Protecting the Amazon Rainforest
-
0:04 - 0:08So Marcelo, here we have the Amazon map
-
0:08 - 0:12that shows us the deforestation area data,
-
0:12 - 0:12which you are showing to us
-
0:12 - 0:12Can you explain what is the relationship between this information?
-
0:13 - 0:21We want to do the relation with these data and the theme we are working on our at this Camp: "evidence and influence".
-
0:21 - 0:22How do you think these two things are related?
-
0:22 - 0:24What are your thoughts about these subjects?
-
0:25 - 0:29This map is a work made with satellite images,
-
0:29 - 0:32and you are able, nowadays, to measure, for example,
-
0:32 - 0:35how much forest we have lost.
-
0:35 - 0:39Despite, that we have lost so much forest,
-
0:39 - 0:45we still have...This is still the largest tropical forest area on the planet.
-
0:45 - 0:51This forest is critical for several environmental services, mainly, those linked with the regulation of the climate,
-
0:51 - 0:59as, for exemple, the water steam produced by the forest that is then transferred across other regions
-
1:00 - 1:03This map also excludes some evidence
-
1:03 - 1:07which we cannot see on a map of this scale and
-
1:08 - 1:12that is the 'forest degradation'.
-
1:12 - 1:14This is not the total forest area deforestation, but
-
1:14 - 1:18it is the cutting down of some forest trees or species.
-
1:18 - 1:23So, 'forest degradation' is actually liked with some specific species?
-
1:23 - 1:29Exactly, specific species, for example, that are used in the lumber industry or the coal industry.
-
1:29 - 1:32Specific species (of trees) are used for the coal industries.
-
1:32 - 1:35We have the coal industry in Brazil and some of these are
-
1:35 - 1:39producing iron ore. These industries are clearing the
-
1:39 - 1:45remains of forest areas in some regions, mainly in Pará state region.
-
1:48 - 1:50Behind this destructive work,
-
1:50 - 1:53we have a very bad, a violent reality.
-
1:57 - 2:02In fact, the greatest disputation in the Amazon, today,
-
2:02 - 2:04Is the natural resources disputation.
-
2:04 - 2:11This dispute, generally, is been carried out in a violent way.
-
2:11 - 2:14As you can see on this map, for example,
-
2:14 - 2:17this is a 'protected areas' map,
-
2:17 - 2:22we have several protected areas and indigenous territories too.
-
2:22 - 2:24In these indigenous territories, the indigenous people
-
2:24 - 2:28have more ability to protect their areas but
-
2:28 - 2:29it is not the same in 'protected areas'.
-
2:29 - 2:34In Brazil, like in another South American countries,
-
2:34 - 2:36there are specific protected areas that are demarcated
-
2:36 - 2:40to support the survival of local communities.
-
2:40 - 2:45Those communities are vulnerable because
-
2:45 - 2:48the areas were created, but there is no governance.
-
2:48 - 2:52The government is not there helping these communities.
-
2:52 - 2:56We have a lot of different examples... I..
-
2:56 - 3:00I've lost one of my friends here, José Cláudio and Maria, his wife.
-
3:00 - 3:02She was killed because she was with him.
-
3:02 - 3:05Where did it happen?
-
3:05 - 3:10It happened in 'Nova Pichuna', in Pará state, in 2011,
-
3:12 - 3:16four months after his interview in TEDx,
-
3:16 - 3:19when he reported that he had been issued death threats.
-
3:19 - 3:23Why did he die? He died because he used to guard the forest,
-
3:23 - 3:26his piece of land, the land the government gave him.
-
3:26 - 3:29It was a tiny piece of land, with 100 ha (0.38 mi²).
-
3:29 - 3:34The lumbermen and farms in this area are looking for...
-
3:34 - 3:39the lumbermen are looking for the wood.
-
3:39 - 3:46These areas were donated by the government to the local communities for their use in sustainable practices.
-
3:46 - 3:51The farmers want to rent these lands for cattle,
-
3:51 - 3:55so they can pull together various tiny areas to make a large farm,
-
3:55 - 3:59or even, they cast out the local farmers and take their properties.
-
4:00 - 4:04My friend Jose was denouncing this and he was killed because of this.
-
4:04 - 4:07José Claudio's death was felt by a lot of Brazilian people?
-
4:07 - 4:10Activists across the whole country were moved.
-
4:10 - 4:13Exactly. Because it is very hard to see threats like this one:
-
4:13 - 4:16the freedom of speech, the violence and intimidation.
-
4:16 - 4:22I've recently heard a description of a friend of mine who had participated in
-
4:22 - 4:25José Cláudio murders' judgement and it is
-
4:25 - 4:30the politics in this Brazilian region (North).
