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Photos / Pictures of the Amazon Rainforest


[last update 2017-07-12]
The Amazon River Basin is home to the largest rainforest on Earth. The basin -- roughly the size of the forty-eight contiguous United States -- covers some 40% of the South American continent and includes parts of eight South American countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname. (continued)

Amazon Rainforest Below is a collection of photos taken from around the world. Except where noted, pictures were taken by Rhett A. Butler  Google+, copyright Mongabay.com 1999-2015. While these images are the property of mongabay.com, it may be permissible to use them for non-commercial purposes (like powerpoint presentations and school projects), provided that the images are not altered in any form. Please read this for more details. If you are interested in using an image in a publication please contact me.

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Rainforest creek
Rainforest creek
(Suriname)

Polluted river merging with a pristine river in the Amazon
Polluted river merging with a pristine river in the Amazon
(Peru)

Red brocket (Mazama americana)
Red brocket (Mazama americana)
(Peru)

Nasa image of the Brazilian Amazon
Nasa image of the Brazilian Amazon
(Brazil)

Nasa image of the Brazilian Amazon
Nasa image of the Brazilian Amazon
(Brazil)

Dipsas snail-eater snake
Dipsas snail-eater snake
(Peru)

Amazon rainforest canopy
Amazon rainforest canopy
(Peru)

Amazon rainforest canopy
Amazon rainforest canopy
(Peru)

Tambopata river in the heart of Madre de Dios
Tambopata river in the heart of Madre de Dios
(Peru)

Owl monkey
Owl monkey
(Peru)

Stink birds in the Amazon
Stink birds in the Amazon
(Peru)

Leaf katydid
Leaf katydid
(Peru)

Owl butterfly
Owl butterfly
(Peru)

Blue and yellow macaw
Blue and yellow macaw
(Peru)

Rainforest valley in the upper Amazon
Rainforest valley in the upper Amazon
(Peru)

Blue azureus dart frog
Blue azureus dart frog
(Suriname)

Rainforest along the Tambopata river
Rainforest along the Tambopata river
(Peru)

Butterfly on a man's hand
Butterfly on a man's hand
(Peru)

Green forest anole
Green forest anole
(Peru)

Nasa image of the Brazilian Amazon
Nasa image of the Brazilian Amazon
(Brazil)

Amazon rainforest tree
Amazon rainforest tree
(Peru)

Camping in the Amazon rainforest
Camping in the Amazon rainforest
(Colombia)

Brazil nut tree
Brazil nut tree
(Peru)

Nasa image of the Brazilian Amazon
Nasa image of the Brazilian Amazon
(Brazil)

Red howler monkey
Red howler monkey
(Peru)

Aerial photo of an Amazon rainforest tributary
Aerial photo of an Amazon rainforest tributary
(Peru)

Leaf katydid
Leaf katydid
(Peru)

 Tree runner (Plica umbra)
Tree runner (Plica umbra)
(Peru)

Butterfly
Butterfly
(Peru)

Rainbow over the Amazon
Rainbow over the Amazon
(Peru)

Sunset over the Tambopata river
Sunset over the Tambopata river
(Peru)

Jaguar on the bank of the Tambopata River
Jaguar on the bank of the Tambopata River
(Peru)

Peccary
Peccary
(Peru)

Orange-red river in the Amazon
Orange-red river in the Amazon
(Peru)

Red passion vine flower
Red passion vine flower
(Colombia)

Hyla frog
Hyla frog
(Peru)

Margay (Leopardus wiedii)
Margay (Leopardus wiedii)
(Peru)

Agouti
Agouti
(Peru)

Cup fungi
Cup fungi
(Peru)

Jaguar (Panthera onca)
Jaguar (Panthera onca)
(Colombia)

The Amazon is a rainforest in South America. It encompasses 1.2 billion acres (7 million km�), with parts located within nine nations: Brazil (with 60% of the rainforest), Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. This forest represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests. States or departments in four nations bear the name Amazonas for the Amazon.

The region is home to ~2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2000 birds and mammals. The diversity of plant species is the highest on earth with some experts estimating that one square kilometre may contain over 75,000 types of trees and 150,000 species of higher plants. One square kilometre of Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,000 tons of living plants. This constitutes the largest collection of living plants and animal species in the world. One in five of all the birds in the world live in the rainforests of the Amazon. To date, an estimated 438,000 species of plants of economic and social interest have been registered in the region with many more remaining to be discovered or cataloged.

There has been concern among environmentalists for many years, regarding the deforestation of the region, stemming mainly from the fact that more than one fifth of the Amazon Rainforest has already been destroyed; and much more is threatened. Not only are environmentalists concerned about the loss of biodiversity which will result from the forest's destruction, they are also concerned about the release of the carbon which is held within the trees -- this carbon will accelerate global warming.

The deforestation of this area in the 1980s was largely considered catastrophic. Yet, in 1996, the Amazon was reported to have shown a 34 per cent increase in deforestation since 1992. A new report by a congressional committee says the Amazon is vanishing at a rate of 52,000 square kilometers (20,000 miles�) a year, over three times the rate for which the last official figures were reported, in 1994.

Environmentalists commonly stress the fact that there is not only a biological incentive to protecting the rainforest, but also an economic one. One square kilometer in the Peruvian Amazon has been calculated to have a value of $682,000 if intact forest is sustainably harvested for fruits, latex, and timber; $100,000 if clear-cut for commercial timber (not sustainably harvested); or $14,800 if used as cattle pasture.

The For�a A�rea Brasileira has been using EMBRAER R-99 surveillance aircraft, as part of the SIVAM program, in an attempt to halt rainforest deforestation. At a conference in July 2004, scientists warned that the rainforest will no longer be able to absorb the millions of tons of greenhouse gases annually, as it usually does, because of the increased pace of rainforest destruction. The large-scale cutting of trees begins a cycle in which farmers burn leftover jungle scrub to replenish the soil, which releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide (200 to 300 million tons in 2003) into the atmosphere, that are in turn absorbed by the rainforest.

9,169 square miles of rain forest were cut down in 2003 alone.


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