Brazil

Fires raging through the Amazon

Posted by jamie — 3 September 2008 at 2:19pm - Comments

It's currently the dry season in the Amazon and, as the live webcast last week demonstrated, fires have been decimating large areas. The video crew weren't the only ones documenting the fires and last week we received images from another Greenpeace team who took to the air to photograph them and the devastated areas they leave behind. We've put together some of the most striking (not to say depressing) images into the slideshow below.

Article tagged as: agriculture, amazon, brazil, cattle, deforestation, forest fires, forests, slideshows, south america

Live and direct from the Amazon

Posted by jamie — 1 September 2008 at 4:58pm - Comments

On Friday, a Greenpeace team broadcast a live webcast from the heart of the Amazon rainforest, in an area which was still-smouldering after a recent forest fire. Even rainforests have dry seasons and during the current one, fires both natural and man-made are devastating huge areas.

It was an amazing technical achievement but that wasn't the reason they did it - they were there to show how the forest is being cleared for a variety of reasons (in this case, to open up areas for cattle).

Article tagged as: agriculture, amazon, brazil, cattle, forest fires, forests, south america, videos

Will Brazil's new environment minister save the Amazon?

Posted by jamie — 21 May 2008 at 10:27am - Comments

Deforestation in the Amazon

After losing respected environment minister Marina Silva from his cabinet last week, President Lula of Brazil has filled the gaping hole left by her departure. But whether the new minister Carlos Minc has the same commitment to protecting the Amazon as his predecessor, we'll just have to wait and see.

Article tagged as: amazon, brazil, carlos minc, deforestation, forests, illegal logging, marina silva, south america

The prince and the rubber tapper: stop trashing rainforests

Posted by bex — 15 May 2008 at 10:38am - Comments

The lungs of the world

Yesterday, the 'guardian angel' of Brazil's environment, Marina Silva, threw in the towel and quit her post as Brazil's environment minister. She told President Lula that her efforts to protect the Amazon "were being thwarted by powerful business lobbies".

Article tagged as: amazon, brazil, climate change, deforestation, forests, marina silva, prince charles

Brazilian government gets busy in the Amazon

Posted by jamie — 15 April 2008 at 5:20pm - Comments

Following our action in France last month - when the crew of the Arctic Sunrise blocked a shipment of timber from the Brazilian Amazon - efforts have been stepped up in the country of origin to prevent illegal timber being exported in the first place.

The Brazilian government's environmental agency, Ibama, has seized a shipment of timber in the first check on exports by authorities in two years. The cargo vessel in question - the BSLE Express - would have been en route to Europe but has been detained in Santarem since March 27. So far, inspectors have confiscated 732m3 of wood which were travelling with false papers; papers that were economical with the truth when it came to the species of timber present in the shipment.

Article tagged as: amazon, brazil, forests, IBAMA, illegal timber, south america

Amazon timber shipment blocked in France

Posted by jamie — 18 March 2008 at 7:12pm - Comments

Greenpeace volunteers boarding the Galina III

Boarding the Galina III yesterday © Greenpeace/Karl Joseph

Yesterday afternoon, the crew of one of our ships - the Arctic Sunrise - swung into action in the French port of Caen. Their mission: to prevent a shipment of Amazon timber, acquired from companies linked to illegal logging activities, from entering the EU. And after nearly 24 hours, they're still going strong.

The timber is aboard the Galina III and, as it tried to enter the port, five Greenpeace volunteers (including a group from the UK) climbed aboard where they attached themselves to two of the ship's cranes. Since then, the Galina has been unable to dock to unload its cargo, a mixture of timber species with wonderfully exotic names: amarelao, macaranduba, ipe, garapeira, cumaru and jarana to name a few. And as I write, the team on the cranes is still holding out.

Article tagged as: amazon, brazil, EU, FLEGT, forests, illegal timber, south america

Fire and ice: images from the Amazon and the antarctic

Posted by jamie — 3 March 2008 at 1:44pm - Comments

One of the pleasures of working at Greenpeace is having access to a truly incredible photo library and there's been more than one occasion when, looking for images to accompany a blog story, I've become lost in the wealth of powerful and affecting images.

The photographers who supply us with these photos are rewarded for their work with the occasional trophy and Daniel Beltra, who has accompanied Greenpeace campaigners on expeditions all over the world, was last week presented with the Global Vision Award for photos he took in the Amazon as part of Pictures of the Year International. He also received an Award of Excellence in the Science/Nature category for a collection from the Antarctic, taken during last year's Southern Ocean expedition on the Esperanza.

Article tagged as: amazon, awards, brazil, daniel beltra, forest fires, images, mining, slideshows
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