Protecting the Amazon Rainforest

A very important world heritage, that is the Amazon rain forest is under danger. In this video the threats in the region are exposed, understand what is going on, the issues, the importance of the forest and the situation of people who depend on their resources could help us to help them to preserve this treasure.

- So Marcelo, here we have the Amazon map

that shows us the deforestation area's data,

which you are showing to us,

and we would like to estabilish a relationship between those informations

and the theme we are working on our camping: "evidence and influence".

How do you think these two things are related?

What are your thoughts about these subjects?

- This map is a work made with satellite images,

and you are able, nowadays, to measure, for example,

how much forest we have lost.

Despite, we have lost too much forest,

we still have...This is still the biggest tropical forest area in the planet.

It has essential importance for several 'environmental services', mainly, those linked with the climate regulation,

as, for example, the steam, and its transferation to another regions.

This map bring as evidence

which we cannot see

in here... not in this map scale,

that is the 'forest degradation'.

This is not the total forest area deforestation, but

it is the cutting of some forest trees...

- So, 'forest degradation' is actually liked with some specific species?

- Exactly, specific species, for example, in wood industry... Coal..

In other words, another species are used for the coal industries.

We have coal industry in Brazil which have

producing 'big iron'. These industries are clearning

remains forest areas in some regions, mainly in Pará state region.

...

Behind this destruction framework,

we have a very bad violence reality...

In fact, the greatest disputation in Amazon, today,

it is the resource disputation,

this dispute, generally, it is been in a violent way.

As you can see on this map, for example,

this is a protected areas' map,

we have several protected areas and indigenous territories too.

Those indigenous territories,

the indigenous have more abilities to protecting their areas,

it is not the same in 'protected areas'.

In Brazil, like in another South American countries,

there are specific protected areas that are demarcated

for help in the survival of local communities.

Those communities are vulnerable because

the areas were created, but there are not governance.

The government is not there helping these communities.

We have a lot of different examples... I..

I've lost one of my friends here, José Cláudio and Maria, his wife..

She was killed because she was with him...

- Where did it happen?

- It happened in 'Nova Pichuna', in Pará state, in 2011, after....

four moths after his interview in TEDx,

when he told been under a death threat.

Why did he die? He died because he used to guard the forest,

his piece of land, the goverment gave to him the land

it was a tiny piece of land, with 100 ha (0.38 mi²).

The lumbermen and farms are looking for....,

the lumbermen are looking for the wood,

they want to cut down all the small areas, that belong local farmers.

These areas were donated for the government to the local communities for their using in sustainable practices.

The farms want rent these lands for cattle,

put together various tiny areas to make a large farm

or either cast out the local famrs and take their properties.

He(my friend) was denouncing this and he has been killed because of this.

- Was the José Claudio's death felt by a lot of brazilian people, it isn't?

- Yes. - The activists from the whole country were moved....

- Exactly. - because it is very hard to see threats like this one:

the freedom speech intimidation and the political freedom intimidation

I've recently heard a description from

José Cláudio murders' judgement and

the politics in... Brazilian region...

... the problems are solved locally, with a few understood capacity from another regions of the country..

In where I live, I do not get a lot of this dynamics.

- José Cláudio story is a emblematic case,

because the fact he speech was in TEDx,

made him more well known people,

a public figure, it speech is on internet,

several people have heard his story.

Like him, we have a lot of leaders who

have been murdered and they have continuously been murdered. Another people have been murdered after him,

but those people are unknowing. So, the big deal is

how turning public the stories of those people who are dying....

- The fact of existing a work in sense to bring...

like, in the case of José Cláudio, that was more known,

and, unfortunately, it was not possible to prevent it.

- No. - Actually, I want to ask you about it...

We have information and We are able to point out the problem,

How could we invert the dynamics and use the information we have

in order to do a better activism pratic these Amazon regions?

- I think, actually, we have information, but

it is not used as it should be.

We should show more this, make pressure on the government.

