Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall. 

Today, we’re traveling to the Atlantic Forest, the second-largest rainforest in Brazil. Right now, it’s only 10% of its original size, but governments and nonprofits are working to change that. 

One of our reporters, Ashley Junger, helped out with one of these projects over the summer. She’s here to tell us what she learned.

Ashley Junger: Hi, Megan! 

*Sounds of the Amazon rainforest, bird calls*

Megan Hall: So tell us about this work you did over the summer!

Ashley Junger: I traveled to the Ecological Reserve of Guapiacu, also known as REGUA, about two hours away from Rio de Janeiro, for a project with my other job: Earthwatch Institute, a non-profit that pairs volunteers with scientists to conduct environmental research around the world.

Megan Hall: That sounds fun! 

Ashley Junger: You know it! I worked with Manoel Muanis, a Brazilian scientist leading a restoration project in the Atlantic Rainforest. 500 years ago, it covered almost the entire east coast of Brazil, but land clearing, population growth, and deforestation made it almost disappear.

Megan Hall: So, you’re trying to grow it back?

Ashley Junger: That’s the plan! As Manoel said: 

Manoel Muanis: “We need plants a lot of trees” 

Ashley Junger: Manoel is not alone in this goal. A coalition of governments, companies, and the scientific community are all working together to reforest an area as big as the state of New York!

Megan Hall: I’ve always wondered, why don’t trees just grow back on their own?

Ashley Junger: Well, there is a natural process where eventually a mature forest comes back, but a lot of the land that used to be the Atlantic Forest is so degraded that trees won’t come back without some help. 

Megan Hall: Why is that?

Ashley Junger: In some cases, the animals that spread the seeds are gone. In others, deforested land is too hot and dry for seeds that evolved to sprout on the shady rainforest floor.  

Megan Hall: So what are people doing to help?

Ashley Junger: Well, REGUA collects seeds of native trees from the surrounding forest, starts growing them in their nursery, and then plants the seedlings in degraded areas. Afterwards, they monitor the saplings for a few years to make sure they’re growing properly.

Megan Hall: And they’re doing all of this so the trees can trap carbon from the atmosphere?

Ashley Junger: They’re definitely interested in the climate benefits, but that’s not the only focus. Manoel’s colleague, Julian Nicolas Wilmer, says-

Julian Nicolas Wilmer: The greatest value is not on carbon itself, but on the biodiversity. Because if you do not have biodiversity the microbes, the insects, everything, even the greatest restoration effort will be fated to failure.

Ashley Junger: In other words, they want to rebuild the entire ecosystem of the forest- not just plant trees.

Megan Hall: How can they tell if they’re on the right track?

Ashley Junger: That’s the part I helped with! To find out whether the replanted forests match the biodiversity and ecosystem of the original forests, I helped trap and track small mammals.

Manoel Muanis: For small mammals, we are using recapture methodology, which is basically with each animal that we capture we tagged with your individual number and then release.

Ashley Junger: Once the small mammals are tagged, researchers can count how many individuals are in the forests, and whether they’re sticking around.

Megan Hall: But how do small mammals tell you if a forest is supporting biodiversity?

Ashley Junger: If the number and diversity of small mammals in the newly reforested areas match what they’re finding in undisturbed, old-growth forests, then that’s a sign that the ecosystem is recovering well.

Megan Hall: Cool! Is there a way I can help?

Ashley Junger: Many of these types of tree-planting initiatives around the world are looking for volunteers. But if you don’t have the time or money to travel, you can still play an important role. Julian says:

Julian Nicolas Wilmer: I think is the duty of everyone to think of this issue. And think, what you can do for both planting trees and for restoration programs.

Ashley Junger: So figure out the way you can make the biggest impact. Whether that’s going to the Atlantic Forest yourself and getting your hands dirty or donating to support a reforestation project.

Megan Hall: Great! Thanks, or, as they say in Brazil, obrigada Ashley!

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to the thepublicsradio.org/possibly. Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook or X at  “askpossibly” 

Possibly is a co-production of The Public’s Radio and Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society and Climate Solutions Initiative.

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Fire in the Amazon is not part of a natural cycle and was not common before people started to clear the forest. The solution is better environmental enforcement in Brazil to prevent deforestation and globally to prevent companies from buying wood from the Amazon.

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems, like the future of our planet. And break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

This question comes from listener Jason Travers – and it’s a big one.. He says he’s concerned about the fires this summer in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. He wants to know, why did this happen and is it normal?

We had Dana Altoami and Molly Magid from our Possibly team look into this. Welcome, Dana and Molly!

Dana Altoami: Hi Megan!

Molly Magid: Hello!

Megan Hall: First, for people who don’t know, can you explain what happened in the Amazon this summer?

Dana Altoami: Well the fires started burning in June and continued to increase through September. 

Molly Magid: At the peak, the fires consumed more than 7,000 square miles of forest. 

Dana Altoami: That’s about the size of New Jersey!

Megan Hall: So why did this happen?

Dana Altoami: To answer that question, we talked to Leah Van Wey, a professor of Environment and Society at Brown. 

Molly Magid: She explained that in Brazil, the way the government thinks about the Amazon rainforest has shifted…

Leah Van Wey: The Amazon is viewed as this large repository of stuff that can be turned into economic benefit

Dana Altoami: She says that this change in attitude has led to looser environmental regulations.

Megan Hall: And how did that lead to the fires this summer? 

Molly Magid: Well, because of the reduced enforcement, it’s easier for people to get away with clearing the land for farming and ranching. They often do this by setting fires on purpose. 

Dana Altoami: And because so much of the moisture in the Amazon comes from water recycled through the trees, deforestation is making it drier.

Molly Magid: Which means the fires spread faster and get out of control. And that’s what happened this summer.  

Megan Hall: So, these fires in the Amazon are particularly extreme, but I’ve heard that fires are a natural part of the life cycle of a forest. Is that true? 

Molly Magid: For some forests, but not for the Amazon. Before people started clearing it for pastures and forestry, fire was not very common there. 

Megan Hall: Ok, so is there anything we can do about the fires?

Dana Altoami: Leah says, in this case, individual action won’t do much compared with changing policies and laws

Leah Van Wey: As a policy what we need to do is we need to work towards better environmental enforcement 

Megan Hall: What does she mean by better environmental enforcement?

Molly Magid: Well, there’s a need for enforcement in Brazil itself, to prevent this deforestation

Dana Altoami: But locally. we could prevent companies from buying wood from the Amazon and other tropical rainforests, so there’s less logging there. 

Molly Magid: For example, here in Providence, the new pedestrian bridge was actually built with Brazilian tropical hardwoods.  

Dana Altoami: A stricter policy on the types of wood we use for construction projects could have encouraged the city to try a different material. 

Megan Hall: Thanks for looking into this Dana and Molly!

For more information or to ask a question about the way you recycle, use energy, or make any other choice that affects the planet, go to our question page.

Possibly is a co-production of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and the Public’s Radio. 

References

1.   See how much of the Amazon is burning, how it compares to other years https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/amazon-fires-cause-deforestation-graphic-map/

2.   $21.9 million later, pedestrian bridge opens in downtown Providence https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190809/219-million-later-pedestrian-bridge-opens-in-downtown-providence

3.     Amazon Destruction https://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_destruction.html

4.     MAAP #110: MAJOR FINDING – MANY BRAZILIAN AMAZON FIRES FOLLOW 2019 DEFORESTATION https://maaproject.org/2019/amazon-fires-deforestation/

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