Brazil Wants to Count, Register Each and Every Tree in the Amazon

The Brazilian government has recently made it public news that, in an attempt to secure the Amazonian forests and wildlife under its jurisdiction, it is to carry out a so-called tree census.

More precisely, the country's high officials have all agreed that all conservation projects and green-oriented policies are likely to fail to achieve their goals as long as those in charge of implementing them are a bit fuzzy about what it is exactly that they must protect.

Some of the money needed for this initiative is provided by BNDES, i.e. Brazil's national development bank. Thus, said bank has agreed to provide the greenheads in charge of carrying out this forest inventory with $33 million (€24.5 million).

Mongabay reports that this tree census is expected to be completed in four years’ time, and that the data collected while inventorying the trees and the wildlife specimens inhabiting the Brazilian part of the Amazon will eventually be used to gain a better understanding of how various human activities impact on the ecosystems in this part of the world.

More precisely, the Brazilian government hopes that, by means of this tree census, both they and the country's residents will obtain information having to do with the effects of deforestation, climate change and conservation efforts on the country's Amazonian forests.

According to the same source, the three most important aspects that this inventory is to focus on are as follows: tree species, soils and biodiversity.

As was to be expected, the Brazilian government is quite hopeful that this tree census will eventually translate into its being able to better exploit the economic potential of forest resources without ever having to worry about causing significant damage to the environment.

The researchers taking part in this project are requested to release updates on their work on an annual basis.

For those unaware, it was back in the 1970s when Brazil last carried out such a tree census.