The Friends of the Amazon is a nonprofit association helping to preserve the forest, its wildlife and its native cultures in the Peruvian Amazon. We are located 3 degrees south of the equator in the Region of Loreto, which is roughly the size of Montana and is one of the richest areas in the world in terms of flora(植物群) and fauna（动物群）. Our team consists of lawyers, ecologists, sociologists, medical professionals and native Amazonians working together to protect the forest and its people from destruction. We use litigation（诉讼）, filing lawsuits against those who seek to destroy the forest and its native cultures. In addition to legal processes, we promote health, education, and the conservation of native plants and animals.
The Amazon Rainforest is commonly referred to as the 'lungs of the planet' whose trees are essential for absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2, a greenhouse gas that causes global warming) and converting it into oxygen, thereby mitigating the rise of global temperatures and climate change. An estimated 120 billion tons of carbon dioxide is absorbed in the Amazon Rainforest and global emissions of carbon dioxide increase with every tree of the rainforest that is cut down. That is why the survival of the Amazon Rainforest is vital for the survival of our planet, without which rising global temperatures could melt the polar icecaps and cause flooding of our coastal cities.
Currently, the Amazon is under siege（）, with an estimated 1000 hectares being destroyed everyday. After harvesting old growth forests, corporations are often replacing the native forest with palm oil plantations instead of reforesting with native tree species. Palm oil trees are native to Africa, not the Amazon, and due to high profits, their promotion by international aid agencies and recent legislation in Peru, palm oil plantations represent perhaps the single greatest threat to the native Amazon Rainforest.
In addition to conventional logging and deforesting to make room for crops such as palm oil and soybeans, the Amazon forest faces a new threat in the form of REDD projects and “Carbon Cowboys”. REDD refers to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation by using carbon offsets (“carbon credits”). Under the guise of REDD projects, scammers are tricking native communities into signing unjust contracts in English without legal representation which essentially give these so called Carbon Cowboys the forest for free. These cheaters are false promises of 'billions of dollars in profits' from REDD and voluntary carbon offset （碳补偿）projects by lying that they are representatives of the United Nations and World Bank in order to trick vulnerable indigenous Amazonians into ceding their land by signing unjust contracts with hidden clauses that give the Carbon Cowboys a power of attorney to do whatever they want with the forest for a period of 100 years. Friends of the Amazon is actively filing lawsuits against these Carbon Cowboys and those who support them.
For further information on our programs and to find out how you can help preserve the Amazon Rainforest, please contact:
Friends of the Amazon
153 Túpac Amaru Street
Iquitos, Peru
Phone: (+51) 985665374
For more specific information on supporting the goals of our nonprofit organization, please contact us using the email address listed below.
If you would like to learn how you can help preserve the Amazon Rainforest and its indigenous people, please contact us for more information at:
info(at)friendsoftheamazon.org
小题1:The Friends of the Amazon is the name of _________.A．your best friend B．a non-profit organizationC．a historic heroD．a famous carbon cowboy小题2:What does the underlined word “converting ” in the second paragraph mean?A．changingB．increasingC．reducingD．burning小题3:Why is the survival of the Amazon Rainforest vital for the survival of our planet?A．Because this forest absorbs a lot of carbon dioxide emitted by the worldB．Because people rely on this forest to get enough wood to build houses and furnitureC．Because people living here can get a large sum of compensation to offset carbon dioxide D．Because the United Nations and the World Bank are helping preserving the land here小题4:We can learn from the passage that palm oil trees _____________.A．have produced much profit for the local people.B．are native to Amazon and fit in well with their surroundingsC．are native to Africa and may do great harm to the native Amazon trees D．are used to replace the native forest because the local people can profit from them小题5:The purpose of this article is _______.A．introduce the largest rain forest in the worldB．to appeal to the government to take some measures to get rid of Carbon CowboysC．to advertise the rain forest as a favourite tourist destination D．to arouse the awareness of the public to help conserve the “lungs of our planet”