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In pictures: standing with the guardians of the forest

Posted by Angela Glienicke - 21st March 2019

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Bromelia plant with flower. Reserva Natural Rio Cachoeira, Mata Atlantica, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil.
All rights reserved. Credit: Markus Mauthe / Greenpeace

It’s the International Day of Forests today – an opportunity to shine the light on one of the world’s largest rainforests, the Amazon. Not only does the Amazon play a crucial role in regulating the world’s climate, it is one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet and home to Indigenous Peoples. But all of this could be lost due to the destructive illegal logging and cattle ranching industries. The pictures below show the beauty of the Amazon as well as the effects of deforestation on Indigenous Peoples like the Karipuna, who depend on the forest.

The Rio Negro, Serra de Araca, in Brazil.
Toucans on a tree in Mato Grosso do Sul, Bonito, Brazil.
A Black Spider Monkey (Ateles belzebuth marginatus), seen here, is part of the diverse wildlife living inside Cristalino State Park.
This park reserve is one of the most bio-diverse in the region and is currently under threat from illegal logging and fire.
André Karipuna shows a tree illegally removed from the territory of his people, which should be protected by the Brazilian state.
The Karipuna Indigenous Land, located in the municipalities of Nova Mamoré and Porto Velho, in Rondônia state, has been rapidly destroyed by the ostensive invasion of loggers and grileiros (land grabbers). Although it was recognized as an Indigenous Land by Brazilian government in 1988, over 11,000 hectares of the Amazon forest have already been destroyed; 80% in the last three years alone. Even the sale of lots has been carried out by the invaders. The Karipuna are a indigenous people of recent contact with surrounding society, and were almost extinct in the 1970s. Currently, the Karipuna population totals 58 people.
Panorama Village. A Karipuna boy diving in the Jacy-Paraná river near the Panorama village. Ratified in 1998, the Karipuna Indigenous Territory (IT) is 152,930 ha in size and suffers from constant invasions of illegal loggers. Today the Karipuna territory is facing one of the highest rates of deforestation of all indigenous areas in the Amazon.
Since 2015, the destruction of the Karipuna territory has grown in a frightening and uncontrollable way, which puts the life of the people at risk.
Cattle ranching is now the biggest cause of deforestation in the Amazon, and nearly 80 per cent of deforested areas in Brazil are now used for pasture, fuelling also the fight over the land between cattle ranchers and landless peasants.
The tree marking indicates the division of lots within the indigenous territory and shows that invaders are illegally selling forest areas of the Karipuna people.
Kleber Karipuna, from Brazil’s Indigenous People Articulation,  is photographed during the #Resist Protest in Brazil.
Activists from #Resist, a movement that brought together 150 entities (environmentalists, countryside dwellers, indigenous people and human rights defenders), leaves a clear message in front of Palácio do Planalto, Brazilian President Michel Temer’s workplace: NO MORE attacks on the environment and human rights from Temer government and the agribusiness lobby.
Ara parrots,  pictured in Mato Grosso do Sul, Bonito, Brazil.
Blue fungus in the Amazon Rainforest, Rio Negro, Serra de Araca, Brazil.
Saimiri monkey is pictured in the Amazon.

Article Tagged as: Amazon, Featured, Forests, Uncategorized, forest, in pictures, Indigenous, rainforest

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