..A must read for for every US voter and concerned citizen.. challenges the reader to explore new possibilities and new mindsets that will ultimately be required if the world is truly ready to make a change.. amazon.com US onlyParaguay: Action to protect Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation
cannot be delayed
The Ayoreo Indigenous People are one of an estimated 100 uncontacted
tribes around the world and the only uncontacted people in South
America outside the Amazon basin. The Totobiegosode (`people from the
place of the wild pigs') are the most isolated sub-group of the
Ayoreo and live in the Chaco, a vast expanse of dense, scrubby forest
stretching from Paraguay to Bolivia and Argentina. They are extremely
vulnerable to any form of contact with outsiders because of their
lack of immunity to diseases, warns an emergency submission sent in
November 2008 by Survival International to the United Nations. (1)
Though some have still managed to avoid all contact with outsiders,
since 1969 many of them have been forced out of the forest harassed
by deforestation carried out by land speculators and ranchers. Two
Brazilian companies -Yaguarete Pora SA and River Plate SA- are
currently devastating the Totobiegosode's ancestral territory and
livelihood to make way mainly for grazing cattle for beef.
Widespread condemnation and pressure from the public in Paraguay has
come as a result of satellite photos that revealed the destruction of
the Indigenous Peoples' land, as well as increasing media coverage of
the issue around the world and a letter campaign from Survival
International. (2) Paraguay's National Environment Council (CONAM)
announced the decision to withdraw Yaguarete's licence to work in the
area. Still, when a government team went to investigate the
activities of the Brazilian Yaguarete Pora SA in the area, it was
barred from doing so by the company's employees.
The Global Forest Coalition (3) reports that "This tragedy is
occurring in Paraguay's largest reservoir of carbon and is happening
in a department where deforestation is banned by the Department's
Law."
The amount of Totobiegosode's land bulldozed in the northern Chaco
has almost tripled since May last year. The push for agrofuels has
added to the traditional land grab to graze cattle for beef. The
Minister of Agriculture of Paraguay was in the Chaco Region promoting
crops for agrofuels as a profitable scheme. The Argentinean firms
Carlos Casado and Patagonia Bioenergía joined to create a company to
produce in Paraguay Jatropha curcas for agrofuel.
(http://www.biodiesel.com.ar/?p=1001#more-1001).
According to GFC, "The Ayoreo's land is being deforested at a
tremendous rate. More than 200 hectares have been clear-cut and
another 1,000 hectares are slated to be cut by the end of the year.
The deforesters vow that they will meet this deadline `come what
may.' The lands will be designated for growing 5 species of
oleaginous plants for `bio-diesel' production including Jatropha
curcas." The GFC informs that "The company Carlos Casado already has
a `field trial' of 15,000 hectares in the western part of the Chaco".
Projects and policies that devastate the cultural diversity of the
society, the environment and the climate run counter to the discourse
of President Fernando Lugo, who has promised to protect Indigenous
Peoples' rights and the environment. As Survival International
warns: "Lugo must take action to protect the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode
now. Wait any longer and it may be too late."
(1) "Emergency report to UN about uncontacted tribe", Survival
International, http://www.survival-international.org/news/3938
(2) "Glimmer of hope for uncontacted tribe", Survival International,
http://www.survival-international.org/news/3929
(3) "Agrofuel Production Threatens the Life of last remaining
Indigenous Peoples Living in Voluntary Isolation South from the
Amazonian Basin," 11 December 2008, Global Forest Coalition, sent by
Rachel Smolker, Global Justice Ecology Project/Global Forest Coalition
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Biofuels are a wide range of fuels which are in some way derived from biomass.
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