Indigenous Amazon tribes vow to fight against loss of their home

Fears for the ‘lost tribes’ of the Amazon as huge wildfires devastate vast swathes of rainforest

• More than 18,000 Mura live in Amazonas state, largest and best-preserved state in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest 
• Indigenous tribe fighting against deforestation and the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and their home 
• It comes as the Amazon rainforest is engulfed by a huge blaze, with Paraguay and Bolivia struggling to cope

There are fears for the safety of the ‘lost tribes’ of the Amazon as large areas of the rainforest are engulfed by huge wildfires. 

Forest fires in Brazil are up more than 80 per cent in the country this year, hitting their highest point since 2013, space research agency INPE revealed, and experts now warn that indigenous tribes could have their homes destroyed.

The indigenous Mura tribe have also revealed how the destruction of the Amazon rainforest is damaging their home. 

The tribe painted their bodies with orange-red paint and took up long bows and clubs this week as they tried to draw attention to the damage caused by the wildfires, as well as deforestation.  

More than 18,000 Mura live in Amazonas state, the largest and best-preserved state in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, according to data compiled by the non-government organization Instituto Socioambiental.

Members of the tribe revealed an area the size of several football fields near their village where the forest had been cleared away, leaving a broad dirt hole in the ground pockmarked by the treads of heavy machinery.

Indigenous people from the Mura tribe shows a deforested area in unmarked indigenous lands inside the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Amazonas State

The Mura tribe are fighting to get the area marked as tribal land to get it protected in the fight against the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest

Brazilian state experts have reported a record of nearly 77,000 wildfires across the country so far this year, up 85% over the same period in 2018 (pictured: A raging fire in the Amazon rainforest in the state of Tocantins, Brazil, August 17)

Raging fires in the Amazon rainforest – known as ‘the lungs of the planet’ – have sparked global concerns (pictured: A fire in the Amazon rainforest in the state of Tocantins, Brazil, August 17, 2019)

A view of an area that has been scorched by fire in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Wildfires are another issue the Mura are fighting against 

‘With each passing day, we see the destruction advance: deforestation, invasion, logging,’ said Handerch Wakana Mura, one of several leaders of a tribal clan of more than 60 people.

‘We are sad because the forest is dying at every moment. We feel the climate changing and the world needs the forest.’ 

Amazon deforestation has surged 67 per cent in the first seven months of the year from the same period a year ago.

As the Mura people spoke about their struggles, in the region around their village pockets of fire were raging.

Environmentalists blame right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro who has called for the development of protected reserves and argued against environmental fines, which has emboldened loggers and farmers who seek to clear the land, sometimes by setting fires.

The Mura clan says it has not been able to stop the loggers. 

Deforestation in the area began four years ago, and only last year did authorities chase out loggers and those extracting rocks to build a nearby roadway.

Logging subsequently jumped across the roadway, with a huge area of downed trees visible by drone.

When that abated, the Mura came upon a path through the jungle nearby that had recently been filled with chainsaws and machetes – a logging path and the first sign of a new area that would be targeted.

An Indigenous man named Raimundo Praia Mura from the Mura tribe reveals the front of a deforested area in unmarked indigenous lands inside the Amazon rainforest

Indigenous people from the Mura tribe walk in a deforested area in nondemarcated indigenous land inside the Amazon rainforest

Environmentalists blame right-wing President Jair Bolsonarowho has called for the development of protected reserves and argued against environmental fines

Bolsonaro emboldened loggers and farmers who seek to clear the land, sometimes by setting fires, which the Mura say is destroying their home

This time, the path runs particularly close to a group of Brazil nut trees that the clan harvests, a major traditional food source for indigenous people in the area, tribal leaders say.

The Mura clan plans to fight against loggers and others exploiting the land by filing complaints with the country’s environmental enforcement agency and public prosecutors.

They have struggled for nearly 20 years to have the land around their village demarcated as an official indigenous reserve, a move that would bring added protections, Handerch Wakana Mura said.

The clan says it will be a tough battle, with Bolsonaro having vowed not to set aside any more tribal land.

Leader Raimundo Praia Belem Mura, a 73-year-old who has lived on the land his entire life, has vowed to fight to the bitter end.

‘For this forest, I will go on until my last drop of blood,’ he said.

The Mura clan plans to fight against loggers and others exploiting the land by filing complaints with the country’s environmental enforcement agency

Mura came upon a path through the jungle nearby that had recently been filled with chainsaws and machetes – a logging path and the first sign of a new area that would be targeted

They have struggled for nearly 20 years to have the land around their village demarcated as an official indigenous reserve, a move that would bring added protections

The clan says it will be a tough battle, with Bolsonaro having vowed not to set aside any more tribal land but they are determined to fight

FIRES IN THE AMAZON RAINFOREST: WHY ARE THEY HAPPENING? 

