In Humaitá, a town located on the banks of the Madeira River and on the crossroads of two Amazonian major highways, a local infrastructure project is touted to bring growth and progress. But it fuels fears of deforestation as the agricultural frontier advances.
Category: Deforestation
‘Do I deserve to die for speaking on behalf of a people?’
Eronilde Fermin is the chief of the Omágua Kambeba in São Paulo de Olivença, in the Brazilian Amazon. The following is an account of the struggle of unequal forces she faces when trying to guarantee indigenous education, medical care during the pandemic, and protection against invaders.
Saweto’s daughter, from Peru, persists in her fight for justice
Diana Ríos Rengifo took on the defense of the Peruvian Amazon after the murder of her father, a well-known Asheninka leader in the fight against illegal loggers. The trees in Saweto, a community located near the Peruvian border with Brazil, are highly coveted on the market and are threatened by indiscriminate logging.
Hortimio, the “Lord of the Earth”: Always at the Forefront in Cataniapo
Inspired by Wänä’cä, a leader who is mentioned in the ancestral songs of the Huöttöja people, Hortimio Ochoa is the visible face of defense of the Cataniapo hydrographic basin in the Venezuelan state of Amazonas. It is an area subject to increasingly evident pressure associated with mining, deforestation and the incursion of illegal armed groups
Amazon heroes who don’t give up
The Guardians of the Forest, a group of indigenous Guajajara in the Brazilian state of Maranhão, struggle to defend their land from invaders and to guarantee their survival in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Booming soy industry could threaten Brazil’s climate commitments
Soy production is booming — but researchers are warning that the soy industry’s rise could be the downfall of Brazil’s climate commitments.