Forests throughout the world are shrinking year after year — and Brazil is the epicentre. According to the World Wildlife Fund, more than a quarter of the Amazon rainforest will be devoid of trees by 2030 if cutting continues at the same speed.

If nothing is done to stop it, an estimated 40 per cent of this unique forest will be razed by 2050.

Beyond the material and environmental consequences, this deforestation also threatens human rights, including the rights of marginalized communities to life, physical integrity, a reasonable quality of life and dignity. Brazil is one of the most worrying cases in this regard.

As a PhD student in political science, my research interests include climate justice, the energy transition, the green economy and international environmental politics.

Chainsaw massacre
Article 25 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples rules that these communities fully possess the “the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources.”

This article is not being respected by the Brazilian government in the Amazon.

Aerial drone view of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Trees illegally cut and burned to open up land for agriculture and livestock in the Jamanxim National Forest, Para, Brazil

Although the country had pledged to significantly reduce deforestation and limit clear-cutting to 3,925 square kilometres, data from Human Rights Watch shows that chainsaws have razed nearly 13,000 square kilometres of tropical forests, making communities of Indigenous peoples even more vulnerable.

The rate of deforestation in these territories increased by 34 per cent between 2018 and 2019, despite Brazil’s commitment in 2009 to reduce it by 80 per cent. This has led to the forced displacement of communities over hundreds of kilometres, as well as major health problems and a loss of reference points. According to Human Rights Watch, nearly 13,235 square kilometres of the Amazon rainforest was clear cut between August 2020 and July 2021.

Read more: https://theconversation.com/the-amazon-rainforest-is-disappearing-quickly-and-threatening-indigenous-people-who-live-there-185085