Saving the Rainforest; A Battle Against Human Greed - Seed Documentary
At the age of 27, Ana Rafaela D’Amico is the youngest national park director in Brazil. In order to save the rainforest, she has declared war on the drugs gangs, logging mafia and illegal fishing.
The Campos Amazonicos National Park is like a microcosm of all the problems found in Amazonia: illegal logging, cattle breeding, tin mines – and a drugs route that goes right through the middle of the park. Ana Rafaela has been fighting ardently to preserve the natural surroundings ever since she took over the management of the park a few years ago. She has already achieved a great deal, yet the obstacles the young woman from the city faces remain formidable. For Ana Rafaela nature conservation means a life without compromises, a life which sometimes requires a “cold heart”. She has to confront an invisible enemy: it is a struggle of dangers and bitterly fought successes. The small players she can catch; and has to take away their livelihood, but there is often little she can do against the big players.
And yet, Ana Rafaela’s efforts do bear fruit. Since she has been managing the park, illegal fishing has declined and no new mines have been opened. She believes in her success, and that it is possible to save Amazonia if everyone does their bit. She will not give up – this is the only way she knows.
Indigenous Internet Warriors
“The Internet is our weapon. We gave up fighting with bows and arrows a long time ago,” says Benki Piyako, son of the chief of the Ashaninka in the Brazilian rainforest. “We all need to be interconnected if we want to live in safety on our territory.” The Ashaninka live on the border of Brazil and Peru. Their region is rich in tropical wood and regularly attracts illegal logging gangs. When the Indians confront the logging mafia their villages are attacked and the villagers killed or driven away.
That all started to change a few years ago when a Brazilian NGO began equipping isolated indigenous communities with Internet stations. This enabled the rainforest inhabitants to ask the authorities directly for assistance when they need it. Illegal woodcutters are now apprehended because the military and the police can get to the Indians’ territory very quickly and catch the raw materials pirates red-handed. This gave a significant boost to the fight for the rights of the indigenous population, and the Ashaninka in particular made the headlines, because they are a living example of how to combine Indian traditions with the modern mindset and responsibility for the environment.
Today the chief’s two sons, Benki and Moises Piyako, are working hard to provide more and more Indian communities with the Internet. They also founded an environment school where they teach sustainable farming methods, made their villages self-sufficient again, started with the reforestation and found allies in the organisations that have been springing up in growing numbers in Brazil’s
At the age of 27, Ana Rafaela D’Amico is the youngest national park director in Brazil. In order to save the rainforest, she has declared war on the drugs gangs, logging mafia and illegal fishing.
The Campos Amazonicos National Park is like a microcosm of all the problems found in Amazonia: illegal logging, cattle breeding, tin mines – and a drugs route that goes right through the middle of the park. Ana Rafaela has been fighting ardently to preserve the natural surroundings ever since she took over the management of the park a few years ago. She has already achieved a great deal, yet the obstacles the young woman from the city faces remain formidable. For Ana Rafaela nature conservation means a life without compromises, a life which sometimes requires a “cold heart”. She has to confront an invisible enemy: it is a struggle of dangers and bitterly fought successes. The small players she can catch; and has to take away their livelihood, but there is often little she can do against the big players.
And yet, Ana Rafaela’s efforts do bear fruit. Since she has been managing the park, illegal fishing has declined and no new mines have been opened. She believes in her success, and that it is possible to save Amazonia if everyone does their bit. She will not give up – this is the only way she knows.
Indigenous Internet Warriors
“The Internet is our weapon. We gave up fighting with bows and arrows a long time ago,” says Benki Piyako, son of the chief of the Ashaninka in the Brazilian rainforest. “We all need to be interconnected if we want to live in safety on our territory.” The Ashaninka live on the border of Brazil and Peru. Their region is rich in tropical wood and regularly attracts illegal logging gangs. When the Indians confront the logging mafia their villages are attacked and the villagers killed or driven away.
That all started to change a few years ago when a Brazilian NGO began equipping isolated indigenous communities with Internet stations. This enabled the rainforest inhabitants to ask the authorities directly for assistance when they need it. Illegal woodcutters are now apprehended because the military and the police can get to the Indians’ territory very quickly and catch the raw materials pirates red-handed. This gave a significant boost to the fight for the rights of the indigenous population, and the Ashaninka in particular made the headlines, because they are a living example of how to combine Indian traditions with the modern mindset and responsibility for the environment.
Today the chief’s two sons, Benki and Moises Piyako, are working hard to provide more and more Indian communities with the Internet. They also founded an environment school where they teach sustainable farming methods, made their villages self-sufficient again, started with the reforestation and found allies in the organisations that have been springing up in growing numbers in Brazil’s
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