Save Eco Destinations

Brazil's cattle sector takes up 80% of all deforested areas of the Amazon and is Brazil’s main source of carbon emissions. Photo by Greenpeace.

Greenpeace can be a pain in the ass, but more often than not, I think they rule.

Here is one example: In June, the organization released a report called “Slaughtering the Amazon,” which explains why the Brazilian cattle industry is the main cause of deforestation on the planet, with one acre lost every 8 seconds on average.

Through the release of this information, more and more people became educated as to the link between deforestation and cattle ranching, which then bred widespread activism to boycott cattle products from the region.

Activists demanded that shoe companies Adidas, Nike, Timberland, Clarks, and Geox stop buying leather from the Amazon. And it worked!

Even more amazing,

Each of the companies, JBS-Friboi, Bertin, Minerva and Marfrig, declared the adoption of environmental and social standards to ensure their products are free from cattle raised in newly deforested areas of the rainforest. The Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (ABRAS), which includes Walmart and Carrefour, attended the event and supports the call for zero deforestation.

JBS-Friboi, Bertin, Minerva and Marfrig, by the way, are four of the world’s largest beef and leather companies and monopolize the world export market and supply. They have vowed to  ban the purchase of cattle from newly deforested land in the Amazon. This is huge.

Governor Blairo Maggi of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, which is responsible for the leading rate of forest destruction in the Amazon and the country’s biggest cattle herd, said Mato Grosso would stand behind efforts to protect the rainforest and “provide high-resolution satellite images for monitoring.”

Well, I’m impressed.

More kick-ass news:

At the United Nations General Assembly in September, President Lula announced a target of 80% reduction in deforestation by 2020 for Brazil.

Hell yes. Go Brazil!

If only more nations would take the lead! I suppose they will when activists annoy them enough…

from 350.org

The coalition 350.org has created a day for climate action.

Earth citizens in 181 countries have organized over 5,200 climate action events around the globe to celebrate climate change awareness, concern, action, and leadership.

What it is

If you didn’t hear about this from other sources or through SED on Twitter this past week, watch this short animation explaining the concept behind 350:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5kg1oOq9tY]

The Point

The coalition 350.org created the International Day of Climate Action to unite people everywhere toward a common goal of reducing the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere to 350 parts per million – what scientists say is the safest upper limit for carbon dioxide for humanity.

We’re already at 387 ppm.

The point is to get our world leaders to haul ass so we can get back down to at least 350 ppm ASAP.

Do it

Go add your name to 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action – and, of course, get up and do something ;)

Then, add photos of what you did to the website by emailing them to photos@350.org and upload a video to their website.

You can also donate to the cause and volunteer.

Remember!

The Copenhagen, Denmark talks are coming up in December! Delegates, NGOs, and businesses from every nation will be there to discuss and finalize a new global climate change agreement. This two-week long conference will determine what the world’s next steps will be to fight climate change.

It is crucial that we make ourselves heard.

So be loud !

It’s fun.

As we saw in part three of the Peruvian Amazon Interoceanic Highway posts, which also discusses illegal gold mining, Peru’s rainforests are being cut down and the environment and human and nonhuman animals poisoned due to unregulated gold mining.

(Note: Let’s keep in mind that lawful gold mining is destructive as well.)

In the aforementioned post, Peru’s Environment Minister Antonio Brack said that the national government is looking to ban illegal fold mining.

But with such an extensive reach, how can illegal mining be stopped (never mind legal mining)?

We’d need some United States-style, Big Brother-type technology here.

Environmental activist Enrique Ortiz says that a Peruvian mining town near Huaypetue has quadrupled in size in the past six months alone.

“It’s just a cancer that is spreading all around, and with the prices going up of gold, predictions are not so good,” he says.

At the very least, the government would need to send a ton of guards to the Peruvian border with Bolivia and Brazil to span and monitor the entire area.

*Ahem* These guards should ideally not greet bribing attempts with a thumbs up *Ahem*

Brack didn’t even offer information on how the Peruvian government plans to finance the project. I’m not surprised – it’s not as though Peru is known for its wealth, and the region in question is about as large as Belgium (small on a map, yes, but try walking it!).

Gold mining in the Peruvian border with Bolivia and Brazil produced 10% of Peru’s 180 tons of gold output worth USD 5.6 billion in exports in 2008. The country is the fifth-biggest gold producer worldwide, and gold exports constitute its second largest source of revenue.

The Bloomberg article reporters can actually be reached at their respective email addresses here if you have any questions or comments for them.

Let’s boycott!

Hey, how about we do a little bit by boycotting gold? Let’s find out which corporations mining and selling unrenewable natural resources to us – not Peruvians living in extreme poverty and who are desperate for better opportunities – and declare war by boycotting and talking trash about them.

Spreading the word helps, looking for petitions to sign, letters to write, and so on. Whatever you can do!

