenous communities protecting the Amazon is the A’i Kofán of Sinangoe (Ecuador) who use drones, mobile apps, and GPS to document and report illegal mining activities and concessions to the relevant authorities.

What Can Global Citizens Do?

Right now, the Amazon stands on a knife edge, teetering between acting as a carbon sink and slipping into a source with the ongoing deforestation, industrial agriculture and mining activities. If this continues to go unchecked, the Amazon will reach the tipping point which comes with irreversible consequences for our planet. 

We all have a role to play in preserving this vital ecosystem. We can start by supporting and amplifying the work of the indigenous communities and organizations at the frontlines of the climate crisis, and advocate for stronger financial and policy commitments from our leaders to protect the Amazon.

The choices we make every day matter, too. Opting for products that are labelled sustainable and deforestation-free (such as those certified by FSC, Rainforest Alliance, or Fairtrade), or reducing your consumption of beef, goes a long way in reducing our carbon footprint and protecting the rainforest. 

When our individual actions are multiplied, it becomes a collective effort that can tip the balance back towards a thriving biodiverse Amazon. But only if we begin today.