This is a fight for the future of our planet and future generations.
For Indigenous people like me, our land is our home. It provides us shelter, security, and a deep connection to our ancestors. Indigenous Peoples have been forced to fight to protect our lands from invasion and destruction for centuries, and right now in Brazil, we are leading one of the largest and most critical battles to protect Indigenous lands in modern times.
Large companies, particularly from the agribusiness and mining industries, and Brazilian politicians who support them, are doing everything they can to take land from Indigenous communities, all in the name of profit. If successful, the consequences risk not only destroying the homes of nearly 2 million Indigenous Peoples from more than 300 different ethnic groups, including non-contacted peoples living in voluntary isolation, but also the planet at-large by making it impossible for the world to stave off climate catastrophe.
Indigenous land in Brazil spans across the country’s six biomes, all of which are precious ecosystems crucial to the biological and systemic maintenance of the Amazon, the world’s largest carbon sink, accounting for nearly 20 percent of the world’s carbon captured by vegetation. It is the most crucial resource in the world’s fight to mitigate climate change, and it is essential to preserving the planet for future generations. This land is critical to regulating air quality and slowing the pace of global warming.
Despite its significance, the Amazon has faced severe deforestation, with the rainforest’s tree cover stripped by about 17 percent since 1970 by greedy corporations and individuals willing to destroy this critical land for resources.
