An exclusive survey shows that, between July and September, the period that marks the dry season, fires in lands with the presence of isolated peoples accounted for more than 25% of fires in indigenous areas. The most serious cases occurred on the border with the Cerrado, in Mato Grosso, Pará, and Rondônia.
Category: Indigenous people
Illegal mining sparks malaria outbreak in Indigenous territories in Brazil
A letter from Jacareacanga City Hall, obtained exclusively by Mongabay/InfoAmazonia, asks the Evandro Chagas Institute for help because of a “major outbreak of malaria” in the municipality’s indigenous lands and points out that the increase in cases is related to illegal mining in the region. by Hyury Potter, Eduardo Goulart de Andrade e Fábio BispoTranslation: […]
Encouraged by Bolsonaro, mining requests on indigenous lands reach record numbers in 2020
Exclusive survey reveals 145 requests filed with the National Mining Agency as of November 3, the highest number in 24 years. A bill presented by President Bolsonaro would legalize activities currently prohibited by the Constitution. Image: operation against illegal mining in TI Kayapó, in 2017. Photo: Felipe Werneck/InfoAmazonia.
‘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.
‘Defending the jungle is defending community life,‘ says leader from Ecuadorian Amazon
Rosa Aranda faces two miseries. One in her own body: she was infected by Covid-19. The other is the historical pollution generated by the oil industry, which threatens the territory in which she lives, Piwiri, in the Ecuadorian Amazon forest.
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.
Sebastião Salgado calls for protection of indigenous people during the pandemic
One of the greatest photographers of today sends a letter to Bolsonaro stating that the Covid-19 epidemic may represent the genocide of several ethnic groups.
Want to help contain the Amazon crisis? Here some ways
People from all over offering to volunteer and donate to local actions in the Brazilian forest. If you want to help, this is an initial list of NGOs