When I first think of the Amazon rainforest I do not think of bloodshed, tears, violence and gunfire. I envision an everlasting sea of lush green forest peppered with the brightest hues of the flora and fauna that are native to the Amazon. I do not think about the countless lives lost to deforestation and the destruction left in its wake.

Jair Bolsonaro, the President of Brazil, has no regard for the wellbeing of the Amazon rainforest and for Brazil's indigenous communities, many of whom reside within the forest. To Bolsonaro, the Amazon and its tribes are a symbol of poverty and do not represent the future of Brazil but pose a threat to his plan to "modernise" the country. He believes that the Amazon needs to be developed and that its indigenous peoples should not "live like cavemen." (qtd in BBC) "Since President Jair Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, Brazil has approved 57 pieces of legislation that weaken environmental laws, from relaxing forest protections to declassifying the toxicity of dozens of pesticides." (Yale Environment 360)

As a result of its particularly vulnerable state, the Amazon continues to be ravaged by both legal and illegal forms of deforestation while its tribes quite literally fight to defend their homeland.

"Every day, people in Brazil put themselves at risk to defend the Amazon rainforest form illegal logging. They are public officials who work for the country's environmental agencies and police officers who fight environmental crime; they are small farmers who dare to tell authorities the names of those sending I chainsaws and wood-hauling trucks; they are Indigenous people who patrol their territories on foot, in boats, and on motorcycles, armed with bows and arrows and GPS, to protect the forests that they depend on to sustain their families and preserve their way of life."

(Human Rights Watch 2019)

2019 was an especially deadly year for the Amazon's indigenous communities as there was a total of 10 recorded murders of indigenous individuals. (Hanbury 2019) Many bodies were found with multiple stab wounds and gunshot wounds as there has been an increase in violence towards indigenous individuals over the past two decades. Their deaths are a result of conflicts over land between indigenous people and greedy corporations, for the purpose of illegal deforestation. Unsurprisingly, most of these crimes go unsolved and therefore unpunished as indigenous lives are not seen as valuable enough to warrant justice. Money and greed make many officials turn a blind eye towards the atrocities that occur right in front of their eyes and the most vulnerable are left to suffer.

While many of these tribes refuse direct contact with the outside world, some have resorted to more modern measures of seeking help by via the Internet. The Waipi tribe (shown in the video below) is utilizing social media to grow awareness of the dangers they face in protecting their home from illegal logging and mining and to garner support for the protection of their lands.

The Brazilian government is failing its indigenous communities by neglecting their rights to land and actively destroying their home. It is also failing the earth by allowing deforestation to deplete the world's largest rainforest which has been instrumental in the fight against climate change and global warming by absorbing greenhouse gases (like carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere and preventing it from further heating up the earth. With deforestation being at an all time high and the land being used for commercial purposes, such as mining and logging, a recent study has shown evidence that the Amazon may be producing more carbon than it stores. (Welch, 2021) While scientists are further investigating into the matter, they demand that swift action must be taken to reverse the damage done to rainforest as it is not too late to be repaired, but it soon will be.

When I think of the Amazon now, I cannot help but think about its current state of despair and worry for its future, the future of its inhabitants and the future of the earth. 

-N. O'Garro

Works cited

"Brazil's Amazon: Deforestation 'surges to 12-year high." BBC. 30, Nov. 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55130304

"Brazil Has Weakened Dozens of Environmental Laws During the Pandemic." Yale Environment 360. 24, Feb. 2021. https://e360.yale.edu/digest/brazil-has-weakened-dozens-of-environmental-laws-during-the-pandemic

Hanbury, Shanna. "Murders of indigenous leaders in Brazilian Amazon hits highest level in two decades." Mongabay. 14, Dec. 2019. https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/murders-of-indigenous-leaders-in-brazil-amazon-hit-highest-level-in-two-decades/

"Protecting the Amazon: Waiapi tribe fear takeover of their home." TRT World via Youtube. 29, Oct. 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZVAWUT1YcU

"Rainforest Mafias." Human Rights Watch.17, Sept. 2019. https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/09/17/rainforest-mafias/how-violence-and-impunity-fuel-deforestation-brazils-amazon#

Welch, Craig. "First study of all Amazon greenhouse gases suggests the damaged forest is now worsening climate change." National Geographic. 11 Mar. 2021. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/amazon-rainforest-now-appears-to-be-contributing-to-climate-change

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