The Pan-Amazon Synod

The main purpose of this convocation is to identify new paths for the evangelization of this segment of the People of God, especially the indigenous peoples, often forgotten and without the prospect of a peaceful future, also due to the crisis of the Amazon rainforest, the lungs of paramount importance for our planet.

May the new Saints intercede through this ecclesial event, so that, with respect for the beauty of creation, all the people of the earth may praise God, Lord of the universe, and enlightened by him, may follow paths of justice and peace."

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• The Amazon Biome, is defined as the area covered predominantly by dense moist tropical forest, with relatively small inclusions of several other types of vegetation such as savannas, floodplain forests, grasslands, swamps, bamboos, and palm forests.

• Two times the size of India, the Amazon biome encompasses 6.7 million km and is shared by eight countries (Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname), as well as the overseas territory of French Guiana.

• Not only does the Amazon encompass the single largest remaining tropical rainforest in the world, it also houses at least 10% of the world’s known biodiversity, including endemic and endangered flora and fauna, and its river, which is over 6,600 km long, accounts for 15-16% of the world’s total river discharge into the oceans.

• The Amazon is home to 350 ethnic groups, more than 60 of which still remain largely isolated. 

• During the last half century, the seemingly endless Amazon has lost at least 17% of its forest cover, its connectivity has been increasingly disrupted, and numerous endemic species have been subjected to waves of resource exploitation.