Protecting the Amazon Rainforest
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0:04 - 0:08So Marcelo, here we have the Amazon map
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0:08 - 0:13that shows us the deforestation area data,
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0:13 - 0:13which you are showing to us
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0:13 - 0:22Can you explain the relationship with this data and the theme we are working on our at this Camp: "evidence and influence"?
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0:22 - 0:25What are your thoughts on these subjects?
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0:25 - 0:30This map is a work made with satellite images,
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0:30 - 0:32and you are able, nowadays, to measure, for example,
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0:32 - 0:35how much forest we have lost.
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0:35 - 0:39Despite, that we have lost so much forest,
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0:39 - 0:45we still have...This is still the largest tropical forest area on the planet.
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0:45 - 0:52This forest is critical for several environmental services, mainly, those linked with the regulation of the climate,
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0:52 - 0:59as, for exemple, with the water steam produced by the forest that is then transferred across other regions
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0:59 - 1:04This map also excludes some evidence
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1:04 - 1:08which we cannot see on a map of this scale
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1:08 - 1:13and that is the 'forest degradation'.
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1:13 - 1:15This is not the total forest area deforestation, but
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1:15 - 1:18it is the cutting down of some forest trees or species.
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1:18 - 1:23So, 'forest degradation' is actually linked with some specific species?
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1:23 - 1:30Exactly, specific species, for example, that are used in the lumber industry or the coal industry.
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1:30 - 1:34Specific species (of trees) are used for the coal industries.
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1:34 - 1:37We have the coal industry in Brazil and some of these are
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1:37 - 1:40producing iron ore. These industries are clearing the
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1:40 - 1:46remains of forest areas in some regions, mainly in Pará state region.
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1:48 - 1:50Behind this destructive work,
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1:50 - 1:56we have a very bad, a violent reality.
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1:56 - 2:02In fact, the greatest disputation in the Amazon, today,
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2:02 - 2:04Is the natural resources disputation.
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2:04 - 2:12This dispute, generally, has been carried out in a very violent way.
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2:12 - 2:14As you can see on this map, for example,
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2:14 - 2:17this is a 'protected areas' map,
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2:17 - 2:23we have several protected areas and indigenous territories too.
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2:23 - 2:26In these indigenous territories, the indigenous people
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2:26 - 2:28have more ability to protect their areas but
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2:28 - 2:31it is not the same in 'protected areas'.
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2:31 - 2:34In Brazil, like in another South American countries,
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2:34 - 2:37there are specific protected areas that are demarcated
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2:37 - 2:41to support the survival of local communities.
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2:41 - 2:45Those communities are vulnerable because
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2:45 - 2:49the areas were created, but there is no governance.
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2:49 - 2:52The government is not there helping these communities.
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2:52 - 2:56We have a lot of different examples... I..
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2:56 - 3:01I've lost one of my friends here, José Cláudio and Maria, his wife.
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3:01 - 3:03She was killed because she was with him.
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3:03 - 3:06Where did it happen?
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3:06 - 3:12It happened in 'Nova Pichuna', in Pará state, in 2011,
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3:12 - 3:16four months after his interview in TEDx,
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3:16 - 3:20when he reported that he had been issued death threats.
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3:20 - 3:23Why did he die? He died because he used to guard the forest,
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3:23 - 3:26his piece of land, the land the government gave him.
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3:26 - 3:29It was a tiny piece of land, with 100 ha (0.38 mi²).
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3:29 - 3:34The lumbermen and farms in this area are looking for...
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3:34 - 3:39the lumbermen are looking for the wood.
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3:39 - 3:47These areas were donated by the government to the local communities for their use in sustainable practices.
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3:47 - 3:51The farmers want to rent these lands for cattle,
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3:51 - 3:55so they can pull together various tiny areas to make a large farm,
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3:55 - 4:00or even, they cast out the local farmers and take their properties.
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4:00 - 4:05My friend Jose was denouncing this and he was killed because of this.
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4:05 - 4:08José Claudio's death was felt by a lot of Brazilian people?
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4:08 - 4:11Activists across the whole country were moved.
