New WWF findings come as fires tear through Amazon rainforest.
Halting deforestation is a key concern for the UK public – and 67% believe the government should be doing more to tackle destruction in the Amazon, according to a UK-wide survey conducted by WWF.
Additionally, 81% of people said there should be greater transparency of the origin of the products we import into the UK and almost three-quarters (73%) said the UK should stop trading with countries that fail to protect the natural environment.
This news comes as more than 20,000 fires were detected in the Amazon in August this year – following an increase in deforestation alerts of 33% since last year. Deforestation and fires have a devastating impact on people and species that call the Amazon home. It shelters 10% of all the wildlife species we know about, as well as 3 million indigenous people from 350 indigenous groups. Evidence strongly suggests that we are heading towards a tipping point in large parts of the Amazon which could happen even more quickly with increasing temperatures and continued deforesting. Indeed, some Amazon experts believe this tipping point could be reached with as little as 5% further loss of forest.
WWF’s survey also shows shoppers are willing to change what they buy to make a difference, with 74% saying they are more likely to buy products which aren’t destroying the Amazon and more than half (57%) saying they would change their supermarket if a competitor could prove it was doing more to fight deforestation.
Mike Barrett, Executive Director of Science and Conservation at WWF said: “Our precious Amazon rainforest is on fire right now due to rampant deforestation and the UK public are telling us they want urgent action. We need tough new laws to cut deforestation out of supply chains – a world-leading Environment Bill would stop the UK importing habitat destruction so shoppers can be confident in the products they buy.”
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