Pictured: The Amazon rainforest fire in mid-August 2019

Raging fires in the Amazon rainforest – known as ‘the lungs of the planet’ – have sparked global concerns.

Brazilian federal experts reported a record number of wildfires across the country this year, up 84% over the same period in 2018. But why has this happened and what does it mean for all of us? 

Are there usually many fires in the Amazon and has there really been more this year?

Amazon fires are a common occurrence, Greenpeace UK spokeswoman Alison Kirkman said. But she added that there has been a ‘huge’ increase this year.

Her view is backed by Mike Barrett, executive director of conservation and science at WWF UK, who said: ‘The fires this year are certainly worse than normal.

‘We’ve seen over 70,000 fires now already this year which is nearly double what we saw in the same period last year.’

But why have there been more fires this year?

The fires are ‘part of a broader renewed assault on the Amazon’, according to Mr Barrett, who said this is driven by deforestation.

He says fire is being used to clear land in order to graze cattle, grow crops and so on. And there is a political angle.

Mr Barrett said: ‘The reason why this is higher than before I think it’s very clear that there has been a change in the political rhetoric within Brazil, and that has led to those who wish to deforest feeling empowered to do so.’

Ms Kirkman said Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s policies encourage farmers to expand their businesses and grow more crops.

Why is the Amazon known as ‘the lungs of the planet’?

The Amazon is a vast ecosystem and the biggest living carbon store on the planet, Mr Barrett pointed out. It therefore has a huge role to play in regulating the environment of the entire planet.

Trees take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and store it within the plant body and within the soil.

‘Because of the size of the Amazon, the Amazon actually stores more carbon than any other living body, any other living ecosystem on the planet, so that’s why it plays such a crucial role in tackling climate change. If we lose the Amazon then we will almost certainly lose the fight against climate change,’ Mr Barrett said.

The Amazon provides 20% of the planet’s oxygen, Ms Kirkman said, adding: ‘So this really is an issue that impacts all of us, and it’s something that we can all do something about. It’s something that we should all be really concerned about.’

Raging fires in the Amazon rainforest – known as ‘the lungs of the planet’ – have sparked global concerns (pictured: A fire in the Amazon rainforest in the state of Tocantins, Brazil, August 17, 2019)

How have world leaders reacted to the fires?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is ‘deeply concerned’ about the increase in fires, and has vowed to use the G7 to ‘call for a renewed focus on protecting nature’.

French President Emmanuel Macron called the wildfires an international crisis, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel views the fires as ‘shocking and threatening’.

But Brazilian President Mr Bolsonaro has hit back at his critics, accusing Mr Macron on Twitter of using a ‘sensationalist tone’ that ‘does nothing to solve the problem’.

Why should people in the UK be concerned?

Around 20% of the Amazon has already been lost and scientists now believe that just losing another 5% would be sufficient to tip the Amazon into a sort of ‘unstable state within which it becomes impossible to actually restore it’, Mr Barrett said.

He said it matters locally, globally and also from a UK perspective. ‘If the Amazon ceases to be a functioning ecosystem, ceases to be the lungs of the planet, it is essentially impossible to see how we avoid dangerous climate change at a global level,’ he said.

Ms Kirkman said forests are our ‘greatest defence against climate change’ adding: ‘We’ve seen the impacts of climate change already in this country this year. We’ve seen the flooding in the north of England. We’ve had huge heat, high temperatures in the south of England, the hottest day on record in July, so it really does have an impact on us here and we should be really concerned about it.’

French President Emmanuel Macron said: ‘Our house in burning. Literally’

What can people do to help?

One way people can make a difference is by eating less meat, according to Ms Kirkman, who said the burgers and chicken we eat from big fast food chains will likely have been fed on animal feed that has been grown in the Amazon rainforest.

‘One of the biggest things that we can do as individuals is be conscious of that, and we do really need to reduce our meat consumption globally. In the UK we need to more than half our meat consumption and replace the meat that we’re eating with plant-based food,’ she said.

Ms Kirkman said we all have influence on the companies we buy from and if they see demand decreasing then they will be compelled to do something. She suggests this could be ensuring that their supply chains are clean and they are only sourcing from sustainable sources, or even reducing the meat in the supply chain altogether. ‘But the fact is we cannot continue consuming meat at the rate that we do,’ she said.

Could governments and businesses also help out?

Mr Barrett said if people switched to more plant-based protein, away from meat-based protein, that it would certainly have a positive impact. But he also pointed out the key role governments play too.

‘I think it’s incumbent on all the major economies who are trading with Brazil and make sure that we use our trade for good and not for bad. So thinking about trade deals for Brazil, setting high environmental standards that ensure that deforesting commodities don’t enter supply chains and are not imported by major economies like ourselves. It’s absolutely crucial,’ he said.

Mr Barrett said the G7 has an opportunity to ‘send a really powerful message to Brazil’. He also said businesses have a responsibility to ensure that they are not purchasing commodities that are grown on deforested land. 

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