Tasso Azevedo

"Save the rainforest" is an environmental slogan as old as time — but Tasso Azevedo catches us up on how the fight is actually going these days. Spurred by the jaw-dropping losses of the 1990s, new laws (and transparent data) are helping slow the rate of deforestation in Brazil. Is it enough? Not yet. He has five ideas about what we should do next. And he asks if the lessons learned in Brazil could be applied to an even bigger problem: global climate change.

Nearly 20 trees are cut down every second in the Amazon rainforest, as authorities struggle to monitor millions of acres and stop illegal clear-cutting. But land reformer Tasso Azevedo and his team at MapBiomas have changed the game, transforming satellite imagery into precise, real-time maps that make every clear-cut visible — and every actor accountable. Learn how they're helping slash deforestation in the Amazon, proving that transparency is a forest's strongest defense. (This ambitious idea is part of The Audacious Project, TED’s initiative to inspire and fund global change.)