Amazonian Tribe Massacred by Loggers Dwindles to 5 Members

Deforestation has many prices – not the least of which is the loss of an entire Amazonian tribe, which will inevitably die out now that there are only five members left. The once-vibrant, ancient Akuntsu tribe of Brazil lost almost all of their numbers to a massacre by loggers intent on stealing their land in the 1990s.

From The Independent:

Much of the Akuntsus’ story is – for obvious reasons – undocumented. For millennia, they lived in obscurity, deep in the rainforest of Rondonia state, a remote region of western Brazil near the Bolivian border. They hunted wild pig, agoutis and tapir, and had small gardens in their villages, where they would grow manioc (or cassava) and corn.

Then, in the 1980s, their death warrant was effectively signed: farmers and loggers were invited to begin exploring the region, cutting roads deep into the forest, and turning the once verdant wilderness into lucrative soya fields and cattle ranches.

Fiercely industrious, the new migrant workers knew that one thing might prevent them from creating profitable homesteads from the rainforest: the discovery of uncontacted tribes, whose land is protected from development under the Brazilian constitution.

As a result, frontiersmen who first came across the Akuntsu in the mid-1980s made a simple calculation. The only way to prevent the government finding out about this indigenous community was to wipe them off the map.

The seven members of the tribe who escaped the massacre retreated deep into the wilderness to survive, and were not formally “contacted” until 1995. They include Konibú, the tribe’s elderly chief and shaman, Pugapía, his wife, their two daughers Nãnoi and Enotéi and a cousin, Pupak. Konibú’s sister Ururú, the sixth last member pictured at front left, recently passed away. Tribal custom does not allow outsiders to marry in.

A documentary of their struggle called ‘Corumbiara: they shoot Indians, don’t they?’ which was filmed over a period of twenty years, is now showing in Brazil. Campaigners hope that the story of the Akuntsu tribe will persuade the Brazilian public to strengthen government protections for indigenous people.

The Akuntsu represent yet another reason why we must make protecting the rainforests of the Amazon, and elsewhere in the world, a top priority. Not only are these forests five times more effective than carbon capture at combating catastrophic climate change, they also harbor so many wonders of the human, animal, insect and plant worlds.

Link [The Independent]

Amazon Deforestation Plummets 46%

Brazil pledged to slow down deforestation in the Amazon, and many environmentalists were highly skeptical – but new figures show that the logging rate did actually decrease dramatically between August 2008 and July 2009. Deforestation Detection in Real Time (DETER) and the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) say that deforestation rates dropped by a remarkable 46%.

Increased policing probably has a lot to do with it – the Brazilian government initiated 650 probes into illegal deforestation and arrested 298 people. However, this lower figure probably has something to do with the state of the global economy as well. When things pick back up again, the rate of deforestation will likely go through the roof.

There are already signs that this will be the case. June 2009 saw a stunning increase in Amazon deforestation, with an area the size of Los Angeles cleared in a single month. Though demand for timber products is still part of the problem, the biggest cause by far is cattle ranching, responsible for 80% of deforestation in the Amazon. Most of that beef is exported to Russia, Iran and Venezuela.

Though an appetite for meat is the main driver, vegetarians shouldn’t get too smug. Soybeans are the second leading cause.

Link [Treehugger]
Photo credit: The Guardian

Crude: The Real Price of Oil

In just a few months, Chevron will likely be found liable for $27 billion in damages for its systematic contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon – but they’ve already said they won’t pay and have launched an aggressive PR effort to avoid accountability.

That’s where a documentary called CRUDE comes in. Coming to theaters this September, CRUDE chronicles the epic battle to hold Chevron accountable for this “Rainforest Chernobyl”. This film could play a major role in shoring up public support for the fight to force Chevron to clean up the mess it made in the Amazon.

Check out the trailer:

From CRUDEthemovie.com:

The inside story of the infamous “Amazon Chernobyl” case, Crude is a real-life high stakes legal drama, set against a backdrop of the environmental movement, global politics, celebrity activism, human rights advocacy, the media, multinational corporate power, and rapidly-disappearing indigenous cultures. Presenting a complex situation from multiple viewpoints, the film subverts the conventions of advocacy filmmaking, exploring a complicated situation from all angles while bringing an important story of environmental peril and human suffering into focus.

