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Description

The Amazon Rainforest represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most biodiverse forest in the world. The region of the Amazonian Rain forest is divided in the territory of nine different States, with 28,4% of it contained in the northern region of Brazil. It's home to 427 different mammal species, 1300 bird species, 378 reptile species, and more than 400 species of amphibians, not to mention more than over 10,000 species of arthropods. Also, more than 30 million people of 350 different ethnic groups live in the Amazon.

In recent years, deforestation and fires have increased in a very accelerated rate on the forest, due to logging, fires, mining, and creation of farms ultimately destined to create, feed and slaughter animals for human consumption - and export meat. Illegal loggers and miners have established a presence in the forest and regions that were once part of the territory of local indigenous populations, and as their labor has been proving profitable, and the cuts in the environmental preservation departments, on purpose, by the Brazilian government's latest management (especially under far-right Bolsonaro), have encouraged these activities to take place. Lula's government, as well, despite the discourse, promotes an agenda which favors private profit for campaign funding companies (we can't forget it was during his party's government that the disastrous Belo Monte Dam building happened, which toll was irreversible to locals) over actual preservation of the bio-diverse environment, the welfare of non-human animals and sovereignty of the First Nations.

The felling of these trees and the fires intended to transform this territory into pasture land for agriculture and cattle raising causes irreparable damage to the local animal populations, threatening many with extinction, as is the case of the Pied tamarin (Sauim de coleira, Saguinus bicolor), currently critically endangered, illustrated here. Other causes threatening the Pied tamarin are the illegal trafficking / "pet" trade, and the growth of cities in general, as some of them fall victim to feral cats and dogs, electrocution from power lines, cars and other hazards in urban settlements on their traditional area. In several unprotected areas of the forest, illegal loggers even utilize child and slave (unpaid) labor to cut trees and open areas to raise cattle for human consumption, and the Brazilian government, especially in the last years, has not just been failing to prevent this, but actually encouraging this destruction and exploitation (which also lead to degrading life conditions for many) on the pretext that these activities "support local communities who claim to need to use the forest for mining and commercial farming in order to make a living", but instead, working to break profit records for lobbyists of the livestock & meat business, traditional land lords & instigating the precariousness of labor in the area. At the same time, however, indigenous communities living in the Amazon have their traditional ways of life threatened and their territory reduced as well. Local environmental activists and indigenous leaders have been continuously persecuted and killed by mercenaries in the area, with the government unable or unwilling to change.

Since economy is a global system, and the activities leading to deforestation don't end there - and much of the meat from animals raped and murdered in these areas end up exported to other countries such as China, or are part of a multinational company also acting on the US and the EU (such as the JBS) - In recent years, the State of Pará in northern Brazil has reached the rate 2.5 cattle for every human inhabitant, while breaking records for deforestation. While there's no easy solution for this global, systematic problem, some of our daily actions can influence damage reduction, such as choosing not to consume meat.

Ordem e Progresso translates as "Order and Progress" in Portuguese, and is the motto of the Brazilian flag. In a State which "order" prefers private profit over life, Nick Bostrom's quote "When we are headed the wrong way, the last thing we need is progress" fits right in. Animals aren't objects for our entertainment or consumption, they're sentient beings with their own needs. If we truly respect them we ought not to trade them as pets or pay others to kill them and consume stuff we don't need. Also, if we're capable of being rational and moral, we ought to consider the consequences of our every actions towards non-human animals, actions which consequences also fall upon other humans, especially those living on the edge and most socially vulnerable, exploited by this business which brings us no real benefit.

Description

The Amazon Rainforest represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most biodiverse forest in the world. The region of the Amazonian Rain forest is divided in the territory of nine different States, with 28,4% of it contained in the northern region of Brazil. It's home to 427 different mammal species, 1300 bird species, 378 reptile species, and more than 400 species of amphibians, not to mention more than over 10,000 species of arthropods. Also, more than 30 million people of 350 different ethnic groups live in the Amazon.

In recent years, deforestation and fires have increased in a very accelerated rate on the forest, due to logging, fires, mining, and creation of farms ultimately destined to create, feed and slaughter animals for human consumption - and export meat. Illegal loggers and miners have established a presence in the forest and regions that were once part of the territory of local indigenous populations, and as their labor has been proving profitable, and the cuts in the environmental preservation departments, on purpose, by the Brazilian government's latest management (especially under far-right Bolsonaro), have encouraged these activities to take place. Lula's government, as well, despite the discourse, promotes an agenda which favors private profit for campaign funding companies (we can't forget it was during his party's government that the disastrous Belo Monte Dam building happened, which toll was irreversible to locals) over actual preservation of the bio-diverse environment, the welfare of non-human animals and sovereignty of the First Nations.

The felling of these trees and the fires intended to transform this territory into pasture land for agriculture and cattle raising causes irreparable damage to the local animal populations, threatening many with extinction, as is the case of the Pied tamarin (Sauim de coleira, Saguinus bicolor), currently critically endangered, illustrated here. Other causes threatening the Pied tamarin are the illegal trafficking / "pet" trade, and the growth of cities in general, as some of them fall victim to feral cats and dogs, electrocution from power lines, cars and other hazards in urban settlements on their traditional area. In several unprotected areas of the forest, illegal loggers even utilize child and slave (unpaid) labor to cut trees and open areas to raise cattle for human consumption, and the Brazilian government, especially in the last years, has not just been failing to prevent this, but actually encouraging this destruction and exploitation (which also lead to degrading life conditions for many) on the pretext that these activities "support local communities who claim to need to use the forest for mining and commercial farming in order to make a living", but instead, working to break profit records for lobbyists of the livestock & meat business, traditional land lords & instigating the precariousness of labor in the area. At the same time, however, indigenous communities living in the Amazon have their traditional ways of life threatened and their territory reduced as well. Local environmental activists and indigenous leaders have been continuously persecuted and killed by mercenaries in the area, with the government unable or unwilling to change.

Since economy is a global system, and the activities leading to deforestation don't end there - and much of the meat from animals raped and murdered in these areas end up exported to other countries such as China, or are part of a multinational company also acting on the US and the EU (such as the JBS) - In recent years, the State of Pará in northern Brazil has reached the rate 2.5 cattle for every human inhabitant, while breaking records for deforestation. While there's no easy solution for this global, systematic problem, some of our daily actions can influence damage reduction, such as choosing not to consume meat.

Ordem e Progresso translates as "Order and Progress" in Portuguese, and is the motto of the Brazilian flag. In a State which "order" prefers private profit over life, Nick Bostrom's quote "When we are headed the wrong way, the last thing we need is progress" fits right in. Animals aren't objects for our entertainment or consumption, they're sentient beings with their own needs. If we truly respect them we ought not to trade them as pets or pay others to kill them and consume stuff we don't need. Also, if we're capable of being rational and moral, we ought to consider the consequences of our every actions towards non-human animals, actions which consequences also fall upon other humans, especially those living on the edge and most socially vulnerable, exploited by this business which brings us no real benefit.