Preserving the Amazon rainforest is critical not only because of the incredible biodiversity there, but also the Amazon’s role in meeting global climate targets. Join Buzz Thompson for a conversation with Tasso Azevedo — former forestry manager and social environmental entrepreneur who has dedicated most of his career to preserving the Amazon rainforest — to hear more about how deforestation in the Amazon affects regional and global climate, how we can better value all of the ecosystem services the Amazon provides, and how we can discourage deforestation by making informed consumer choices.

Azevedo was the first chief and director general of the Brazilian Forest Service. Under Azevedo’s innovative leadership, the rate of deforestation in the Amazon decreased by 75%, and Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 35%. Azevedo has spearheaded efforts to annually map land use and land cover changes in the Amazon. This project has become the longest and most detailed effort to monitor and map changes in land cover and land use in any country in the world. His work has inspired similar efforts around the world.