As devastating as it’s effects may be, completely eliminating deforestation in the Amazon (or anywhere) just isn’t possible. There will always be a demand for wood products or goods that require the clearing of woodland. However, the main solution is “zero-net deforestation”. That is, whatever deforestation that is unavoidable is offset by the amount of trees planted. This is the main goal being furthered by the New York Declaration on Forests, which united 30 governments and 50 companies, as well as the Brazilian government itself.

However, simply allowing deforestation and trying to plant enough trees to compensate won’t work—newly planted trees need time to grow and become part of the environment, while continuously clearing established rainforest hurts the overall biome.

Do you see that chart to the right? It shows a map of the Amazon rainforest with different colors designating their protection status. Green represents officially protected woodland, yellow represents unprotected and partially deforested woodland, and red represents areas that have already been developed. The main idea should be to expand the green zone further while promoting sustainable production in the yellow zone.