The destruction of the Amazon Rainforest, explained.

The war for the Amazon's most valuable trees.

The Amazon rainforest has faced encroachment and deforestation for a long time. But it
wasn’t until Brazil’s military dictatorship came to power in the 1970s that deforestation
spiked, becoming a big business in the Amazon. When that expansion reached the state of
Acre, it met resistance. Chico Mendes, a rubber tapper from the region, took the fight to
protect the Amazon from the depths of the rainforest to the global stage. In the process, he
gave his life. But the fight he started lives on.


Published: Nov 22, 2019

Brazil's indigenous land is being invaded.

Brazil has over 900,000 indigenous people, most of whom live in the Amazon. After centuries
of persecution, they were given extensive rights under a new Constitution in the 1980s,
including the right to claim and win back their traditional lands. Since then, hundreds of
indigenous lands have been demarcated and protected by the Brazilian government.

But in the last few years, those lands have come under attack by landowners, ranchers,
loggers, and farmers who want access to the resources inside these indigenous lands. And
since Jair Bolsonaro became president, the number of invasions into indigenous lands has
skyrocketed.


Published: Nov 25, 2019