By Survival International The Enawene Nawe Indians of the Brazilian Amazon have said they feel ‘desperate’, as their annual fishing ritual has provided them with almost no fish. This is the fourth year running that the Indians have encountered drastically low fish stocks in their rivers, and the second year in which the ritual could … Continue reading Annual fishing ceremony by Enawene Nawe halted, because dam projects are killing all the fish→
By Gethin Chamberlain / The Observer Logging companies keen to exploit Brazil’s rainforest have been accused by human rights organisations of using gunmen to wipe out the Awá, a tribe of just 355. Survival International, with backing from Colin Firth, is campaigning to stop what a judge referred to as ‘genocide’. Trundling along the dirt … Continue reading Awá people of Brazil under threat of annihilation by illegal logging and massacres→
By Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay More than 150 new dams planned across the Amazon basin could significantly disrupt the ecological connectivity of the Amazon River to the Andes with substantial impacts for fish populations, nutrient cycling, and the health of Earth’s largest rainforest, warns a comprehensive study published in the journal PLoS ONE. Scouring … Continue reading 151 new dam projects in Amazon basin pose dire threat to rainforest ecology→
By Amnesty International The acquittal by Brazil’s Supreme Court of a man accused of raping three 12-year-old girls on the basis that they were allegedly “sex-workers” is an outrageous affront to the most basic human rights and it has no place in Brazil today, said Amnesty International. The decision confirmed earlier rulings by state-level courts … Continue reading Brazil’s Supreme Court accepts “sex work” defense for man who raped three 12-year-old girls→
By Philip Fearnside / National Institute for Research in the Amazon Brazil’s Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River is now under construction despite its many controversies. The Brazilian government has launched an unprecedented drive to dam the Amazon’s tributaries, and Belo Monte is the spearhead for its efforts. Brazil’s 2011-2020 energy-expansion plan calls for … Continue reading Brazil planning to build 30 massive dams in Amazon by 2020→
By Survival International Yanomami shaman and spokesman Davi Kopenawa warned the UN in Geneva this week of the dangers illegal gold mining is bringing to his people. Davi stated that thousands of illegal miners are currently working in the Yanomami territory, destroying the rainforest, polluting rivers and putting the Indians’ lives at risk. The uncontacted … Continue reading Yanomami under threat from illegal gold mining→
By Mongabay Federal public prosecutors in Brazil have challenged a plan to strip protected status from 86,288 hectares of land to make way for five new dams, reports International Rivers. The challenge is set to be heard by Brazil’s Supreme Court, according to the group, which is campaigning against new hydroelectric projects in environmentally-sensitive areas. … Continue reading Brazil’s plan to cut protected areas for dams faces constitutional challenge→
By Tom Phillips / The Guardian A single shot to the temple was Mouth Organ John’s reward for spilling the beans. His friend, Junior José Guerra, fared only marginally better. Guerra’s prize for speaking out against the illegal loggers laying waste to the greatest tropical rainforest on Earth? A broken home, two petrified children and … Continue reading Organized crime killing activists reporting illegal Amazon loggers→
By Survival International Judges in Brazil have allowed a Guarani community to stay on its ancestral land, which it reoccupied having been forced to live in a makeshift camp for over a year and a half. The judges have suspended an eviction order which threatened to force the Indians to leave their land and face … Continue reading Judges allow Indians to remain on ancestral land→