Tag: Indigenous People

In A Forest Of Gods

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In this beautiful short film by The Source project, we learn about the profound importance that forests have on India’s indigenous people, the Adivasi (first people).

Dokri shares the meaning the forests have to her Kondh community. The Kondh tribe is from Niyamgiri in the state of Odisha in eastern India, an area of densely forested hills, deep gorges, and cascading streams.

The forests mean everything to Dokri and her Kondh community. Everything they need to live comes from the forests. The forest gives them green leaves, mushrooms, plants, and foods to harvest so they can eat. It offers wood to provide shelter.

The Kondh community are gatekeepers to these remote, resource-rich fragile ecosystems. Their lands and lives are under threat from those seeking to exploit these lands.

https://youtu.be/6qBdGeeYvmQ

Globally, around 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their survival. Yet, every year 130,000 square kilometers of forest, face destruction.

Atlas In The Amazon Mini-Series

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The Amazon Rainforest is a vital ecosystem to the world.

The Destruction Of The Amazon, Explained

The Amazon rainforest has faced encroachment and deforestation for a long time. But it wasn’t until Brazil’s military dictatorship came to power in the 1970s that deforestation spiked, becoming a big business in the Amazon. When that expansion reached the state of Acre, it met resistance. Chico Mendes, a rubber tapper from the region, took the fight to protect the Amazon from the depths of the rainforest to the global stage. In the process, he gave his life. But the fight he started lives on.

The War For The Amazon’s Most Valuable Trees

The Amazon is a three-part series about the world’s largest rainforest, why it’s in jeopardy, and the people trying to save it.

The Amazon rainforest has faced encroachment and deforestation for a long time. But it wasn’t until Brazil’s military dictatorship came to power in the 1970s that deforestation spiked, becoming a big business in the Amazon. When that expansion reached the state of Acre, it met resistance. Chico Mendes, a rubber tapper from the region, took the fight to protect the Amazon from the depths of the rainforest to the global stage. In the process, he gave his life. But the fight he started lives on.

Brazil’s Indigenous Land Is Being Invaded

Brazil has over 900,000 indigenous people, most of whom live in the Amazon. After centuries of persecution, they were given extensive rights under a new Constitution in the 1980s, including the right to claim and win back their traditional lands. Since then, hundreds of indigenous lands have been demarcated and protected by the Brazilian government.

But in the last few years, those lands have come under attack by landowners, ranchers, loggers, and farmers who want access to the resources inside these indigenous lands. And since Jair Bolsonaro became president, the number of invasions into indigenous lands has skyrocketed.

Melting Ice – the Future of the Arctic

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https://youtu.be/U0aNeYZL8jY
Climate change in the Arctic is fueling not only fear, but also hope. Sea levels will rise and flood many regions. But the melting ice will also expose new land with reserves of oil, gas and minerals. New sea routes are also emerging.

The melting of the ice in the far north has given reason for great optimism, as newly-found mineral resources promise the Inuit a better life. But international corporations and self-proclaimed ‘partners’ such as China also have their eye on the treasures of the Arctic. Some even dream of a polar Silk Road. As large corporations position themselves to exploit the treasures of the far north, the indigenous people, the Inuit, are fighting for their independence.

The DW Documentary team spent four weeks with a geological expedition to the north coast of Canada – a place where no human has ever set foot before – and were present at the geologists world’s northernmost spring. A microbiologist with them also collected DNA samples that could help in the development of new vaccines against resistant germs. However, the most important resource in the far north is still fish: Greenland supplies half the world with it, yet it still doesn’t bring in enough to finance necessary investments in its underdeveloped infrastructure. And in Canada, the Inuit are also struggling with their government for the right to share in the wealth of their own land.