Here are some disgusting corporations and companies exploiting poor nations’ natural resources and polluting them with cyanide and other poisons:

• Canada-based Manhattan Minerals Corporation, which has also mined gold in Mexico
• Newmont stretches its gold mining operations across five continents and touts itself as the largest gold producer in the world. Good job, guys! Keep on being greedy asshats
• The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group
• Venezuelan mining company Buenaventura
• Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières
• Boycott Green Karat says it’s an “eco” company because its rings are made of recycled gold. Well, honey, don’t you think that still encourages gold mining? “Ecologically responsible” my ass.
• Chinalco mines copper in Peru and ships it back to China

Gold mining pollution. Yummy. - Getty Images

Rio Huaypetue gold mine - and rampant deforestation - in southeastern Peru - photo by Mangobay.com

Illegal gold mining is a multi-pronged mess, spawning social, environmental, and economic unrest. As mentioned in part two of the Peruvian Amazon Interoceanic Highway posts, Peru sees its fair share of this problem.

The easier it gets to travel to the lowlands, the easier it gets for highlanders to venture down to take on whatever work they can – even if they must destroy their own land in the process – to seek a better living.

Natl Govt looks to ban illegal mining

Environment Minister Antonio Brack said last month that the government will seek to ban unregulated mining for gold in the country’s southeastern rainforest, reports Bloomberg.

Mining operations require cutting down stretches of rainforest. Further, unregulated gold mining pollutes 5 million hectares (12 million acres) of the Amazon River basin, he said, in the Madre de Dios (Mother of God) region.

The Ministry is thus looking to reach an agreement with national and regional governments to stop the environmental destruction.

“Informal mining, which doesn’t meet minimal environmental standards, is the country’s biggest social and ecological problem,” Brack said.

“These operations, which are spreading across the Andes and the Amazon, have an enormous impact on biodiversity and native communities.”

Unregulated gold miners live in extreme poverty

Mercury and the environment

Mercury is used to separate gold ore from rock in the refining process.

Alluvial mining, or dredging for gold along river banks, is the norm in these lowlands. It is extensively harmful to the environment and is deadly for human and nonhuman animals alike.

About 32 tons of mercury are dumped into the rainforest’s rivers annually by miners. The pollution has a reach of 500 km. (300 mi.) – all the way into Brazil.

Read about the terrible effects of these gold mining poisons on local communities.

Deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon - photo by Rhett A. Butler

While the new highway being constructed between Brazil and Peru’s Pacific coast is bringing prosperity and job opportunities to impoverished locals, many are emphasizing the detrimental social, environmental, and economic effects.

Previously tranquil isolated towns like Quincemil in Peru are now seeing burgeoning activity – along with violence and other consequences.

Prostitution and violence

“The price of everything has gone up. It’s because there are lots of new men living nearby and working on the road. I am very worried. With all these unknown people that have arrived, there has been violence, men who are drunk, prostitution,” said Rocio Ramirez, the owner of a small store in the town of Quincemil.

“… I don’t like what is happening here. We’ve seen a lot of young girls who’ve gotten pregnant, and we hear that there are a lot of sexual diseases being passed around,” she says.

Given that the town is isolated and the people impoverished, there is no way that health clinics (if any exist) would provide locals with reproductive or sexual education. Hence, the prostitutes are becoming pregnant and infected with STIs. This does not deserve to be taken lightly.

Of course, many of the women who turn to that way of life do it out of desperation and a lack of better options. In this case, their situation points to these women’s inability to access condoms or other barrier methods. And the main victims here are the women and their future children, not the men who seek them out or the corporations making money off the construction and consequent destruction of the Amazon and its natives.

Environmental destruction

Biologist Pedro Sentero says that Peruvians from the highlands have moved to more fertile lowlands to cut down trees and make room for farming. Some people opt for illegal gold mining instead. He said the new highway could make these migrations and the resulting environmental destruction rocket.

Although sustainable harvesting of Brazil nuts allows for an income without sacrificing the rainforest, some growers eschew it because it doesn’t provide them with enough money.

Amazon Conservation Association President Adrian Forsyth says this rainforest hosts 1,005 species of birds, 13 types of monkeys, and 120 species of bats.

“If we destroy the biological heritage of the Andes and the Amazon basin, we are impoverishing Peruvians, Brazilians and, indeed, the entire world,” says Bruce Babbitt, chairman of the World Wildlife Fund in the U.S.

"Welcome to the Interoceanic Highway South. Sao Paolo, Brazil 4601 kilometers." Photo by NPR

The Brazilian Government is investing part of the financing for a highway construction leading from its Atlantic coast through Peru’s Pacific coast. The last portion is being built in Peru as you read this.

The project will bring new jobs, merchandise, and other financial advantages to the national economy and Peruvians living in isolated Andean villages – as well as environmental destruction in one of the most untraveled and biodiverse rainforests on Earth, the Peruvian Amazon.

