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| Enawene Nawe boys
© Fiona Watson/Survival |
A group of Indians have denounced the destruction of their most important river. The Enawene Nawe
tribe are angry that the rainforest bordering the Rio Preto, an
abundant source of fish, is being rapidly destroyed by cattle ranchers.
The Rio Preto rainforest is of a type known as gallery forest. Brazilian law forbids all logging in gallery forest.
Several leaders recently made the long journey from the interior of
Mato Grosso state to the capital, Cuiabá, to meet with the state
government's environment agency and the public prosecutor. The
authorities promised to act within 30 days to protect the area but have
failed to do so.
Earlier this year Enawene Nawe leader Marikeroseene told UK TV channel
ITV, 'In the last two years, the felling has risen dramatically. It has
doubled…. The situation is unbearable.'
Meanwhile a new study just published by the National Academy of
Sciences in the USA used satellite images to demonstrate that soya
planters are directly destroying Amazon rainforest, rather than
occupying forest already destroyed by cattle ranchers. It estimates
that 5,400 square kilometres of forest were destroyed by soya
cultivators in Mato Grosso between 2001 and 2004.
