This is my message to the western world - your civilisation is killing life on Earth
Nemonte Nenquimo
We Indigenous people are fighting to save the Amazon, but the whole planet is in trouble because you do not respect it
Mon 12 Oct 2020 05.00 EDT
Dear presidents of the nine Amazonian countries and to all world leaders that share responsibility for the plundering of our rainforest,
My name is Nemonte Nenquimo. I am a Waorani woman, a mother, and a leader of my people. The Amazon rainforest is my home. I am writing you this letter because the fires are raging still. Because the corporations are spilling oil in our rivers. Because the miners are stealing gold (as they have been for 500 years), and leaving behind open pits and toxins. Because the land grabbers are cutting down primary forest so that the cattle can graze, plantations can be grown and the white man can eat. Because our elders are dying from coronavirus, while you are planning your next moves to cut up our lands to stimulate an economy that has never benefited us. Because, as Indigenous peoples, we are fighting to protect what we love – our way of life, our rivers, the animals, our forests, life on Earth – and it’s time that you listened to us.
In each of our many hundreds of different languages across the Amazon, we have a word for you – the outsider, the stranger. In my language, WaoTededo, that word is “cowori”. And it doesn’t need to be a bad word. But you have made it so. For us, the word has come to mean (and in a terrible way, your society has come to represent): the white man that knows too little for the power that he wields, and the damage that he causes.
You are probably not used to an Indigenous woman calling you ignorant and, less so, on a platform such as this. But for Indigenous peoples it is clear: the less you know about something, the less value it has to you, and the easier it is to destroy. And by easy, I mean: guiltlessly, remorselessly, foolishly, even righteously. And this is exactly what you are doing to us as Indigenous peoples, to our rainforest territories, and ultimately to our planet’s climate.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/12/western-worldyour-civilisation-killing-life-on-earth-indigenous-amazon-planet
= new reply since forum marked as read
Judi, you'll remember this one. 
Overall. Collapsing trees across Brazil emits high density of carbon emissions, a greenhouse gas effect also occurs when these trees collapse. ... Overall, Deforestation in Brazil alone is highly detrimental to Earth's Global Warming crisis today.
https://www.arcgis.com
Deforestation in Brazil -
CATTLE RANCHING is the LEADING CAUSE of Deforestation in the AMAZON RAINFOREST
In Brazil, this has been the case since at least the 1970s: government figures attributed 38 percent of deforestation from 1966-1975 to large-scale cattle ranching. Today the figure in Brazil is closer to 70 percent.
Feb 26, 2020
https://rainforests.mongabay.com › ...
Amazon Destruction -
How much Brazilian beef does the US import?
According to records from the USDA Economic Research Service, the U.S. imported 140.9 million pounds of beef from Brazil last year. This is a relatively high import volume in recent years, though the early 2000s saw the highest import volumes, exceeding 280 million pounds.
Mar 29, 2019
https://www.wlj.net
FRESH Brazilian beef might be coming back to the U.S.
Jun 6, 2019
Fresh Brazilian beef might be returning to the U.S. However, questions regarding inspections exist, and long-running worries about the safety of the U.S. cattle herd remain.
On Monday, March 25, Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Farming issued a beef trade-related announcement. It claimed the USDA had announced plans to audit the Brazil’s beef inspection system in June 2019.
The Brazilian announcement came less than a week after President Donald Trump met with Brazil’s President Jair Messias Bolsonaro. After the March 19 meeting, the pair of presidents issued a joint statement regarding trade topics, beef among them.
https://www.wlj.net/top_headlines/fresh-brazilian-beef-might-be-coming-back-to-the-u-s/article_a47b9ff6-5234-11e9-aad9-a39034f5f461.html
▶So, you want to help save the planet's inhabitable ecosystems? Then, save the oceans' ecosystems and the planet's rainforest.
▶The biggest step in saving the rainforests is to stop eating so much beef.
Rant off.
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I saved this info for my red-meat eating son* but since Rainforest fragility and it's native peoples is the topic, thought I might add this.
*Imo, he overly indulges his red meat appetite. It's not the way I "raised" him.
They are the same kind of grifters, all sociopaths.
Very grateful to be reminded of Mongo Bay again. That is a tremendous source. Hope your son and anyone unacquainted with the reality underlying the reason Brazil's "Lungs of the World" rainforests, and all the irreplaceable lifeforms within are vanishing, so many vital elements of the planet's life.
The sheer brutality of what is happening, if it were known, should stop people in their tracks, and trigger the awakening which has been desperately needed. Running out of time. People should be encouraged to re-examine all their beliefs, habits, consider whether they can refocus on higher solutions to everyday situations. We have all been sleepwalking through most of our complex lives, assuming the world will take care of itself, that we have no connection to any of it.
At some point, a young person just might recognize there is actually intelligence within the animals who share the world. Once that is perceived, if it happens, and it could take a long time evolving, the wish to cling to patterns of behavior from earlier, largely pre-conscious times will dissipate. Speaking from experience. It can happen to anyone!
As you've noticed, every effort is taken to keep lethal weapons against life, if they are known to be profitable to the power people, innocent, unsuspecting people will and do live in darkness, and have to fight their way out of it. Makes it appear the starting point is actually far lower than we realize until we grow up, and out of it.
I'm keeping the Mongo Bay homepage link. It's something which can be an instrument of change for others. Thank you!