AppleInsider Staff
Apple plans to contribute funds to ongoing efforts in the Amazon, which continues to make headlines as a series of devastating wildfires and uncontrolled blazes wreak havoc in the world's largest tropical rainforest.
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the initiative in a post to his personal Twitter account on Monday.
"It's devastating to see the fires and destruction ravaging the Amazon rainforest, one of the world's most important ecosystems. Apple will be donating to help preserve its biodiversity and restore the Amazon's indispensable forest across Latin America," Cook said in a tweet.
How Apple intends to assist remains unclear, though the company will likely donate funds directly to local non-profits or emergency service organizations working to fight the fires.
The Amazon is suffering from the highest number of recorded fires since at least 2013, according to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Nearly 80,000 separate incidents have been recorded across the rainforest, a large number of which threaten the highly populated Amazon Basin.
As reported by The New York Times, the INPE's statistics represent a 79 percent increase in fires from the same time in 2017. While fires naturally occur in some areas of the rainforest, humans are for the most part to blame for the Amazon's current condition.
Brazil's Ministry of Defense dispatched about 40,000 troops to the area, as well as two C-130 Hercules aircraft tasked with dousing the flames from above, DW reports.
Cook typically takes to Twitter to announce one-off Apple donations. In 2018, the executive announced $1 million contributions for victims of the Kerala floods in India, relief efforts following the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, and Red Cross activity after the California wild fires and Hurricane Florence.
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26 Comments
An important part of this story is that some countries and organizations have suspended contributions to the Amazon fund. Why? Read here:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/23/amazon-fires-global-leaders-urged-divert-brazil-suicide-path
This is more involved than some fires.
I saw another article bitching about how little money has been raised vs money raised to restore Notre Dame cathedral.
The problem is the Amazon will burn again next year. Brazil has decided that ranching is more important than the rainforest. The solution isn’t just money, Brazil needs to go “all in” on protecting the rainforest. They need to nail people’s (that start fires) asses to the wall...it’s a question of enforcement. Can you imagine our response if every year someone lit fires in the Yellowstone National Park? Our response would be the equivalent to the hunt for Osama bin Laden...
International money can do a lot of things like satellites for detecting fires, equipment to put it out, etc.
But, the bottom line is this is a political problem and that’s where international pressure (trade deals, sanctions, tariffs, etc.) come into play.
What ever happened with the promises Apple made to rebuild Notre Dame? Did they ever follow through?
If the money is put to good use. Go for it!