In July of 2018, the Kichwa Nation of Sarayaku came forth with a bold and visionary proposal for protecting their Amazonian homeland and other rainforests across the world. Their proposal – the Kawsak Sacha (Living Forest) Declaration – was issued by the Amazon Rainforest itself. According to the Sarayaku, it was communicated to their community […]
Scientists are now warning that the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest is on the verge of reaching an irreversible tipping point, which would have staggeringly catastrophic impacts for the region and the planet. This deforestation follows an economic scheme, in which Indigenous Sovereignty is denied, Land is seized, Forest is destroyed, and large corporations profit […]
Last year, global attention briefly coalesced around fires ravaging the Amazon Rainforest. As the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, continues to affect the whole world, Branch Out reported in the past weeks that deforestation is the leading cause of new infectious diseases. In addition to threatening global public health, deforestation threatens the very existence of the Indigenous […]
Introduction A teenage member of the Yanomami Indigenous Nation, from deep in the Amazon rainforest, died of COVID-19 this week. Many news outlets reported that this demonstrates how widespread the Coronavirus has become, but few have connected the dots from this tragic death to the forces of capitalism, the Brazilian government’s genocidal policy and attitude toward Indigenous […]
Global Burning This past August, a significant segment of world leaders attended the G7 Summit in Biarritz, France. The United States skipped out on the climate change discussion, where leaders turned their attention to forest fires, an often overlooked aspect of the climate crisis. Wildfires in the Amazon rainforest increased by an estimated 84% from […]
Introduction Two hundred years ago, there were at least ten times as many redwoods living in the Bay Area as there are today. These trees play a vital role in their ecosystems, providing numerous benefits for local plants and animals while removing massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere [1]. Greenhouse gas levels and […]