Amazon deforestation back on the rise

November 2023

Project description

As part of a Viz for Social Good brief I created this data physicalisation to highlight levels of Amazon deforestation over time, focusing on the fact that the numbers are rising after having decreased at the start of this century.

For the project, I used these plants in my garden as a blank canvas for an area chart to represent data that I obtained from Our World in Data.

I captured the process in the following video: Amazon deforestation: The making of

Process

1. Data preparation – I knew I wanted to physicalise using the bushes in my garden related to a topic about plants. After researching some options, I noticed this interesting recent trend in Amazon deforestation that I found reliable data for on Our World in Data.
2. Plan and execution – Based on the datapoints found I marked where the cuts of the bushes should be based on a rough estimation (no exact measurements). I then started trimming the bushes down to those markings.
3. Reflection and solution – About halfway through I realised that the visual would maybe have been better if inverted, so that more leftover bushes would stand for more leftover Amazon forest. Now the areas with larger bushes represent more deforestation, which seemed counterintuitive, but I was already halfway done. Now that I finalised the project and added a lot of contextual information, I don’t find it as misleading anymore.

I got the honour to present this project at the Viz for Social Good end of the year summit (click here).