Ecosystems and People
ISSN: (Print) 2639-5916 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tbsm22
Brazil’s environment calls for help!
Deyla Paula de Oliveira & Gustavo Cunha de Araújo
To cite this article: Deyla Paula de Oliveira & Gustavo Cunha de Araújo (2020)
Brazil’s environment calls for help!, Ecosystems and People, 16:1, 135-136, DOI:
10.1080/26395916.2020.1750487
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2020.1750487
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa
UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis
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Published online: 07 Apr 2020.
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ECOSYSTEMS AND PEOPLE
2020, VOL. 16, NO. 1, 135–136
https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2020.1750487
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Brazil’s environment calls for help!
a b
Deyla Paula de Oliveira and Gustavo Cunha de Araújo
a
Independent Researcher, Palmas, Brazil; bDepartment of Education, Federal University of Tocantins, Tocantinópolis, Brazil
Introduction considerable increase in the number of violent conflicts
recorded across the country in the first year of the
Jair Bolsonaro’s victory is likely to further reduce invest-
Bolsonaro regime. In 2019, the number of deaths of the
ments in several of Brazil’s strategic sectors, such as
Indigenous People in Brazil increased by 11% compared
education and other important departments concerning
to 2018 (Passos 2020); 87.5% of the Indigenous People
the development of the nation and the quality of life of
killed in such conflicts were the leaders. The Amazon
Brazilians, as these are not the priority issues for his
continues to be the primary location of murders in the
government (Editorial 2018). The prioritization and
countryside (Passos 2020). In the first week of
maintenance of existing investments in strategic institu-
February 2020, President Bolsonaro announced
tions, particularly in Brazilian universities, is important to
a controversial project, sent to the Congress for approval,
promote the development of the nation, because almost
which would allow the commercial exploitation of miner-
all research produced in the country is performed in these
als on indigenous lands (The Guardian 2020). The
institutions (ABC 2019). Such research includes the stu-
President stated that the Indigenous Peoples occupy
dies aimed, for example, at preserving the environment
vast lands in the country, making it difficult to explore
and combating the use of pesticides. The reduction in
the mineral resources such as gold and diamonds (The
financial resources allocated to the two federal environ-
Guardian 2020). A project like this concerns the leaders
mental agencies, the Brazilian Institute of Environment
of the Indigenous Peoples, environmentalists, and scien-
and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) and the
tists because an increase in the mineral exploration would
Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation
increase not only the destruction of the Amazon biome,
(ICMBio), is of particular significance when considering
but also the rate of violent conflicts in the country.
environmental issues. It should be considered a threat to
Moreover, it could encourage the use of pesticides by
nature, and especially to the world’s largest rainforest, the
companies that exploit natural resources, which would
Amazon, which has been affected by deforestation and
adversely affect the health of Indigenous Peoples and
biodiversity decline for years. Many Brazilian scientists
destroy the environment.
estimate that almost 7,000 km2 of the Amazon had been
deforested by 2017 (Tollefson 2018), which can further
increase deforestation in this region, as it happened in No violent conflict against Indigenous People,
2019. That is, according to the data from the Brazilian no pesticides in the field
National Institute for Space Research (INPE 2019), defor-
The rate of application of pesticides in the country
estation in the Amazon region due to fires and the accel-
increased significantly in 2019. Several of these products
eration of mining activities increased by 29.54% in 2019,
contain potentially dangerous components such as gly-
a significant rise compared to 2018 (Brazilian National
phosate, a cancer-related substance already banned in
Institute for Space Research 2019). Natural resources and
several countries; acephate, another substance banned
ecosystems in Brazil continue to disappear, and getting
in the European Union; and insecticides such as imida-
support from the universities, development agencies,
cloprid and thiamethoxam, both lethal to more than
research institutes and indigenous communities at this
just bees (Tooge 2019). Because they have been shown
time is of crucial importance.
to pose a risk to human health and to seriously harm
biodiversity, prolific use of pesticides is of extreme
concern (Coelho et al. 2019). Avoiding the consump-
Tackling land conflicts in order to preserve
tion of foods contaminated with pesticides is recognized
natural resources and ecosystems
as having profound health benefits, and has been linked
Constant deforestation will impact environmentally pro- to reduction in costs for the public health system.
tected areas and indigenous lands (Tollefson 2018), and Meanwhile, several scientific studies have pointed out
especially the latter have been particularly affected by the the emergence of cancers linked to the exposure and
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
136 LETTER
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