How a Surge in Organized Crime Threatens the Amazon (doi.org) 25
In Brazil's Amazon, armed men with a rogue police unit overseeing illegal mining operations intimidated journalists investigating regional violence and trafficking surges. Though Brazil's 2023 deforestation decreased, fires and attacks continued as governments deprioritized crime reduction. Illegal mining finances threats to the climate-critical rainforest, yet improving security was absent from the 2023 UN climate summit agenda. With complex criminal networks forging cross-border alliances and violence escalating, addressing this dilemma is pivotal to safeguarding the Amazon and its Indigenous peoples. Nature: Solutions to these multifaceted issues might not be simple, but practical steps exist. Nations must cooperate to guard against this violence. They must support local communities -- by increasing the state's presence in remote areas and promoting health care, education and sustainable economic development -- and help them to safeguard the rainforest. For example, Indigenous peoples in Peru and Brazil are using drones and GPS devices to monitor their land and detect threats from violent invaders.
Indigenous peoples are the Amazon's best forest guardians, but they need more legally demarcated lands and protective measures, such as funding for Indigenous guards and rapid response and emergency protocols. In 2022, Colombia and Brazil saw the most deaths of environmental and land defenders worldwide. Developing effective strategies to enhance cooperation between law enforcement and local populations must also be a priority. To prevent irreversible damage to the rainforest and the climate, security in the Amazon must be added to the global climate agenda.
Indigenous peoples are the Amazon's best forest guardians, but they need more legally demarcated lands and protective measures, such as funding for Indigenous guards and rapid response and emergency protocols. In 2022, Colombia and Brazil saw the most deaths of environmental and land defenders worldwide. Developing effective strategies to enhance cooperation between law enforcement and local populations must also be a priority. To prevent irreversible damage to the rainforest and the climate, security in the Amazon must be added to the global climate agenda.
Outsiders should butt out (Score:1)
the Amazon must be added to the global climate agenda.
This is naive and counter-productive. A big part of climate denialism in Brazil is the conspiracy theory that foreigners, especially Americans, want to "steal" their land.
Announcing that controlling the rainforest is part of a "global" agenda is the worst thing we can do, especially if it is all empty talk with no commitment of resources.
This is something Brazil needs to fix, possibly with some quiet financial and diplomatic support.
Lula, for all his corruption and authoritarian reflexes, is actually on the
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Western European invaders & colonists set up systems of government & corporate law specifically to invade, colonise, & exploit the Americas. They're our systems & we need to reform them. New
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It's already been foreigners destroying their land for the past couple of centuries
These foreigners are now Brazilians.
It's our problem that we're causing & we need to help.
Who are "we"? And empty blathering about "global agendas" is not "helping".
Which corporations are profiting from this?
Brazilian corporations.
How do we prosecute them effectively?
Again, who are "we"? Are "we" going to invade Brazil and take over their judiciary?
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"We" are the European colonials. The last time I looked, the USA is still a European colony
So the USA will fix Brazil?
With money? With soldiers? With UN resolutions about global agendas?
How do you expect the Brazilians to react to the USA setting the agenda for their country?
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How do you expect the Brazilians to react to the USA setting the agenda for their country?
Where've you been for the past few decades? Washington already does (See: The School of the Americas). If Washington doesn't get what they want, they destabilise countries & insert right-wing populist dictators, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
& please tell me, where did I even allude to, let alone mention, military intervention? Perhaps your question should also have included the EU setting the USA's agenda? I mean, it's about time the USA was brought back under its rightful owners, the Br
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"We" are the European colonials.
Ok, right after natives fuck off as well.
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"We" are the European colonials. The last time I looked, the USA is still a European colony & so is Brazil.
Your idea seems to be, "Europeans colonized Brazil, therefore we can do whatever we want to Brazil." There's a problem with your idea.
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Western European invaders & colonists set up systems of government & corporate law specifically to invade, colonise, & exploit the Americas. They're our systems & we need to reform them. New laws, new cooperative agreements & international oversight, etc.. The locals can't do much without our help because we're the ones driving the demand, the means, the legal frameworks
I think every single country in the Americas would respond to that by saying, "Fuck off with your interventionist crap."
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oxygen production (Score:2)
Re:oxygen production (Score:5, Informative)
oceans produce far more oxygen than forests
That is misleading and not even true in any meaningful way.
Some particular ocean ecosystems, such as kelp forests, absorb high amounts of CO2. But 99.9% of the oceans are not kelp forests.
Land-based carbon sinks, such as growing forests, absorb more carbon than the oceans, both by area and in aggregate.
Forests absorb 9.5 GT-CO2, Oceans absorb 8.4 GT-CO2 [planete-energies.com]
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> oceans produce far more oxygen than forests
>> That is misleading and not even true in any meaningful way.
?
"But did you know that most of the oxygen you breathe comes from organisms in the ocean? That’s right—more than half of the oxygen you breathe comes from marine photosynthesizers, like phytoplankton and seaweed" - https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-lif... [si.edu]
"The ocean stores 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere, and 20 times more than land plants and soil combined" - https://www.pbs.org/ [pbs.org]
Re: oxygen production (Score:2)
And your point is...? Just because the oceans absorb more carbon and provide more oxygen doesn't mean we don't need the forests.
So now it's "the" Amazon! (Score:2)
I always knew Amazon wanted to take over the world, but I'm not going to start calling it "the" Amazon.
Oh wait, we were talking about the *river*??? Oops.
Blame animal agriculture (Score:2)
Call me a preachy vegan if you want, but it's true: most of the Amazon is being slashed and burned for the benefit of the animal agriculture industry.
Why is this on Slashdot? (Score:2)
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Strange. Neither are the first things that popped into my mind [pinimg.com].
had to read twice.. (Score:2)
I got about half way through the summary before realizing that they where not talking about amazon the company...
To be honest I really wanted to read more about organized crime taking on Amazon the company..
A surge in organized crime threatens Amazon? (Score:2)
Oh no, will my packages arrive in time?
Yes?
Then why the fuck should I care?
Indigenous peoples (Score:2)
Phew! (Score:2)
For a moment there, I read that headline as "Amazon is being threatened...." But no, it's just that far-off rainforest place. Our source of cheap stuff is still safe!