Brazil’s dream is “to finally reach the dream of three centuries, which is that even if there is not a Brazilian flag, at least there will be a Brazilian economy on the shores of the Pacific,” said Bruce Babbitt, current chairman of the World Wildlife Fund in the U.S. and former secretary of the interior during the Clinton Administration.

But…

The Peruvian Government, of course, is happy about the opportunities the highway will bring to its people and economy as well.

These developments are also enabling the increase of prostitution, unplanned pregnancies, and venereal diseases taking place. Not to mention the growth of illegal gold mining, which Peruvians in need hope will provide them a higher income.

Thousands of workers live along the road are assembling the highway into the Andes. Apart from the Interoceanic Highway, two other roads traversing the Peruvian Amazon are being forced into the Andes, also with heavy machinery, day and night, thanks to the Brazilian engineering and construction giant Odebrecht.

On the other hand, new shops have already been springing up along the highway to service passersby. One was opened by a woman who lives in an Andean village with a population of 250. You can imagine how much people in these circumstances would need a new source of income.

The Peruvian Government considers the project essential to bring prosperity all around.

Additionally, some hope that ecotourism will grow as a result of facilitated access. But while Peru has favorable protection laws, they are not enforced.

So how do you choose?

Alas, nearsighted governmental authorities have opted not to look into alternative ways to help these people.

It seems like a no-brainer for Brazil when you consider the country’s impetus: easier access to the Pacific to escalate trade with Peru and China, the latter a major business partner. But how practical is transporting soy beans by truck across a staggering amount of miles before you can sell or ship them overseas?

Brazil also plans to invest in five massive dams in Peru, whose purpose will be to generate energy for the massive country.

The moral of the Brazilian Amazon

Since the highway began to construction in the 1970s, unbridled deforestation has been ravaging the Amazon. Isn’t this enough?

Picture by BioGems

Illegal logging is devastating the rainforest on the eastern side of the Peruvian Andes.

Companies are making their way there to chop down old-growth mahogany and other rare species of hardwood trees, profit from them, and leave the land and wildlife – an entire ecosystem – derelict. These asshat loggers also hunt monkeys, birds, and other animals.

The carbon dioxide released from the trees that get chopped down, of course, adds to global warming, or climate change (whichever term you’re most keen on).

After the companies ravage the land, nobody goes back to plant trees where they once used to be. Instead, the areas are taken over by settlers, road builders and farmers.

BioGems Defenders, an organization that works to protect threatened and endangered wildlife and wildlands in the Americas, is made up of networks of people like you (yes, you!) and me – activists. Over 500,000 people now comprise the organization, and contribute to different causes by sending out emails asking for justice. It’s pretty sweet: check out their victories. BioGems Defenders is part of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

In 2007, BioGems Defenders helped stop the illegal mahogany trade such that U.S. imports of mahogany from that region decreased tenfold in just a year.

In 2008, U.S. Congress passed legislation banning the import and sale of illegal wood into the country.

BioGems Defenders is now trying to pressure U.S. and Peruvian authorities to eradicate the illegal wood trade altogether.

Please take action here.

Peruvian Amazon - photo by Save Bio Gems

The struggle of the amazonicos is no longer to free their land – they now must also fight mining, oil and gas giants such as Texaco (now owned by Chevron) who are polluting the mountains, rivers, and rainforests through deforestation, the dumping of toxic waste, and other noxious tactics.

The contamination is causing the death of fish, birds, and other wildlife, as well as people, such that they cannot sustain themselves. Natives are dying of cancer due to the carcinogens being dumped into the ecosystem.

Natives are consequently working to block out the multinational corporations guilty of this ecocide – and classism – and defended by the government for over three decades.

Pablo Fajardo, lead attorney for the indigenous people suing Texaco, had this to say:

“More than a billion gallons of poisonous toxic water were dumped into marshes and rivers of this area. What the people demand is the complete remediation of the area Texaco contaminated.”

The agro-chemicals used by agricultural industries that grow food to export to the U.S. devastate the soil and, of course, do not contribute to local communities. Eco-socialists and others believe a new agrarian reform is needed to combat these corporations.

Whether from the north or the south, 30,000 amazonicos have joined together despite different nationalities and dialects and even languages to organize peaceful struggle. Just last year, their efforts bred success.

The indigenous movement even succeeded against the armed opposition staged by the government last June:

Indigenous groups in Peru have called off protests after two controversial laws, decreed by President Alan García to implement a free trade agreement with the U.S., were revoked by the country’s Congress in an 82-12 vote late June 18.

The amazonicos or indigenas are laudably working to build power, not take it, through peaceful struggle. The fight is against global warming in addition to exploitation of the land and the communities, as workers are not unionized nor receive vacation or social security.

Filmmaker Joe Berlinger explains the struggle in his latest documentary film, “Crude.”