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4:11 - 4:14Because it is very hard to see threats like this one:
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4:14 - 4:17the freedom of speech, the violence and intimidation.
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4:17 - 4:22I've recently heard a description of a friend of mine who had participated in
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4:22 - 4:25José Cláudio murderers' judgement and it is
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4:25 - 4:30the politics in this Brazilian region (North).
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4:30 - 4:39The dynamics are so local, the problems are solved by the local inhabitants (not the police)
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4:39 - 4:42and none of the other Brazilian regions know about this violence.
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4:42 - 4:45Where I live, we do not get a lot of these dynamics.
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4:45 - 4:47José Cláudio's story is a emblematic case,
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4:47 - 4:54because of the fact that his speech was made at TEDx,
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4:54 - 4:58this made him more well known among people,
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4:58 - 5:00a public figure: his speech is on internet,
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5:00 - 5:04many people heard his story.
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5:04 - 5:08Like him, we have a lot of leaders who have been murdered
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5:08 - 5:12and they are continuously being murdered. Other people have been murdered after him,
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5:12 - 5:19but those people are not known. So, the evidence, the big question is
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5:19 - 5:23how to make public the stories of those people who are dying.
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5:23 - 5:27The fact of knowing though like, in the case of José Cláudio,
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5:27 - 5:30whose situation was more known,
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5:30 - 5:35unfortunately, it was still not possible to prevent his death.
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5:35 - 5:41I want to ask you. We have information and we are able to point out the problem
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5:41 - 5:45how could we invert the dynamics and use the information we have
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5:45 - 5:50in order to do more effective activism in these Amazon regions?
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5:50 - 5:53I think, actually, we have information, but
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5:53 - 5:56it is not used as it should be.
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5:56 - 6:00We should show this more, put more pressure on the government.
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6:00 - 6:04The government knows. The 'Comissão Pastoral da Terra' (Pastoral Land Commission),
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6:04 - 6:09an organisation administrated by the catholic church, has a list of people under threat.
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6:09 - 6:13If you take this list you can check like this: this one is dead, this is dead, dead....
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6:13 - 6:16And this is unacceptable!
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6:16 - 6:20Not just the government, but also the society has to do something about it.
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6:20 - 6:24When we think about 'the government', we think just about the executive government,
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6:24 - 6:33but what about the judiciary? Less than 1% these murder cases were solved.
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6:33 - 6:36We have to change this reality.
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6:36 - 6:39Why is it happening? Are they waiting for judgments?
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6:39 - 6:42Or, these cases never getting into court?
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6:42 - 6:46The police never collect enough evidence of the murders,
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6:46 - 6:51there is corruption in the police and in the judiciary.
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6:51 - 6:55The prosecutors who accuse are not good,
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6:55 - 6:58they are not able to accomplish the prosecution.
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6:58 - 7:04Then, it is not possible to point to the masterminds of the crimes, or the murderers.
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7:04 - 7:07And It was what happened in the case of José Cláudio, right?
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7:07 - 7:13Yes. And also the same thing happened in an even more well known case, that is the case of Sister Dorothy.
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7:13 - 7:18In 2005, Sister (a nun) Dorothy was killed.
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7:18 - 7:26A Sister... It is hard to talk about it.. because..
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7:26 - 7:29She was 70 years old...
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7:29 - 7:32She was a friend...
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7:32 - 7:37And she has been killed with the Bible in hands, you know?
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7:37 - 7:40We are aware of who are the masterminds..
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7:40 - 7:45And Is not it possible to gather enough proof? Just one of them has been indicted,
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7:45 - 7:50and that is really sad, you know? We cannot accept that! Losing friends, and....
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7:50 - 7:59And they are people who are important to keep as this world's treasure! That is unacceptable!
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7:59 - 8:07It is a country where a 70 year old lady, a sister, a nun died and
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8:07 - 8:11It is not possible to prosecute the real masterminds?
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8:11 - 8:14In the Amazon we call it a 'consortium'
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8:14 - 8:18Usually, people are killed by a 'consortium'
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8:18 - 8:20The most well known people, those who really generate problems.
