Amazon rainforest

The decrease began in January after far-right President Jair Bolsonaro left office and leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in.

Gold prices are soaring. Cue the gold rush, and with it, more challenges for Brazil and efforts to protect the world's largest tropical forest, write Robert Muggah and Mac Margolis.

The illegal miners have polluted rivers and land in the reserve, leading to widespread hunger and disease.

Plans to pave Brazil's highway BR-319 through the Amazon rainforest have raised alarm from environmental groups.

Rieli Franciscato was a leading expert on uncontacted tribes and was killed while on a mission to shield an isolated indigenous group from a possible hostile encounter with outsiders.

Not since 2008 has the Amazon been destroyed at a faster rate, according to Brazilian authorities. They say an area more than 12 times the size of New York City was deforested in the span of a year.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he doesn't want the money — unless it comes with an apology from French President Emmanuel Macron.

Protesters took to the streets across Brazil this weekend to voice outrage over the fires burning through the Amazon.

In a tweet, the French president called the 2,500 active fires in the Amazon an "international crisis" and urged fellow G-7 members to "discuss this emergency first order" at their upcoming summit.

Researchers say there's been a huge rise in the number of fires compared with last year. That's likely linked with a similar leap in deforestation since President Jair Bolsonaro took office.