The Trump administration’s freeze on US foreign aid has stopped crucial rainforest protection work, putting both forests and communities at risk. A federal court recently ordered a temporary lift of this freeze, but the impact continues to unfold in regions like the Amazon rainforest. In Peru’s Amazon region, the funding cut has immediate effects. Protection programs for indigenous leaders can’t operate. Alternative development programs to coca crops have stopped. When these programs pause, illegal activities often increase. Drug trafficking and associated illegal activities can expand in these areas, contributing to deforestation. “When the largest global donor cuts its funds overnight, … Continue reading Trump’s USAID Freeze Fuels Amazon Deforestation Surge