The towering trees of the Peruvian forest – many of which have lived through more than five human generations – are no match for the razored teeth of chainsaws in the deal of illegal cuss . In just five years , almost 6 pct of the Madre de Dios region has been cleared of trees .
At first , this figure may not sound too shocking , but expand such wipeout out to a century and little is result if the pace of deforestation continues . The time - lapse wasmappedby alum research assistant Andrea Nicolau of the University of Alabama in connective withServir , a joint venture betweenNASAand theUS Agency for International Developmentthat provide orbiter datum to help improve environmental decision - making .
Madre de Dios – which mean " Mother of the God " – is a biodiversity hot spot in southeastern Peru around 3,500 square kilometers ( 1,350 straight mile ) large and with pile of indigenous metal money find out in no other realm of the world . UsingLandsat 7and8observations from 2013 to 2018 , Nicolau found that roughly 206 square kilometers ( 79 hearty statute mile ) of forest were clear during those years . She used spectral mixture psychoanalysis to identify specific types of demesne cover , providing her with the ability to discern between illegal logging and realm clearing for agriculture , which tend to happen in square radiation pattern .
The big exit were in fender zone around protected arena , including theTambopata National Reserveand lands that belong to the Kotsimba Native Community . The squad suspects the grammatical construction of the Interoceanic Highway through the region may have facilitated tree loss , particularly in the last year that saw the great depletion , due to easier access to the forest .
These buffer zones are created to cut back resource use , but are not on par with jurisprudence in nearby protected areas . It is , in a good sense , a modulation zone to enhance the protection of preservation areas . However , Nicolau ground that nearly half of the tree diagram red ink film place outside of sound mining areas .
Most of the logging in the forest of Peru areselective , think of those of the high value are targeted . It ’s also typically in part with log roads , many of which are locate in Ucayali , Madre de Dios , and Loreto .
