Brazil government reduces forest protections in Pará, rewards squatters for illegal occupation

By Cleide Carvalho 25 September 2017 SÃO PAULO (O Globo) – [Translation by Google] The government bill that reduces the National Forest (Flona) of Jamanxim, in Pará, should benefit grileiros who deforested and occupied at least 44 thousand hectares of land that should be protected. The area – larger than the city of Curitiba and […]

Peru urged to ban oil firms from isolated indigenous peoples’ land

By David Hill 6 October 2017 (The Guardian) – There are more indigenous peoples living in “isolation” in Peru than any country in the world except Brazil. All live in the Amazon – the majority in poorly-protected reserves, or areas where reserves have been proposed but never established, or “protected natural areas” such as national […]

Brazil: a world champion in political and environmental devastation

By Giem Guimaraes 29 September 2017 (Mongabay) – Brazil. The fifth largest country in the world. Besides housing the world’s largest rainforest and freshwater reserves, — approximately 12 percent of the world’s total — it is also the country with the largest commercial cattle production, with more than 215 million animals. Additionally, it has the […]

New approach to measuring forest carbon density shows tropics now emit more carbon than they capture

28 September 2017 (WHRC) – A revolutionary new approach to measuring changes in forest carbon density has helped WHRC scientists determine that the tropics now emit more carbon than they capture, countering their role as a net carbon “sink.” The shift from carbon sink to carbon “source” was caused by widespread deforestation, degradation and disturbance, […]

Mining in the Amazon rainforest unleashed by Brazil president

By Philip Fearnside 15 September 2017 (Mongabay) – On 23 August 2017, Brazil’s president Michel Temer issued a decree revoking the RENCA (National Reserve of Copper and Associated Minerals), an area the size of Switzerland on the northern side of the Amazon River straddling the states of Pará and Amapá. The Ministry of Environment had […]

British headteacher murdered while canoeing along the Amazon “was sexually assaulted by gang who tried to cut off her head with a machete before dumping her body in the river”

By Gerard Couzens and Matt Roper 21 September 2017 (Daily Mail) – A British headteacher murdered while canoeing along the Amazon was tortured and sexually assaulted by a gang before being killed and dumped in the river, it has been claimed.Horrific new details of the last moments of Emma Kelty’s life were revealed in a […]

Indigenous victory: Brazil’s Temer decrees 1.2 million hectare Amazon reserve

By Sue Branford 18 September 2017 (Mongabay) – The Temer government, widely criticized for its attacks on indigenous rights, has approved its first significant measure in favor of the country’s indigenous communities.Last week, Brazil’s official gazette published a decree, signed by Justice Minister Torquato Jardim, establishing the Indigenous Territory of Turubaxi-Téa along the middle reaches […]

British kayak adventurer slain in Brazil’s Amazon

By Christophe Simon 19 September 2017 (AFP) – Brazilian police said Tuesday that a British woman missing during an attempt to paddle the entire Amazon by kayak has been murdered and that three people are in custody The Amazonas state police force said a 17-year-old suspect has confessed to being part of a gang that […]

Amazon Indians plead for help after “massacre”– Gold miners who bragged about killing and mutilating up to ten tribespeople are under investigation – “More attacks and killings are likely to happen”

13 September 2017 (Survival International) – Brazilian Indians have appealed for global assistance to prevent further killings after the reported massacre of uncontacted tribespeople, and have denounced the government cuts that left their territories unprotected.Paulo Marubo, a Marubo indigenous leader from western Brazil, said: “More attacks and killings are likely to happen. The cuts to […]

Brazil suspends Amazon mining decree in face of criticism

By Jake Spring; Editing by Paul Tait 31 August 2017BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s government said late on Thursday it would suspend action on a decree opening a vast section of the Amazon rainforest to mining, backtracking in the face of activist criticism and a legal challenge. The mining ministry said in a statement that, after […]

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