Writing a novel about the Amazon has helped me tune in to the issues facing the region. It’s not a simple solution of “saving the rainforest” that will preserve the great wetlands, but the management of complex interests and heritages.
The vegetation of the forest breathes air into the world but slash and burn clearcutting smokes it right back up.
I will never forget that one of the most fervent lovers of the forest that I met in the Amazon was a logger who made his living trucking his bulldozer from town to town to knock down the towering trees. He was as excited to go for hikes through the forest as a tourist, and had traveled widely throughout the basin enjoying its plants and animals.
Unfortunately, the state of Pará where Everyone Comes from Belterra is set has suffered from some of the worst deforestation in the new millennium. An area the size of New Jersey — my home state — was destroyed in 2006 alone.
There are a number of dynamic individuals and agencies working in the region. This page will track some of their work and offer news alerts about unfolding issues.
Peruvian Army to Enter Amazon Region over Indigenous Protests
May 17, 2009
The BBC reports that the Peruvian army will enter the Amazon basin to secure natural resources extraction in the face of widespread indigenous protests. The French company Perenco intends to invest $2 billion in a rainforest oil field.
Here is President Garcia’s justification: “We have to understand when there are resources like oil, gas and timber, they don’t belong only to the people who had the fortune to be born there.”
Indigenous groups insist that they are not opposed to development, but managed development that is self-determined.
New Brazilian Government Report Reveals that Government Agencies Among Worst Offenders in the Amazon
30 September 2008
The Brazilian government released a report today that the agency Incra (Instituto Nacional de Colonização e Reforma Agrária) was among the leading perpetrators of deforestation in the Amazon. Environment minister Carlos Minc declared a 228 percent rise in deforestation compared to 2007. 550,000 acres of the forest were cleared in areas patrolled by Incra since 2005. Incra is primarily responsible for distributing land to the poor but has allegedly deliberately skirted environmental regulations to permit logging.
Minc announced that the government would hold Incra accountable in addition to 100 of the other worst offenders. Operation Guardians of Amazon (Operação Guardiões da Amazônia) has marked a stronger role for the environmental agency Ibama, including the seizure of 3,100 head of illegal cattle this summer and raids on settlements.
We will monitor the Environment Minister’s actions. He has pledged a 3,000 strong force of environmental police. Let’s hope they’re well paid and housed.
View the BBC article here.
View the Veja article (Portuguese) here.