The landmark case takes place in the Amazon jungle of Ecuador, pitting 30,000 indigenous and colonial rainforest dwellers against the U.S. oil giant Chevron. The plaintiffs claim that Texaco – which merged with Chevron in 2001 – spent three decades systematically contaminating one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth, poisoning the water, air and land. The plaintiffs allege that the pollution has created a “death zone” in an area the size of the Rhode Island, resulting in increased rates of cancer, leukemia, birth defects, and a multiplicity of other health ailments. They further allege that the oil operations in the region contributed to the destruction of indigenous peoples and irrevocably impacted their traditional way of life. Chevron vociferously fights the claims, charging that the case is a complete fabrication, perpetrated by “environmental con men” who are seeking to line their pockets with the company’s billions.

If you’re not already familiar with the details of what Chevron (formerly Texaco) did in the Ecuadorian Amazon, CRUDE will bring it to life in a way that will shock you and make you want to fight back.

The film opens in New York on 09/09/09 with screenings following shortly thereafter in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Check out more details at CRUDEthemovie.com.

Link [CRUDE]

Man-Made Eco Disasters in the Making

Climate change and deforestation now stand to wipe out more than 60% of the Amazon rainforest by 2030. Not only will that be disastrous for the vast array of wildlife that the forest contains as well as people who have called it home for centuries, but for the world climate. And that’s far from the only man-made eco disaster in the making.

Check out this video from Instablogs, which illustrates some of the consequences of human interference in the earth’s fragile ecological balance.

Instablogs is a ‘news ecosystem’ where citizen journalists, bloggers and the traditional media contribute content, share it and connect with each other. Check it out at instablogs.com.

Link [Instablogs]

Who’s Who in Green: Q’Orianka Kilcher

Activist, actress and glaring omission from our Hottest Girls in Green list Q’Orianka Kilcher has a lot going for her. Kilcher, best known for her role as Pocahontas in the 2005 film New World (and for being singer Jewel’s cousin), has emerged as a green role model and spokesperson for the rights of women and indigenous people, particularly Peruvians. Kilcher herself was born in Germany and is of Quechua/Huachipaeri Peruvian and Swiss descent.

Kilcher, whose first name means “Golden Eagle” in Quechua, already has a long list of charity work under her belt at the age of nineteen. She has campaigned for Amnesty International for the rights of women and indigenous peoples, including protests against the petroleum industry contamination of the Amazon River Basin. She is also the teen celebrity spokesperson of Thursday’s Child, an international charity for at-risk children, and was awarded the Brower Youth Award in 2007 for her efforts.

In June 2009, dozens of indigenous people and Peruvian police died in a bloody conflict over the government’s decision to open tribal lands up to oil companies. President Alan Garcia had signed contracts for 15 oil concessions in a single month, with 75% of the country already open to oil exploration. The indigenous protesters were trying to protect their Amazon rainforest lands from destruction.

Kilcher speaks in this video from the May 2009 protest at the Peru consulate in Los Angeles (starting at the 1:25 mark):

Kilcher also spoke with Democracy Now in June, while on her way to Peru to support the Amazonian protest.

I started trying to highlight the over-thirty-five-year-long struggle that the Achuar community was facing with Occidental Petroleum, a Los Angeles-based company, you know, drilling there, using practices outlawed in the United States, pumping an average of 850,000 barrels of toxic waste in one day on one block alone, and dumping it into the rivers, not using reinjection. And so, I tried to highlight that. And Alberto Pizango and AIDESEP gave me this spear, as well as gave me a silver plate, and named me the voice of the indigenous peoples of AIDESEP.

On why she decided to travel to Peru amidst the conflict:

I’m really appalled at the misinformation and the copy-and-paste media that is happening in Peru right now. And, I mean, the major media is radicalizing the stance on indigenous peoples, because they are being persuaded by government and they’re owned by multinational companies. And they are copy-and-pasting information that is not accurate. And I want to go there. I want to show both sides. I want to inform them correctly.

And finally, check out this interview with G LIVING at the after party for the 11th Hour documentary premiere.

