A young fighter Blue text = a clickable link. To highlight pictures please click them.Perilous times embrace the Amazon Basin. So says an email from Azaaz, a world-wide environmental and justice protest organisation to which I belong. The email, dated 4 August, quotes this young woman. ''My name is Txai Suruí. Just weeks ago, my mother and I were held hostage for five hours by illegal cattle ranchers. These men see me as their enemy because I have dedicated my life to protecting the forest -- but they don’t realize that I am fighting for them too. The Amazon, where my people have lived for more than 6,000 years, is close to an ecological tipping point that could turn the forest into a dry wasteland. If we don’t avert this collapse, it will flood the atmosphere with CO2, parch the Earth, and condemn 10,000 species to extinction. And all of us -- Indigenous peoples, ranchers, people across Brazil and the entire world -- will struggle to survive. But a window of opportunity remains. Amazon leaders are gathering for a historic summit to defend the rainforest -- and it could actually work, if we can speak louder than the ranchers and convince them to protect 80% of the forest and fully recognize Indigenous lands. Stand with me now to defend the forest that connects and sustains all of us, and I will deliver our voices straight to leaders at the summit. Add your name now!' Avaaz update 8 AugustYesterday, the eight governments at the summit released a declaration that acknowledged the tipping point in the Amazon, and made important commitments to safeguard Indigenous rights and recognize Indigenous lands. These victories were propelled by pressure from our community, and our members’ support for Indigenous allies -- including dozens of Avaaz volunteers who showed up to provide support on the ground in Belém. But the declaration is dangerously lacking in specific goals for protecting the forest -- and Amazon leaders will need to make concrete commitments to save the Amazon at the UN General Assembly in September and the COP28 global climate summit in November. Let’s keep up the pressure -- add your name to the People’s Declaration now! If you wish to add your name click the declaration notice towards the end of this post. A wider viewBecause Aaaz is a protest organisation and inclined to be a bit feisty, I like to check out what it says with another more established and measured source. Therefore please play this two minute video from World Wildlife Fund. It was made four years ago. What science thinksHere's the opening of an article in Scientific American datedJanuary 27 this year. 'Study after study has sounded the alarm on the deteriorating Amazon rainforest. Plagued by deforestation, drought, fires and other human disturbances, the iconic ecosystem is teetering on a dangerous precipice, scientists warn. 'New research is once again driving the point home. A pair of studies published this week in the journal Science conclude that the mighty Amazon is swiftly transforming—and it may be at risk of collapsing into a new kind of ecosystem altogether.' Txai SuruíTo find out how to pronounce Txai Surui's name please click here. Below is another WWF video – 8 minutes this time. This tells the Amazon crisis story not from a general or scientific perspective but from the agony, anger, frustration Txai Surui and her mother feel. I sometimes think that we see the world problems we hear on the news as just that – world problems. But somewhere in the midst of the problem there are always people. This video, if we can spend eight minutes, is a converation between Txai and her mother. It's in Suruí-Paíter with English sub-titles. HelpBoth Txai Surui and the whole Avaaz community are asking for our help. They think that if the wider world shares and voices their fight they will have more likelihood of victory. A click on the slogan below is one way of giving the requested help. WhyI sense that people I meet often think that my concern for matters such as the Amazon Basin is 'a bit over the top.' They think it doesn't touch me so why am I bothered about it. I'm too far away. But I defend both my concern and my naming the Amazon situation a crisis. As has been said by the various writers and speakers I've quoted today, the change in the Amazon has long-running worldwide consequences. I think I should be talking about it to everyone who will listen, urging them to be aware, and do what ever they can to help – like sign Txai Surui's people's declaration. □ Many thanks John McInnes Friday 11 August 2023 ##########
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