A road through the forest area of Mato Grosso, a large state in west-central Brazil. The Amazon basin is home to the largest rainforest on Earth, and the second longest river (after the Nile). Despite both local and governmental attempts to protect it, in the last 40 years one-fifth of the forest has been razed.

The remnants of trees after forest fires in Mato Grosso in 2008. Mato Grosso had historically been one of the highest areas for deforestation in the Amazon – by 2008 38% of the area that had originally been forests was cleared. The state government then decided to take action and developed a plan for the control of deforestation and fires.

A harvester at work in a soya crop in Mato Grosso – soy production has been a main driver of deforestation in the Amazon since the 1990s, especially in this state. Since 2006, leaders in the industry agreed to a moratorium on farming soy on newly cleared land, as a direct result of a Greenpeace campaign.

Cattle shelter from the sun under a tree in Mato Grosso. Cattle grazing accounts for around 70% of deforestation in the Amazon. According to Mongabay, most of the cattle ranches have low productivity, with much of the driving force behind this to establish land claims.

Charcoal ovens in Maranhão, a north-eastern state of Brazil. Brazil is one of the world’s largest consumers of wood charcoal. Brazil also has the largest renewable energy market in Latin America, generating up to 70% of electricity from renewable sources. But this still has its negative impacts on the environment, with hydroelectric dams displacing and destroying livelihoods of indigenous communities. The Belo Monte dam is the most contentious; set to be the world’s fourth largest, it would generate 11,000 MW of energy, but at the cost of the welfare of local communities.

One of Brazil’s protected trees. Since 2000 Brazil has established the world’s largest network of protected areas to conserve the environment, spanning at least 1.5m sq km. Brazil has seen an 80% reduction of deforestation in the Amazon in the last decade, but in recent years there has been a worrying upturn in deforestation. So in December 2016, the government pledged the ‘largest restoration commitment made by any nation’ to re-establish by 2030 12m hectares of forest land that has been degraded or deforested.

Logging is a major cause of destruction in the Amazon. Brazil has committed to zero illegal deforestation by 2030. Illegal logging is especially prevalent, and a Greenpeace investigation in 2015 found the Brazilian government’s policies to tackle illegal logging were flawed. Greenpeace found loggers were harvesting timber illegally, and were laundering the wood and labelling it as legal.

A deforested area in Maranhão. Deforestation has a wide reaching impact. Tropical forests are important carbon sinks, and when they are destroyed carbon is released into the atmosphere, accelerating the rate of climate change. It is estimated that ending deforestation could reduce annual global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30%.

The Amazon is home to an estimated 16,000 tree species and 390bn individual trees. But a 2015 study found 57% would be in danger if current rates of deforestation continued.

Tractors use chains during soil cleaning for soybean crop. In general, soy production has an indirect impact on deforestation – soy expansion drives up land prices, which in turn encourages infrastructure developments and displaces cattle ranchers, both of which lead to deforestation.

Cattle are raised in the Amazon region before they’re sold to slaughterhouses. Data from the Brazilian government suggests that more than 60% of deforested land ends up as land for cattle.

Truck transporting logs along a road in Mato Grosso. Much of the produce from the Amazon – beef, leather, timber, soy, for example – are exported to China, Europe and the US. But in recent years private companies have been responsive to consumer demands for more sustainable commodities.

Many local people are fighting to preserve the forests themselves, but it is often dangerous work. The worst year on record for killings of environmental activists was 2015, with the most deaths (50) in Brazil. Almost 40% of victims were from indigenous groups. Conflicts over mining, agribusiness, hydroelectric dams and logging were the main causes of violence.

Most people living in the Amazon live in cities or towns, but there are about 240 tribes living in Brazil, making up around 0.4% of Brazil’s population. The government has recognised 690 territories for its indigenous population, almost all of it in the Amazon. A recent study by the World Resources Institute (pdf) found that local people were best placed to look after the forests, and that community-managed forests delivered greater carbon storage.

A drought in 2010 was considered the worst in the Amazon basin in the last 100 years. It was said to be further evidence of the region’s vulnerability to rising global temperatures.