Amazon
Illegal mining in the Pan Amazon: an ecological disaster for floodplains and local communities
Floodplains are extraordinarily productive because they are the interface between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. They are remarkably diverse because they integrate a mosaic of lakes, marshes, palm swamps and inundated forests, which create the complex food webs that support fish populations. Floodplain habitats are socially and economically vital because tens of thousands of families depend […]
Alis Ramírez: A defender of the Colombian Amazon now living as a refugee in New Zealand
“Don’t go to Zabaleta because they’re going to kill you.” “Why are they going to kill me if I haven’t done anything?” “They’re going to kill you, please don’t go to your house.” “How do you know that?” “Someone told me: ‘Tell your sister, for the love of God, to not to get involved because […]
How Bolivia pioneered agrarian reform in South America
Bolivia was a leader in the agrarian reform movement in South America. A defining moment in its modern history was the national revolution of 1952, which started as an uprising against the feudal system that bound Indigenous communities to estates owned by wealthy families. The revolutionary government created the Instituto Nacional de Reforma Agraria (INRA) […]
Meet the think tank behind the agribusiness’ legislative wins in Brazil
Pensar Agro (“thinking agribusiness”), or IPA, lobbied hard for newly passed legislation like the so-called time frame bill that undermines Indigenous land rights and opens up the territories to mining.
Sustainable infrastructure in the Pan Amazon: In search of an oxymoron
The macroeconomic hypothesis that infrastructure investments stimulate economic growth assumes that these physical assets overcome a logistical or systemic constraint on production. In practice, this requires for individual projects to be the subject to an objective feasibility analysis, are priced fairly, and have been approved after the full evaluation of their social and environmental impacts. […]
Cacao and cupuaçu emerge as Amazon’s bioeconomy showcases
A handful of pioneering Amazonian chocolatiers are promoting keeping the rainforest standing by taking advantage of two forest products: cacao and cupuaçu.
New online map tracks threats to uncontacted Indigenous peoples in Brazil’s Amazon
RIO DE JANEIRO — Monitoring the threats that uncontacted traditional peoples face in the Brazilian Amazon is set to become easier for Indigenous rights activists and agencies, thanks to a new software tool developed by three Indigenous organizations and made available online in September. Mopi is an online interactive map that gathers a mix of […]
Cattle boom in Brazil’s Acre spells doom for Amazon rainforest, activists warn
With about 80% of its forests still untouched, Acre is one of Brazil’s least-deforested Amazonian states. Bordered by Peru on the west, it represents just 1.7% of Brazil’s huge land mass but is of great ecological importance as it’s mostly covered in both dense and open Amazon rainforest, home to giant anteaters, sloths, and harpy […]
Josefina Tunki: ‘If we have to die in defense of the land, we have to die’
Josefina Tunki is a mother, even though she doesn’t have any biological children. In 2019, she became the first president of the Shuar Arutam People (Pueblo Shuar Arutam, PSHA, in Spanish). The PSHA is an Indigenous organization that unites about 12,000 people living in the Condor mountain range in southeastern Ecuador. From the moment Tunki […]
In the Brazilian Amazon, solar energy brings light — and new opportunities
SANTA HELENA DO INGLÊS, Brazil — In a small clearing at the edge of the rainforest, two rows of solar panels gleam in the scorching late-morning sun. In a shed nearby, inverters hum quietly as they turn the sunlight into electricity, powering a church, a school and a few dozen homes in the village of […]