Attack on the Amazon (Post 1)
So what’s currently happening to the Amazon?
Why was I interested in this?
As many of us know, the Amazon Rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world. It’s a wonder full of mysteries, beauty and life. However, now it is under attack because not long ago, President Michel Temer of Brazil declared he would open the biggest Amazon reserve for foreign investments and mining. Touching the Amazon is something we cannot allow Brazil’s president to do because many of its indigenous tribes will face being displaced and harmed; and the various life only available there will suffer and disappear.
The Amazon Isn’t For Sale
To many people, the Amazon isn’t some piece of land one could just auction off to anyone. In Ernesto Londoño and Shannon Sims’ article on the New York Times titled “Brazilian Judge Stymies Plan to Allow Mining in Amazon Region”, they talked about how Brazilian judge Rolando Valcir Spanholo temporarily blocked Michel Temer’s decree and claimed that he “had exceeded authority”. His supposed decree was a plan to open up the Amazon’s biggest reserve known as “Renca”. Renca, an enormous plot of land rich in gold, silver, and copper, is protected under a presidential decree and only the Brazilian congress has jurisdiction to allow such actions or changes to it.
Besides the judge, the enraged environmental activists and conservationists spoke out against his actions too. After receiving so much opposition from the public, Temer’s administration and the government tried to appeal to the public by releasing an updated version of the decree. Londoño and Sims further states, the Brazilian government has “outlined steps to mitigate environmental damage [and] safeguard the rights of indigenous communities and retain protected areas.” Nevertheless, what the Brazilian government is doing is quite the opposite, and Londoño and Sims goes on to argue that their plan will only “accelerate deforestation and the displacement of native peoples.”
Who is Michel Temer?
Michel Temer rose into power after the impeachment of the first female president of Brazil, Dilma Vana Rousseff. He is somewhat similar to Donald Trump, because Temer does not support anything that has to do with preserving and protecting the environment. As indicated in Londoño and Sims’ article earlier, they revealed that, “Mr. Temer has pared environmental protections and slashed the budgets of agencies that enforce environmental laws…” Likewise, Trump has been very vocal about climate change being a hoax and even wanted to slash funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (a.k.a EPA). Also, during Temer’s time as president, he was very well known for not upholding the rights of indigenous peoples as well.
The Brazilian Government Insists It’s For The Good
Furthermore, Brazil’s government insisted that they are opening Renca to create more jobs, allow money to flow into the country, as well as control illegal mining in the area. But still, many were opposed to it. In the Associated Press’s New York Times article titled “Decree Opening Brazil Amazon to Mining Comes Under Criticism”, they shared the perspective of the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Brazilian branch, about how the decree will create problems between the miners and indigenous peoples in the area. The Associated Press specifically stated that the area that’s currently considered for the planned mining and investment is “larger than the Netherlands… [and]… Roughly “18,000 square miles (47,000 square kilometers).” Again, the area in which Temer was aiming for is home to many indigenous tribes. Do they know that there are some native tribes we haven’t had contact with in the Amazon? Although they broadly said in the updated decree that they’ll protect the natives and lessen the destruction on nature, can Temer and the government be trusted?
Since this is a temporary block, who knows how this will unfold in the next few days, weeks, or months.
Works Cited
Associated Press. “Decree Opening Brazil Amazon to Mining Comes Under Criticism.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 Aug. 2017, www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/08/24/world/americas/ap-lt-brazil-amazon-mining.html. Accessed 9 Sept. 2017.
Londoño, Ernesto, and Shannon Sims. “Brazilian Judge Stymies Plan to Allow Mining in Amazon Region.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Aug. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/08/30/world/americas/brazil-amazon-mining-temer-environmentalists-judge.html?_r=0. Accessed 11 Sept. 2017.