Overview
The Amazon rainforest, also known as Amazonia or Amazon Jungle, is a tropical rainforest that stretches across the Amazon basin of South America. Measuring at 2.6 million square miles (approximately 6.7 million km2), the forest is home to over 40,000 different species of plant and 2,000 species of animals (World Atlas, 2015). The forest is also home to more than 30 million people, amounting to 350 indigenous and ethnic group (WWF, 2012).
The amazon rainforest is a precious resource, acting as the world’s largest land carbon sink and produces 20% of the world’s oxygen. It is estimated that the 390 billion trees across the Amazon rainforest stores 86 million tons of carbon (Saatchi, Houghton, Alvala, Soares, & Yu, 2007). Hence, it is the utmost importance for the rainforest to be protected.