Q’Orianka Kilcher’s Green Score: 17,955

Dozens Dead After Police Open Fire on Indigenous Oil Protesters in Peruvian Amazon

At least 60 and possibly up to 100 people are dead after a brutal confrontation Friday on the Fernando Belaunde Terry Road in the Peruvian Amazon. Police opened fire from helicopters on indigenous protesters, who were blockading a road to protect their land from oil companies opening wells and mines in their rainforests without their consent.

Police claim the protesters opened fire first, but the tribes were only armed with traditional spears.

The Peruvian government has declared a state of emergency, stripping citizens in some areas of the Amazon of their constitutional rights. Some reports say police have raided hospitals where indigenous people were recovering from their injuries and taken them to an unknown location. Tribe members say up to 35 people are missing and that three children are among the dead.

Peru has already opened up 75% of its Amazon territory to oil exploration and President Alan Garcia has signed contracts for 15 more oil concessions just in the past month.

From Reuters:

An indigenous leader said 40 protesters were killed and the government said 23 members of the security forces perished in two days of battles over Garcia’s push to open up the rainforest to billions of dollars in foreign investment.

Thousands of Indians armed with wooden spears vowed to dig in at blockades on remote Amazon highways to defend their ancestral lands from outside developers.

Dozens of police were held hostage by protesters, but most were freed hours later. On Sunday, two were still missing.

Hundreds of natives who sought refuge at a Catholic mission in Bagua Grande drew up a list of dozens of missing people and sought guarantees to search for bodies of the slain.

“We have been told that many of our dead brothers have been thrown into the Maranon river to cover up the killing,” said Carlos Anchanchi, one of the [indigenous] group’s leaders.

Video via BBC News

Many major news sources are only reporting on the dead police officers and playing down the violence against the indigenous tribes. Some human rights organizations are saying that the indigenous death toll is far higher than has been reported.

Amazon Watch has put out an urgent action alert asking people to send Peruvian President Garcia a message that the international community won’t stand for violent repression of indigenous people. Add your voice today.

Link [Reuters] + [Amazon Watch]
Photo credit: Peruanista

Who’s Who in Green: Chico Mendes

Hailed as an environmental hero since the 80’s, Chico Mendes fought a dramatic battle against the burning and logging of the Brazilian rainforest and ultimately gave his life for the cause.  He was born into a rubber tapping family in 1944.  Rubber tapping is a harmless method of extracting sap from rubber trees, and it’s been practiced in the Amazon for decades.  Mendes himself became a rubber tapper as an adult, and this sustainable agriculture system is what unwittingly led him into the world of environmental activism.

While the rubber tappers sought to extract resources from the Amazon without harming it, other industries weren’t so keen on keeping the trees standing.  Miners and cattle farmers wanted to tear down the forests so they could replace it with strip mines and pasture, which make a far bigger profit.  The rubber tappers weren’t going to give up without a fight, though – it was their only way to feed their families, and they felt tied to the trees.  So they would march down the logging trails, disarming the guards and attempting to convince the ranchers’ workers to stop the destruction.

It was tough work, and Mendes saw a friend and ally assassinated in 1980 for standing up to the ranchers. It was then that Mendes decided to take his battle higher up, advocating for the idea of creating forest reserves that could be managed by traditional communities and sustainably harvesting goods like rubber and Brazil nuts. He then founded the Xapuri Rural Worker’s Union, becoming its president.  The union sought to hold their ground against the ranchers, and enjoyed some successes over the years. Mendes taught the surprisingly large numbers of rubber tappers who came to the union meetings about deforestation, cattle ranching and the threat to their livelihoods.

It was at this time that Mendes captured the attention of the international environmental movement.  Mendes and the Xapuri Rural Worker’s Union aligned themselves with environmentalism and in 1985, Mendes was the subject of a documentary by an English filmmaker.

In 1987 Mendes became renowned for his stewardship of the Amazon, flying at the request of the National Wildlife Federation and the Environmental Defense to Washington D.C. to convince the Inter-American Development Bank to consider the preservation of the forest and its inhabitants while carrying out their road project.  This success led to two international environmental awards.

