Brazil鈥檚 Indigenous Peoples Have Long United Against Deforestation
Aerial view of deforestation in Nascentes da Serra do Cachimbo Biological Reserve in Altamira, Para state, Brazil, in the Amazon basin, on August 28, 2019.
Photo by Joao Laet/AFP
Why you can trust us
When rain started to fall on the flames overtaking the area around the small Amazonian town of L谩brea, Brazil, Marcos Apurin茫 let out a sigh.
The Indigenous leader knew the fires would continue to rage across the lower Amazon region in Brazil, known as the arc of deforestation, but the rain brought a brief moment of relief. He and the others in the Apurin茫 community in L谩brea and other surrounding towns had been fighting the fires for weeks.
鈥淭here have been huge fires in and around Indigenous territories,鈥� said Apurin茫 from a meeting in L谩brea with representatives of 22 Indigenous peoples that took place over several days at the end of August. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e destroyed the south of Amazonas state,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his region is seeing a lot of destruction because of the road and new paths being cleared so loggers can come in for wood, so they can ransack the forest.鈥�
The fires currently ravaging the rainforest聽have largely been聽set by illegal miners, loggers, and farmers to quickly clear land. For the Apurin茫 and other Indigenous peoples living in the Amazon, it鈥檚 this deforestation that has long brought them together in an attempt to protect their territories, and the recent increase in fires聽across the region has made saving the rainforest more critical than ever.
In the first eight months of this year, 90,501 , an increase of 71% over the same period last year, according to satellite data collected by the country鈥檚 National Space Research Institute (Inpe). More than half of those fires were in the Amazon鈥攚here nearly all of are located鈥攁 more than 100% increase in fires in the region so far this year. In August alone, the biome experienced more than 30,000 fires, compared to the approximately 10,000 .
Indigenous peoples, like the Apurin茫, are on the front lines of fighting the fires razing their land at breakneck speed. They also find themselves up against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in a bout to put an end to politics and policies that have allowed the destruction of the Amazon to come close to what Brazilian climate scientist and Amazon expert Carlos Nobre calls a 鈥�,鈥� in which deforestation surpassing 40% would mean there was no turning back to save the rainforest.
Bolsonaro has received harsh criticism since he took office in January for his rhetoric against both the environment and Indigenous peoples. During his campaign for presidency, the far-right politician and former army captain promised to put an end to the demarcation of Indigenous land, saying more than once that there would not be 鈥溾�� given to such a small portion of the population if he were to win the election.
As the fires ate large swaths of the rainforest, he continued his anti-Indigenous discourse at an with governors of states that are home to the Amazon, saying during a live broadcast that many of the protected Indigenous territories 鈥渁re located strategically鈥� and that someone had been 鈥渁rranging鈥� the demarcations without saying who that could be.
鈥淚ndians don鈥檛 have a political lobby; they don鈥檛 speak our language, but they have managed to get 14% of our national territory,鈥� he continued.
Just over a month after being elected, that pro-environment and -Indigenous policies were getting in the way of the northern state of Roraima becoming the richest in the country. Later that same month, he compared Indigenous peoples in Brazil to .
While Bolsonaro鈥檚 is not the first administration to neglect the problem of deforestation in the Amazon鈥攊n there were approximately 64,000 fires registered in the region鈥斺�渋ts contempt for the environment is particularly brazen,鈥� Oliver Stuenkel, an associate professor of international relations at Brazil鈥檚 Get煤lio Vargas Foundation, .
Since taking office, Bolsonaro has attempted to hand the demarcation of Indigenous territories, overseen by the National Indian Foundation (Funai), , a move blocked by the Supreme Court. Two bills that would amend the constitution and legally , as well as allow their mineral and hydro resources to be extracted, are also currently making their way through Congress. They were slated to be voted on in the lower house on Aug. 21, but Indigenous activists were able to stall the vote and convince their opposition to split up the two so they could be considered separately.
When the fires overtaking the Amazon made headlines around the world, Bolsonaro accused of interfering with Brazil鈥檚 sovereignty and said, without evidence to back up his statement, that environmental nonprofits in an attempt to call attention to their cause and ruin his and the country鈥檚 international reputation.
Bolsonaro made good on his campaign , the arm of the Ministry of the Environment responsible for enforcing environmental regulations and fining those who break them, which has in turn imposed nearly 30% fewer fines since last year. The environmental watchdog also lost funding last month when both and pulled millions in funds donated annually to Brazil鈥檚 Ministry of the Environment to help curb deforestation in the Amazon.
For Apurin茫, the weakening of Ibama and its counterpart, the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), is particularly disheartening, but it hasn鈥檛 stopped him from carrying out the conservation work he does alongside other Indigenous leaders in the Amazon.
At the meeting in L谩brea, they all agreed that working in conjunction with environmental agencies like Ibama and ICMBio would be the best way to protect their land, pooling their resources and using both traditional methods and new technology to monitor their territories and report any wrongdoing they come across. What they want, after all, is the same thing. If they fight together, they might be strong enough to keep the Amazon alive.
Inspiration in Your Inbox
Sign up to receive email updates from 猫咪社区!
