BELEM, Brazil — The Amazon rainforest is a massive area, twice the size of India and sprawling across eight countries and one territory. It's a crucial carbon sink for the climate, has about 20% of the world's freshwater reserves and boasts astounding biodiversity, including 16,000 known tree species.
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FILE - Cows roam an area recently deforested in the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, Acre state, Brazil, Dec. 6, 2022. The two-day Amazon Summit opens Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Belem, where Brazil hosts policymakers and others to discuss how to tackle the immense challenges of protecting the Amazon and stemming the worst of climate change. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
FILE - Francisco Fabiano Rodrigues and his children stand outside their home on a street flooded by the rise of the Negro River in Iranduba, Amazonas state, Brazil, May 23, 2022. The two-day Amazon Summit opens Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Belem, where Brazil hosts policymakers and others to discuss how to tackle the immense challenges of protecting the Amazon and stemming the worst of climate change. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
FILE - A ferry boat transports logs cut from the Amazon rainforest in Guama river in Belem, northern state of Para, Brazil, Jan. 14, 2023. The two-day Amazon Summit opens Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Belem, where Brazil hosts policymakers and others to discuss how to tackle the immense challenges of protecting the Amazon and stemming the worst of climate change. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)
FILE - Houseboats sit amid drought-impacted land near the Solimões River, in Tefe, Amazonas state, Brazil, Oct. 19, 2022. The two-day Amazon Summit opens Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Belem, where Brazil hosts policymakers and others to discuss how to tackle the immense challenges of protecting the Amazon and stemming the worst of climate change. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
FILE - An activist holds a sign written in Portuguese that reads "Mining out. The forest stands," during a demonstration by the "Act for the Earth" movement in front of the National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, March 9, 2022. The two-day Amazon Summit opens Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Belem, where Brazil hosts policymakers and others to discuss how to tackle the immense challenges of protecting the Amazon and stemming the worst of climate change. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
FILE - Smoke rises from a forest fire in the Transamazonica highway region, in the municipality of Labrea, Amazonas state, Brazil, Sept. 17, 2022. The two-day Amazon Summit opens Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Belem, where Brazil hosts policymakers and others to discuss how to tackle the immense challenges of protecting the Amazon and stemming the worst of climate change. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
FILE - City workers remove garbage floating on the Negro River, which has a rising water level due to rain, in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, June 6, 2022. The two-day Amazon Summit opens Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Belem, where Brazil hosts policymakers and others to discuss how to tackle the immense challenges of protecting the Amazon and stemming the worst of climate change. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
FILE - Fishermen arrive at Leticia, Colombia, Feb. 14, 2017, a port, by the Amazon river, in the border with Brazil and Peru. The two-day Amazon Summit opens Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Belem, where Brazil hosts policymakers and others to discuss how to tackle the immense challenges of protecting the Amazon and stemming the worst of climate change. (AP Photo/Fabiano Maisonnave, File)
FILE - A man leads his horse on the banks of the river during the Amazon Surf Festival held in the Canal do Perigoso, or "Dangerous Channel," at the mouth of the Amazon River near Chaves, Marajo Island archipelago, Para state, Brazil, June 5, 2023. The two-day Amazon Summit opens Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Belem, where Brazil hosts policymakers and others to discuss how to tackle the immense challenges of protecting the Amazon and stemming the worst of climate change. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
FILE - A small passenger boat crosses the Acre River between the city and the access road to the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve, in Xapuri, Acre state, Brazil, Dec. 7, 2022. The two-day Amazon Summit opens Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Belem, where Brazil hosts policymakers and others to discuss how to tackle the immense challenges of protecting the Amazon and stemming the worst of climate change. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
FILE - Raimundo Brazao dos Santos transports acai palm hearts collected for sale in an island in the Bailique Archipelago, district of Macapa, state of Amapa, northern Brazil, Sept. 10, 2022. The two-day Amazon Summit opens Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Belem, where Brazil hosts policymakers and others to discuss how to tackle the immense challenges of protecting the Amazon and stemming the worst of climate change. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File)
FILE - An illegal miner throws water at one of the more than 60 dredging barges that were set on fire by officers of the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, IBAMA, during an operation to try to contain illegal gold mining on the Madeira river, a tributary of the Amazon river in Borba, Amazonas state, Brazil, Nov. 28, 2021. The two-day Amazon Summit opens Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Belem, where Brazil hosts policymakers and others to discuss how to tackle the immense challenges of protecting the Amazon and stemming the worst of climate change. (AP Photo/Edmar Barros, File)
Photos: New approach to preserving the Amazon
Boats navigate a river in Carauari, Brazil, on Sept. 7, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit has created a new model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon.
Fernanda de Araujo Moraes, center, president of the local riverine association, holds a child at her home in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, on Sept. 1, 2022. A Brazilian nonprofit has created a new model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon. To involve the riverine communities in governance, the institute set up a steering committee and launched a series of public meetings called "community of dreams," where people can prioritize the improvements they want most.
Jose Alves de Morais maneuvers a boat, in Carauari, Brazil on Sept. 1, 2022. A Brazilian non-profit created a model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon. "This is something that doesn't exist here in the Amazon, it doesn't exist anywhere in Brazil. If it works, which it will, it will attract a lot of people's attention," Morais, a resident, told The Associated Press.
A wood stork flies, in Carauari, Brazil, on Sept. 6, 2022. A Brazilian nonprofit has created a new model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon, the world's largest tropical forest.
Jose Alves de Morais carries jugs to a boat in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, on Sept. 1, 2022.
Fishermen join boats to pass pirarucu fish to a motorized one, front, used to transport it faster to the processing ship at a lake in Carauari, Brazil, on Sept. 6, 2022.
Fisherman Marco Aurelio Canuto Viana processes a pirarucu fish at a lake at Medio Jurua region, Amazonia State, Brazil, on Sept. 5, 2022.
Fernanda de Araujo Moraes, president of the river dwellers' association speaks at her home in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, on Sept. 1, 2022.
Jose Alves de Morais and his nephew Felipe embrace at a home, in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, on Sept. 1, 2022.
A family prepares food at a home in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, on Sept. 1, 2022.
A boy stands at a table at a home in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, on Sept. 1, 2022.
Boats sit at a dock at Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, on Sept. 1, 2022. A Brazilian nonprofit has created a new model for land ownership that welcomes both local people and scientists to collaborate in preserving the Amazon.(AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
A man trails a dog in Lago Serrado community, near Carauari, Brazil, on Sept. 1, 2022.
