Rio de Janeiro: In a rare move, Brazil is providing armed back-up to indigenous people protecting the world's most threatened tribe from illegal loggers, a decision that campaigners lauded as a "landmark" in efforts to halt deforestation in the Amazon.
Officials moved in to the Brazilian rainforest after a group of from the Guajajara tribe, who call themselves The Guardians of the Amazon, seized a logging gang and burnt their truck, rights group Survival International said.
A soldier stands guard in front of a truck loaded with logs that were illegally cut from the Amazon rain forest. Photo: AP/File
"Over the weekend, a team of Ibama [Brazil's environmental protection agency] and environmental military police arrived in response to The Guardians' call for help," said Sarah Shenker, a senior campaigner with Survival.
"That was a landmark moment, I would say, because The Guardians hardly ever receive support," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
green_flash on May 24th, 2018 at 20:24 UTC »
Since it might be confusing, the title is speaking about two different groups. The "Guardians of the Amazon" are the Guajajara while "the world's most threatened tribe" are the Awá or Guajá.
Here's a map showing their main habitat that is being encircled by loggers: Araribóia
AllHeartGritGrind on May 24th, 2018 at 19:54 UTC »
Great step in the right direction
PiezoelectricMammal on May 24th, 2018 at 18:44 UTC »
If they really want to halt illegal (and widespread) deforestation they need to get the army involved.