During November and December 2003, our ship the MV Arctic Sunrise is visiting and supporting the local communities of Para State, who have long been fighting against the invasion of their traditional lands by grileiros (land grabbers), and loggers. The communities are working with Greenpeace to create a protected reserve in the region, for legal and sustainable forestry operations and for governance and social justice.
As Greenpeace continues to expose illegal forestry operations in Para state tensions in the area are rising, with local officials (who just happen to be connected to the timber industry) and loggers combining to protest against Greenpeace and threaten activists in the area.
Recently 300 Brazilian loggers, bribed by local officials with promises of free alcohol, fuel and T-shirts, blocked the path of the MV Arctic Sunrise with more than a dozen river boats. They attempted to board the boat, but withdrew after tense negotiations.
Meanwhile, local community groups were meeting to discuss the creation of the reserve. They were forced to abandon the meeting however, and take refuge in the Catholic church when an anonymous threat suggested they were about to be attacked.
The loggers, angered by our ongoing exposure of illegal logging in the area, have been incited to rise up against Greenpeace by the local Mayor who governs the region and also owns the local radio station that broadcast the "call to arms" of the loggers. Not surprisingly, he also owns the largest logging concession in the region.
In an alarming new report, Greenpeace has exposed the violence that is occuring in the Amazon as powerful loggers and cattle ranchers invade the land.
The report, "State of Conflict" focuses on the state of Para, where industrial activities are surging ahead leaving the law behind, evidenced by the recent anger and violence.
Para is the largest producer and exporter of wood products in the Brazilian Amazon and also the site of one-third of the region's total deforestation. Last year an area the size of Belgium was deforested. Nearly all timber is illegal.
The forest communities need your support to protect their homes from violence and destruction - please sign their Declaration, a document with signatories already of more than a 100 national and international NGOs and social movements.
Notes:
Read about the heroes of Para
Keep up to date with Greenpeace in the Amazon on the Amazon Crime Files website.