-
4:33 - 4:41The dynamics are so local, the problems are solved by the local inhabitants (not the police)
-
4:41 - 4:43and none of the other Brazilian regions know about this violence situation.
-
4:43 - 4:44Where I live, we do not get a lot of these dynamics.
-
4:44 - 4:47José Cláudio's story is a emblematic case,
-
4:47 - 4:52because of the fact that his speech was made at TEDx,
-
4:53 - 4:58this made him more well known among people,
-
4:58 - 5:00a public figure: his speech is on internet,
-
5:00 - 5:03many people have heard his story.
-
5:04 - 5:09Like him, we have a lot of leaders who have been murdered
-
5:09 - 5:12and they have continuously been murdered. Other people have been murdered after him,
-
5:12 - 5:18but those people are not known. So, the evidence, the big question is
-
5:18 - 5:22how to make public the stories of those people who are dying.
-
5:22 - 5:27The fact of knowing though like, in the case of José Cláudio,
-
5:27 - 5:30whose situation was more known,
-
5:30 - 5:34unfortunately, it was still not possible to prevent his death.
-
5:34 - 5:37No. Actually, I want to ask you.
-
5:37 - 5:41We have information and we are able to point out the problem, but
-
5:41 - 5:45how could we invert the dynamics and use the information we have
-
5:45 - 5:50in order to do more effective activism in these Amazon regions?
-
5:50 - 5:53I think, actually, we have information, but
-
5:53 - 5:55it is not used as it should be.
-
5:55 - 6:00We should show this more, put more pressure on the government.
-
6:00 - 6:03The government knows. The 'Comissão Pastoral da Terra' (Pastoral Land Commission),
-
6:03 - 6:07an organisation administrated by the catholic church, has a list of people under threat.
-
6:08 - 6:11If you take this list you can check like this: this one is dead, this is dead, dead....
-
6:11 - 6:15and this is unacceptable!
-
6:17 - 6:20Not just the government, but also the society has to do something about it.
-
6:20 - 6:24When we think about 'the government', we think just about the executive government,
-
6:24 - 6:33but what about the judiciary? Less than 1% these murder cases were solved.
-
6:34 - 6:36We have to change this reality.
-
6:36 - 6:38Why is it happening? Are they waiting for judgments?
-
6:38 - 6:42Or, these cases never getting into court?
-
6:42 - 6:46The police never collect enough evidence of the murders,
-
6:46 - 6:51there is corruption in the police and in the judiciary.
-
6:51 - 6:55The prosecutors who accuse are not good,
-
6:55 - 6:57they are not able to accomplish the prosecution.
-
6:57 - 7:04Then, it is not possible to point to the masterminds of the crimes, or the murders.
-
7:04 - 7:06And It was what happened in the case of José Cláudio, right?
-
7:06 - 7:08Yes, it is exactly what happened in the case of José Cláudio.
-
7:08 - 7:12And the same thing happened in an even more well known case, that is the case of Sister Dorothy.
-
7:12 - 7:16In 2005, Sister (a nun) Dorothy was killed.
-
7:17 - 7:23A Sister... It is hard to talk about it.. because..
-
7:26 - 7:28She was 70 years old...
-
7:29 - 7:31She was a friend...
-
7:32 - 7:37And she has been killed with the Bible in hands, you know?
-
7:37 - 7:39We are aware of who are the masterminds..
-
7:39 - 7:43And Is not it possible to gather enough proof? Just one of them has been indicted,
-
7:43 - 7:49and that is really sad, you know? We cannot accept that! Loosing friends, and....
-
7:50 - 7:57And they are people who are important to keep as this world's treasure! That is unacceptable!
-
7:59 - 8:06It is a country where a 70 year old lady, a sister, a nun died and
-
8:07 - 8:10It is not possible to prosecute the real masterminds?
-
8:11 - 8:14In the Amazon we call it a 'consortium'
-
8:15 - 8:17Usually, people are killed by a 'consortium'
-
8:17 - 8:20The most well known people, those who really generate problems.
-
8:20 - 8:27The real troubles makers are those people who work illegally (in the Amazon).
-
8:27 - 8:33What they do is to create a 'consortium' between several farmers.
-
8:33 - 8:36They get together to pay the murderers and
-
8:36 - 8:38one member of the consortium is selected to
-
8:38 - 8:41be indicted in the case that the police actually find out what happened.
-
8:41 - 8:43That is what is happening there, so
-
8:43 - 8:45there still are lots of people being threatened.
-
8:45 - 8:51Things are better in some areas. But there still are too many issues.
