September 6, 2022, 19:29 PM
September 6, 2022, 19:29 PM
The Amazon is on “red alert” because 26% of its ecosystem has been irreversibly destroyed by deforestation, pollution and drug traffickingindigenous leaders meeting in Lima warned on Tuesday.
“For us to announce that the Amazon is contaminated and destroyed by 26% is a very big alarm,” Venezuelan Gregorio Mirabal, leader of the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (Coica), told AFP.
“It is a red alert that tells us that, if we don’t do something now, the 2030 development goals will not be achieved nor achieve the great agreements of the COP in Glasgow (Scotland) last year and (of what) is going to be in Egypt,” said Mirabal, 54, who wears a crown of red and yellow feathers.
Meeting at the V Summit of Indigenous Peoples, Amazonian leaders and researchers from nine countries presented a report that shows that the Amazon is at a point of no return due to high rates of deforestation and degradation which, combined, already reach 26% of the region.
The remaining 74% is still standing but requires immediate protection.
“The governments have said that they are going to save the Amazon, but with these numbers they are not complying. We are exceeding the limits so that the Amazon reaches the point of no return,” added the leader of the Wakuenai Kurripaco people.
“The temperature is going to rise by two degrees if we go at that rate of deforestation,” he alleged.
According to the leader, there are about 511 indigenous peoples with 500 different languages, while 200 peoples in isolation transit the borders of the Amazonian countries.
“The lung of the world is in danger That is why we are alerting to save the Amazon,” declared to the AFP Zenaida Yasacama, vice president of the powerful CONAIE (Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador).
“Through the Amazon, the world breathes fresh air. The nine countries are being threatened with extractivism, mining and logging. We are going through a very critical situation,” said this leader of the Kichwa people of Pakayacu.
another serious problem discussed at the summit is the murder of the defenders and leaders of the Amazonwhich exceed 280 in different countries.
“We are reaching an extremely serious number. We are surpassing the 280 brothers killed in the Amazon”, Mirabal stressed.
Coica represents 3.5 million Amazonian indigenous people from nine countries.
“The Amazon is suffering because we are being invaded by loggers, oil tankers and those who attack our territories. We want to cry out for help,” Brazilian Marciely Tupari, of the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon, told AFP.
The nine Amazonian countries are Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname.