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8:20 - 8:27The real troubles makers are those people who work illegally (in the Amazon).
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8:27 - 8:33What they do is to create a 'consortium' between several farmers.
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8:33 - 8:36They get together to pay the murderers and
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8:36 - 8:38one member of the consortium is selected to
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8:38 - 8:42be indicted in the case that the police actually find out what happened.
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8:42 - 8:45That is what is happening there, so
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8:45 - 8:48there still are lots of people being threatened.
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8:48 - 8:52Things are better in some areas. But there still are too many issues.
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8:52 - 8:57I think that while we activists should highlight this even more
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8:57 - 9:03José Cláudio was just one of many hidden people (under threat) and a journalist decided
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9:03 - 9:06to bring him to TEDx and show his face and due to this
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9:06 - 9:12it was possible for us to call people's attention to his case
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9:12 - 9:15and at least to arrest the murderers.
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9:15 - 9:18If it was not like that he would have been just one more statistic.
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9:18 - 9:25So I believe that 'evidence' brings to light what is happening.
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9:25 - 9:29And, you know how It is in this region so
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9:29 - 9:35how do you think the local people deal with this Amazon issue,
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9:35 - 9:40that involves politics, deforestation...?
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9:40 - 9:46The network between these people is strong and they understand what they are doing pretty well.
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9:46 - 9:52They know they are protecting social and human rights
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9:52 - 9:55and also the environment.
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9:55 - 10:00For the most part they understand the connection between the environment and human beings.
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10:00 - 10:03There is no rupture between these two things.
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10:03 - 10:07It is different to how farmers think, who have separated these two things
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10:07 - 10:10They face the forest as though they are trammels.
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10:10 - 10:13For them to develop It is necessary to take these trammels off.
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10:13 - 10:17Another thing is that most aware people
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10:17 - 10:21insist on staying there to keep protecting their area.
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10:21 - 10:28Not everyone agrees in protecting themselves first, you know?
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10:28 - 10:32Here at Camp we are in touch with lots of people
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10:32 - 10:36from international organisations, people concerned about promoting human rights.
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10:36 - 10:40They deal with new technologies and through this video,
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10:40 - 10:44we have the opportunity to talk with this international community.
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10:44 - 10:47How could these international organisations help to transform
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10:47 - 10:51this reality that is so clear for those who work there,
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10:51 - 10:55so as to make political action more effective, defending people from the violence
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10:55 - 11:01and protecting against the deforestation of the Amazon?
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11:01 - 11:04I think that they can help local organisations
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11:04 - 11:07that are already there and are working in order to reduce the violence.
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11:07 - 11:10They could amplify their voices,
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11:10 - 11:15help people hear and pay attention to what is happening there.
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11:15 - 11:18There are several local organisations.
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11:18 - 11:23The 'Comissão Pastoral da Terra' (Pastoral Land Commission) is one of them
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11:23 - 11:28and It could be contacted for a list of other local organisations.
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11:28 - 11:35I should say this situation does not happen just in Brazil, It also happens in Peru.
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11:35 - 11:38And for those who are far from Brazil,
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11:38 - 11:43to gather information on internet about what is happening,
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11:43 - 11:51what would be the best first step?
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11:51 - 11:55There are these organisations that have the data,
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11:55 - 12:00there is government data. But, it is hard to gather all the information available.
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12:00 - 12:02Mainly, for those who are abroad, isn't it?
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12:02 - 12:06The Brazilian Public Prosecutor also has
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12:06 - 12:11a list of people who have been threatened in the region.
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12:11 - 12:17The point is that there is not any campaign, national or even regional campaign
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12:17 - 12:22which we can use to move in the direction of the disclosure of the information.
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12:22 - 12:29I also think that organising the information would also be a way to really make a difference.
- Title:
- Protecting the Amazon Rainforest
- Description:
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Recorded at the 2013 Evidence and Influence Camp, Marcelo shares the evidence being collected by activists to save the Amazon rainforest; he also talks about the violent reality and the people who have died trying to achieve this.
- 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 |