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KPFK-FM‘s Sojourner Truth Radio show’s Earth Minute segment on it’s Nov. 1 broadcast focused on the impacts of deforestation on Indigenous People in the Amazon. The segment begins at about the 37:18 mark of the clip above. A transcript is also provided below.

In another disastrous outcome of the recent coup in Brazil, deforestation in the Amazon is accelerating–reaching its highest rate in 4 years.

 On the front lines are the Kawahiva People, one of the most vulnerable peoples on the planet—survivors of a larger tribe, killed or dead from introduced disease.

 A group of loggers was recently caught on Kawahiva territory by agents from FUNAI, Brazil’s Indigenous Affairs department, but with local political support, they were released. Further waves of loggers have since entered the territory.

 The crisis has raised concerns that the tribe and their rainforest home could be destroyed.

 Last April, prior to the coup, the Minister of Justice signed a decree to protect the tribe’s land. Since the coup, the decree has not been enacted and FUNAI is facing severe budget cuts.

 One FUNAI agent, said: “The Kawahiva are trapped. If any contact happens, it will be devastating.”

 Their land must be actively protected before the genocide of an entire people is complete.

 For the Earth Minute and the Sojourner Truth show, this is Anne Petermann, of Global Justice Ecology Project.