A spectacular wide view of the 82-foot-high Juruena waterfall, part of a corridor of Brazil's protected areas, on May 4, 2016 in the Amazon Rainforest. Contributor / Barcroft Media / Getty Images
Taking a stand for environmental justice and protecting natural resources is a dangerous pursuit. A new report from the UK-based NGO Global Witness showed that 164 environmentalists worldwide were killed for their activism in 2018. That averages to just over three murders per week. And that's an underestimation.
A Waiapi man looks at a boy picking fruits from a Geninapo tree at the Waiapi indigenous reserve in Amapa state in Brazil on Oct. 13, 2017. APU GOMES / AFP / Getty Images
Aerial view of the Amazon rainforest, near Manaus the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Neil Palmer / CIAT / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Right-wing Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro's administration has pushed pause on monitoring industry in protected areas of the Amazon, the New York Times reports.
Aerial view of deforestation in the Western Amazon region of Brazil on Sept. 22, 2017. CARL DE SOUZA / AFP / Getty Images
The Amazon rainforest in Brazil is being clear cut so rapidly — a rate of three football fields per minute — that it is approaching a "tipping point" from which it will not recover, according to the Guardian.
A worker's hands injured by long hours of coffee harvesting. Lilo Clareto / Repórter Brasil
By Daniel Camargos
Eight months after slave labor was discovered at the Cedro II farm in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, Starbucks and Nestlé-controlled brand Nespresso — both of whom had quality certified the farm — said they would stop sourcing coffee there.
With the ruralist lobby now in control of key sectors of the federal government, Brazil is rapidly approving new pesticides for use, some of which critics say are either unnecessary or excessively toxic. During the first 100 days of the Jair Bolsonaro administration, the Agriculture Ministry authorized the registration of 152 pesticides, putting Brazil on course to authorize more pesticides this year than in any previous year. Brazil is already the world's largest user of pesticides.
The American Museum of Natural History's Hall of Ocean Life will not serve as the venue for a dinner honoring far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Jason Kempin / Getty Images for Turner
The American Museum of Natural History will no longer host a gala intended to honor controversial Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose plans to open the Amazon rainforest to industry were seen by many as incompatible with the museum's mission, Reuters reported Monday.
The American Museum Of Natural History's 2018 Museum Gala on Nov. 15, 2018 in New York City. Sylvain Gaboury / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
The American Museum of Natural History says it is "deeply concerned" about a gala honoring Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro that is scheduled to take place at the museum next month.
Murdered Seringal São Domingos landless settlement leader Nemis Machado de Oliveira being buried. Image courtesy of Amazonia Real
By Sue Branford and Thais Borges
Violence in the Brazilian countryside is on the rise. In the last two weeks, Amazonia has seen an alarming increase in targeted killings, with three massacres and at least nine deaths. The Catholic Church's Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) defines a massacre as a killing involving three or more people.
For many years, international and Brazilian mining companies have dreamed of getting access to the mineral wealth lying beneath indigenous lands. And finally, the government of Jair Bolsonaro seems determined to give them that opportunity. On March 4, while Brazilians were distracted by Carnival celebrations, the new Minister of Mines and Energy Admiral Bento Albuquerque announced plans to permit mining on indigenous land.
