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

Related Posts:

Amazon Deforestation Plummets 46%
Opportunists See Dollar Signs as Food Prices Spur Rainforest Destruction
Who’s Who in Green: Wangari Maathai
Who’s Who in Green – Van Jones
Who’s Who in Green: Heather Stephenson