REDD-Monitor: Australia suffered devastating fires between September 2019 and February 2020. About 7.4 million hectares of forest was burned, mainly in New South Wales and Victoria. The fires released 830 million tonnes of carbon dioxide – significantly more than the 530 million tonnes of CO2 that the country emits each year.
CHILE: PANDEMIC HIGHLIGHTS HEALTH CRISIS AS LOCKDOWN HALTS INEQUALITY PROTESTS (5 MAY 2020)
The Guardian: For six months, Chile was shaken by a wave of protests in which millions took to the streets to protest against inequality. Residents of the capital, Santiago, grew accustomed to the raucous crowds thronging the main square to sing and chant against the government. Now, with parts of the capital on coronavirus lockdown, wind rasps through an empty Plaza Italia as a handful of shoppers hurry past security forces enforcing the stay-at-home order.
‘WE ARE ON THE EVE OF A GENOCIDE’: BRAZIL URGED TO SAVE AMAZON TRIBES FROM COVID-19 (3 MAY 2020)
The Guardian: Brazil’s leaders must take immediate action to save the country’s indigenous peoples from a Covid-19 “genocide”, a global coalition of artists, celebrities, scientists and intellectuals has said. In an open letter to the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, figures including Madonna, Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, David Hockney and Paul McCartney warned the pandemic meant indigenous communities in the Amazon faced “an extreme threat to their very survival.”
WORRIES OVER COVID-19 OUTBREAKS IN 23 FIRST NATIONS (3 MAY 2020)
Canada’s National Observer: Federal officials say the next two weeks will be crucial in trying to determine the scope and severity of the spread of COVID-19 in First Nations communities. Cases of the virus have begun to present within Indigenous communities across Canada, including the first case in Nunavut — something health officials have been bracing for with concern, given the many vulnerabilities that exist among Indigenous populations.
GALLUP LOCKS DOWN. CORONAVIRUS RAPID SPREAD ON NAVAJOLAND (2 MAY 2020)
Censored News: Navajo Nation: 166 new cases of coronavirus in 24 hours. Gallup locks down. Sean Penn and US Homeland Security arrive on Navajo Nation. Disclaimer: Censored News is sharing the statements of public officials — but this should not be viewed as an endorsement of the Riot Control Act, presence of US Homeland Security on the Navajo Nation, or an endorsement of the sampling and testing of Navajos by outside entities, such as universities and research centers.
