Tag Results
3 posts tagged amazon
Loggers threaten Brazil Amazon residents: Amnesty
RIO DE JANEIRO — Communities in remote corners of Brazil’s Amazon jungle are facing repeated assaults and death threats from illegal loggers who want to steal their lands, Amnesty International said Wednesday.
The human rights group said there was no police presence in parts of Brazil’s northwestern Amazonas state and no investigation into illegal activities reportedly taking place there.
“Those living in the region are in danger,” it said in a statement, urging Brazilian authorities to protect local residents and stop the illegal logging.
The target of the invading land-grabbers known as “grileiros” and illegal loggers are small communities living from timber extraction in legally recognized reserves located south of the town of Labrea.
Many residents have fled the region fearing for their lives, Amnesty said.
Dinhana Nink was gunned down in front of her son in a nearby town in Rondonia state where she has sought refuge after her house was set ablaze, the statement said.
Community leader Nilcilene Miguel de Lima, who has denounced the influx of illegal loggers in the reserves, was beaten up, threatened with a pistol and had her house set ablaze. She has been under armed protection by federal agents since October, according to Amnesty.
In April, she had to be evacuated by authorities after her dog was shot in the head and killed, it said.
The police station covering the area is located hundreds of kilometers (miles) north of Labrea and can be reached only by air.
Free webinar from The Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy: The End of Deforestation in the Amazon: Is it Possible?
This mostly covers carbon, but you may find it interesting:
Climate Change Solutions:Frontline Perspectives from Around the GlobeThe End of Deforestation in the Amazon: Is it Possible?February 16th, 2012 | 12PM - 1PM ESTSpeaker: Dr. Paulo Moutinho, Executive Director, Amazon Environmental Research InstituteRegister Here: https://yaleenvirocenter.webex.com/The Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, in partnership with World Resources Institute and Environmental Defense Fund, invites you to participate in the next event in our webinar series: Climate Change Solutions: Frontline Perspectives from Around the Globe.This exciting webinar series highlights the current state of climate change policy actions through speakers who provide unique insight into the latest policy developments in the world’s highest greenhouse gas emitting countries.
This month, the series continues with a discussion of Brazil’s climate policy by Dr. Paulo Moutinho. Dr. Moutinho is the Executive Director of the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) and joins us to discuss Brazil’s policies on climate change and deforestation.
The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.
“The livestock sector is by far the single largest anthropogenic user of land. Grazing occupies 26 percent of the Earth’s terrestrial surface, while feed crop production requires about a third of all arable land. Expansion of grazing land for livestock is a key factor in deforestation, especially in Latin America: some 70 percent of previously forested land in the Amazon is used as pasture, and feed crops cover a large part of the reminder. About 70 percent of all grazing land in dry areas is considered degraded, mostly because of overgrazing, compaction and erosion attributable to livestock activity.”