Mendes began his campaign to stop logger Alves de Silva from logging an area that was planned for a reserve in 1988.  It was a struggle, but he managed to stop the planned deforestation so the reserve could be created.  He also gained a warrant for de Silva’s arrest for a  murder committed in another state, but the warrant was never acted upon by police.

Months later, a week after his 44th birthday, Chico Mendes was assassinated at his home in Xapuri.  Alves de Silva and his son, Darli, were sentenced to 19 years in prison for their part in the killing.

The sensational nature of Mendes death only served to bring his cause even more attention, and the Chico Mendes Extractive Reserve was created in the area where he lived, in his honor.  Mendes has since been the subject of several plays, movies and songs and will always be remembered for the spirited activism that highlighted the plight of his homeland.

Chico Mendes’ Green Score: Score: 65,342

Link [Global 500]
Photo credit: American.edu + Encarta

Brazil Government Threatens Uncontacted Amazon Tribe with a Highway

Last week, the Brazilian government released amazing photographs of one of the last uncontacted tribes in the Amazon. They stated that the reason for releasing the photos was to alert the world to threats to these native people – the same threats that have made other previously secluded tribes virtually unrecognizable, they’ve become so alarmingly enmeshed in modern life. And those are the lucky ones. Many tribes have been displaced and killed by unscrupulous loggers, miners and other opportunists who sought something valuable within the tribe’s land.

From MSNBC:

“We put the photos out because if things continue the way they are going, these people are going to disappear,” said Jose Carlos Meirelles, who coordinates government efforts to protect four “uncontacted” tribes for Brazil’s National Indian Foundation.

The (not so) funny thing is, the Brazilian government is saying one thing and doing another. A highway currently in the works would bring more than unwanted noise to these uncontacted tribes. They would likely bring outsiders – and with them, all of the ills of modern society.

The Belfast Telegraph has it:

The 711-mile Trans-Oceanic Highway, which will eventually link the Amazon river ports of Brazil with the Pacific ones of Peru, is the biggest threat to the indigenous peoples – uncontacted or otherwise – in that part of South America, says John Hemming, celebrated expert on Brazilian peoples and author of many books, among them the acclaimed Tree of Rivers. “The bad news,” he says, “is that the Chinese have persuaded Brazil and Peru to cut a road through this region, and it’s blazing ahead. In theory, it should not affect these peoples, and it won’t go slap through their land. But when it’s built, the settlers will come pouring in.” And, as he points out, one main road grows spurs and side roads, allowing those who do directly threaten the tribes – illegal loggers and mineral prospectors – far better access to the uncharted areas than they have now.

Fabulous. Thank you, Brazilian government! Just what these people need – we’re going to save them from their ignorance and introduce them to a life of modern convenience! How lucky they are! Soon they’ll be able to shop at El Bath y Beyond and eat Big Macs for lunch. Onward with progress!

Link [MSNBC] + [Belfast Telegraph]

Opportunists See Dollar Signs as Food Prices Spur Rainforest Destruction

What do you know, chaos and suffering is causing some folks in the position of power to take advantage of the situation. Will wonders never cease?

As people are starting to get worried about the future of our food sources, farmers in Brazil are getting excited about the prospect of making money by cutting down trees in the rainforest, burning the land and making way for pasture and crops.

Envirolink has it:

“At the very edge of the agricultural frontier, it’s very dynamic and that’s why you get statistics for deforestation that swing wildly from one year to the next,” said Roberto Cavalcanti of Conservation International.

“A small shift in food prices can have a big impact on whether it’s economical or not to move into the forest.”

The governor of Mato Grosso, one of Brazil’s biggest farming states, last week advocated more deforestation as a solution to the sharp rises in staples such as rice that are threatening to push millions of people into hunger.

“There is no way to produce more food without occupying more land and taking down more trees,” Blairo Maggi, also Brazil’s largest soybean producer and widely known as the “King of Soy”, told the Folha news agency.

This seems like a really stupid move… at the first sign of a food crisis, we start moving in on the rainforests, which we’ve been trying to protect for decades? Isn’t there a better way, people? I’m no expert, but in the times of climate change and worries over the future of the entire planet, cutting down trees in the rainforest appears to be a very bad idea.

Link [Envirolink]

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons