Last August, a few members of our Brazil and U.S. Street View and Google Earth Outreach teams were invited to the Amazon Basin to collect ground-level images of the rivers, forest and communities in the Rio Negro Reserve. On the World Forest Day, we are making those images available through the Street View feature on Google Maps. Now, anyone can experience the beauty and diversity of the Amazon.
This project was made possible in partnership with the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS), the organization that invited us to the area. We used the Street View trike and a tripod camera with a fisheye lens to capture both the natural landscape and the local communities. In all, more than 50,000 still photos were stitched together to create these immersive, 360-degree panoramic views
Many areas of the Amazon, including Rio Negro Reserve, are under the protection of the Brazilian Government with restricted access to the public, so we hope that this Street View collection provides access to this special corner of the planet that many of us otherwise wouldn't have the chance to experience. Together with FAS, we are thrilled to help everyone from researchers and scientists to armchair explorers around the world learn more about the Amazon, and better understand how local communities there are working to preserve this unique environment for future generations.
