"Huge swaths of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest are drier than usual after a rainy season with rainfall index well below historical levels, raising concerns about a further spike in wildfires and deforestation as the dry season approaches."
"President Jair Bolsonaro is moving aggressively to open up the Amazon rainforest to commercial development, posing an existential threat to the tribes living there."
"URU EU WAU WAU TERRITORY, Brazil — The billboard at the entrance of a tiny Indigenous village in the Amazon has become a relic in less than a decade, boasting of something no longer true.
“Here, there is investment by the federal government,” proclaims the sign, erected in 2012, which is now shrouded by fallen palm tree fronds.
SEJournal welcomes back from hiatus our WatchDog feature, now recast as an opinion column from Joseph A. Davis, Society of Environmental Journalists’ veteran freedom of information advocate and longtime SEJournal contributor. In part one of a two-parter, find out why we’re relaunching the new column, plus get Davis’ take on government openness (or lack thereof) around coronavirus, as well as more on SEJ’s deep commitment to open information and a rundown of its recent FOI activities. And watch for part two next week.
"Brazil’s federal environment agency last year gave out the fewest fines for breaking conservation laws since 1995, the agency’s press office told Reuters on Monday, as the efficacy of the agency, known as Ibama, continues to fall under President Jair Bolsonaro."
"Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama on Thursday published an order restricting contact between its employees and journalists, following a Reuters report on thousands of cargos of Amazon rainforest wood being exported without agency authorization."
Freelance photographer Morgan Heim explores the ethical and creative considerations of non-traditional photography when reporting on wildlife issues, in a sidebar to the latest EJ InSight. See a slideshow of images with her unique approach. Plus, Heim on surviving in today’s constrained news media economy and the implications for storytelling, independence and integrity.
"Last August, during the second-hottest year on record, while the fires in the Amazon rainforest were raging, the ice sheet in Greenland was melting, and Greta Thunberg was being greeted by adoring crowds across the U.S., something else happened that was of great relevance to the climate movement: An attorney who has been battling Chevron for more than a decade over environmental devastation in South America was put on house arrest."
"Indigenous lands and protected areas in the Amazon rainforest account for just 10% of all carbon emissions from tropical forests spread across the nine countries of the Amazon in South America, researchers said on Monday."
"A Peruvian judge ruled that the government exclude an indigenous region of the Amazon near the border with Brazil from any oil exploration and exploitation, a legal group said on Wednesday, in a win for native communities that have long fought against oil and mining projects on their land."
"Antofagasta, situated on the edge of the Atacama Desert, relies on a vast desalination plant which provides the city with drinking water – but the waste brine is killing wildlife, say fishermen"