The government knows... the 'comissão pastoral da terra',

an organization administrated by the catholic church has a list of under danger people.

If you take this list you can check like this: this one is dead, this is dead, dead....

and this is unacceptable! -This is, in fact, unacceptable!

- Not just the government, but also the society has to do something about it.

When we think about 'the government',we think just about the executive government, but,

what about the judiciary? Less than 1% these murder cases were solved.

We have to change these reality.

- Why is it happen? Are they waiting judgments?

Or, these cases did never go into a court? These are cases...

- The police never get enough murdered evidences

there are corruption in the police and in the judiciary.

The prosecutors who accuse are not good,

they are not able to accomplish the prosecution.

Then, It is not possible to point the masterminds of the crimes, mainly, or the murders.

- And It was what happened in the case of José Cláudio, right? -Yes, it was exactly what happened.

what happened in the case of José Cláudio.

And the same happened in an even more well known case, that is the case od Sister Dorothy.

In 2005, Sister Dorothy has been killed.

A Sister... ...Uhmm.. It is hard to talk about it.. because..

She was 70 years old...

... She was a friend...

And she has been killed with the Bible in hands, You know?

We are aware of who are the masterminds..

- And Is not it possible to gather proofs...? -Just one of them has been indicted,

and that is really sad, You know? We cannot accept that! loosing friends, and....

- And they are people who are important to keep this world's treasure! That is unacceptable!

- It is a country where a 70 years old lady, a Sister, a nun died and

It is not possible to catch who really are the masterminds...

In the Amazon we call 'consortium'...

... usually, people are killed by a 'consortium'...

...The most well known people, those who really generate problems,

the real troubles makers for

the ones who work illegally...

... What they do is a 'consortium', between several farmers, loggers... and whoever..

They get together to pay the murders... and

...one member of the consortium is selected to

be pointed as indicted in case the policy achieve to find what happened.

That is what is happening there, so...

There still are lots of people being threated,

things are better in some areas.. But there still are too much issues...

I think that we while actvistics should show it up even more...

José Cláudio was just one more, and a journalist decided

bring him to TEDx and show his face, due to this

It was possible for us to call people attention to his case

and at least arrest the murders..

If it was not like thate He would have been just someone else in the statistic,

So, I believe that 'evidence' brings light to what is happening and is essential.

- And, You know how It is like in loco, righ?

How do you think local people deal this Amazon issue,

that involves politics, deforestation...

- Those people understand what they are doing pretty well,

They know They are protecting social and human rights...

And also the environment,

most part understand the line between the environment and people.

There is not such thing as a rupture between these two things.

Like some farmers think there is, and

face the forest as a trammers for them,

For them, in order to develop It is necessery to take this trammer off.

Another thing is that most people know are awere

They are under danger, but they insist in stay there

and keep in protecting there area.

This is a problem, not evereybody agrees in protect themselfs, You know?

- And we keep in touch with lots of people

from international organizations, people

worried in promoting human rights,

They deal with new technologies,

and are having, through this video, the opportunity to

talk to these international organizations,

How could these international organizations help to transform

this reality that is so clear for those who work in there,

and make a political action more eficient, defending people from the violence and

in the deforestation issue and Amazon protection?

- I think that they could help local organization

that are already there and are working in order to reduce the violence,

They could give voice to them.

Help people hear and pay attetion at what is happening there.

So, there are several local organizations,

even the 'Comissão Pastoral da Terra', C.P.T. is one of them

and It could be contacted in onder to list

other local organizations.

And this situation does not happen just in Brazil, It also happens in Peru.

- And for those who are not in Brazil,

in the sense to gather information on internet...

What would be the best first step?

There are these local organizations.. there are....

- There are these organizations, they have the data,

the government... But, It is hard to gather the information available.

- Mainly, for those who are abroad, isn't it?

- The Brazilian Public Prosecutor also has

a list of people under danger in the region.

The point is that there is not any program. You know?

in the direction of the disclosure of the information, so,

organize the information would also be a way of make a difference.