-
8:52 - 8:57I think that while we activists should highlight this even more
-
8:57 - 9:03José Cláudio was just one of many hidden people (under threat) and a journalist decided
-
9:03 - 9:06to bring him to TEDx and show his face and due to this
-
9:06 - 9:12it was possible for us to call people's attention to his case
-
9:12 - 9:15and at least to arrest the murderers.
-
9:15 - 9:18If it was not like that he would have been just one more statistic.
-
9:18 - 9:24So I believe that 'evidence' brings to light what is happening.
-
9:24 - 9:29And, you know how It is like in this region, right?
-
9:29 - 9:37How do you think the local people deal with this Amazon issue,
-
9:37 - 9:38that involves politics, deforestation...
-
9:39 - 9:45The network between these people is strong and they understand what they are doing pretty well.
-
9:45 - 9:51They know they are protecting social and human rights
-
9:51 - 9:54and also the environment.
-
9:54 - 10:00For the most part they understand the connection between the environment and human beings.
-
10:00 - 10:03There is no rupture between these two things.
-
10:03 - 10:07It is different for farmers think, they have separeted these two things
-
10:07 - 10:10they face the forest as though they are trammels.
-
10:10 - 10:13For them to develop It is necessery to take this trammer off.
-
10:13 - 10:17Another thing is that most aware people
-
10:17 - 10:19insist on staying there
-
10:19 - 10:22to keep protecting their area. This is a problem.
-
10:22 - 10:29Not everyone agrees in protecting themselves first, you know?
-
10:29 - 10:30Here at camp we are in touch with lots of people from
-
10:30 - 10:36international organisations, people worried in promoting human rights.
-
10:36 - 10:40They deal with new technologies and are having,
-
10:40 - 10:42through this video, the opportunity to
-
10:42 - 10:44talk with this international community.
-
10:44 - 10:47How could these international organisations help to transform
-
10:47 - 10:51this reality that is so clear for those who work there,
-
10:51 - 10:55so as to make political action more effective, defending people from the violence and
-
10:55 - 11:00the protection against the Amazon deforestation?
-
11:01 - 11:03I think that they can help local organisations
-
11:03 - 11:05that are already there and are working in order to reduce the violence.
-
11:05 - 11:09They could amplify their voices,
-
11:09 - 11:15help people hear and pay attention to what is happening there.
-
11:15 - 11:18There are several local organisations.
-
11:19 - 11:23The 'Comissão Pastoral da Terra' (Pastoral Land Commission) is one of them
-
11:23 - 11:28and It could be contacted for a list of other local organisations.
-
11:28 - 11:34I should say this situation does not happen just in Brazil, It also happens in Peru.
-
11:35 - 11:38And for those who are far from Brazil,
-
11:38 - 11:43to gather information on internet about what is happening,
-
11:43 - 11:47what would be the best first step?
-
11:49 - 11:53There are these organisations that have the data,
-
11:55 - 12:00there is government data. But, it is hard to gather all the information available.
-
12:00 - 12:01Mainly, for those who are abroad, isn't it?
-
12:01 - 12:04The Brazilian Public Prosecutor also has
-
12:07 - 12:10a list of people who have been threatened in the region.
-
12:10 - 12:16The point is that there is not any campaign, national or even regional campaign
-
12:17 - 12:21which we can use to move in the direction of the disclosure of the information.
-
12:21 - 12:28I also think that organising the information would also be a way to really make a difference.
- Title:
- Protecting the Amazon Rainforest
- Description:
-
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.
- Video Language:
- Portuguese, Brazilian
- Team:
- EngageMedia
- Duration:
- 12:34
Tanya Notley edited English subtitles for videos.engagemedia.org/.../marcello_5sept2013_mp4-mp4.webm | ||
Tanya Notley edited English subtitles for videos.engagemedia.org/.../marcello_5sept2013_mp4-mp4.webm | ||
Tanya Notley edited English subtitles for videos.engagemedia.org/.../marcello_5sept2013_mp4-mp4.webm | ||
karla.dilascio edited English subtitles for videos.engagemedia.org/.../marcello_5sept2013_mp4-mp4.webm | ||
karla.dilascio edited English subtitles for videos.engagemedia.org/.../marcello_5sept2013_mp4-mp4.webm | ||
karla.dilascio edited English subtitles for videos.engagemedia.org/.../marcello_5sept2013_mp4-mp4.webm | ||
Seelan Palay edited English subtitles for videos.engagemedia.org/.../marcello_5sept2013_mp4-mp4.webm | ||
Tanya Notley edited English subtitles for videos.engagemedia.org/.../marcello_5sept2013_mp4-mp4.webm |