Conservation efforts are underway in Brazil to protect the Amazon rainforest from further deforestation.
Groups such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are working to mitigate the impact of logging caused by the expansion of farming, poorly-planned infrastructure and resource extraction.
Earlier this year, a $215 million (£125 million) fund was established to ensure long-term protection of the world’s largest network of protected areas, involving the collaboration of the Brazilian government, the WWF and partner organisations.
The plan is aimed at developing sustainable funding of the Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) programme, which comprises 15 percent of the Brazilian Amazon.
ARPA encompasses 128 million acres of richly biodiverse rainforest – an area the size of one and a half Californias. An additional 22 million acres of rainforest is set to be incorporated into the fund in the coming years.
"The Brazilian rainforest is at the heart of our country," said Maria Cecilia Wey de Brito, chief executive officer of WWF in Brazil.
"It is what defines us. The Brazilian government's leadership in helping to create and maintain this fund provides us with more confidence than ever that we can slow the arc of deforestation in our rainforest and create a model for large-scale conservation worldwide."
The WWF is currently helping to combat the drivers of deforestation by working with farmers to minimise the impact of their practices on the Amazon.
It is promoting sustainable farming methods by working with soy farmers, as well as helping cattle farmers to cut down on waste and inefficiency, for example by explaining that they do not need to convert more forests into pasture to increase profits.
The organisation supports sustainable logging methods to ensure the demand for timber is met without causing widespread deforestation.
WWF is also encouraging members of the public to join its efforts – visitors to its website can adopt a sloth to save some of the world's most endangered animals from extinction and support its conservation activities.
