indigenous representatives from Brazil in Paris to warn about deforestation

Much less known than the Amazon rainforest, the Cerrado region in central Brazil is threatened by deforestation caused by soy production.

They crossed the Atlantic Ocean to warn about deforestation in the Cerrado, a region in central Brazil that is much less known than the Amazon rainforest. Representatives of indigenous peoples were in Paris on Thursday March 14, after Amsterdam and before Brussels. They call on Europe to act more against deforestation caused by soy production, an environmental but also social catastrophe.

More than 9,000 km from home, Dinaman Tuxa has not abandoned his blue feathered headdress, the symbol of his people whom he came to defend all the way to Paris. Soy production destroys everything in its path, warns this head of the “Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil”. “The consequences are catastrophic, we are talking about completely ravaged ecosystems. Soy producers are forcing people to leave their villages to expand their crops, he describes. The Guarani-Kaiowa people for example: their village has been completely bathed in pesticides, the rivers are contaminated, the people too… Many women lose their babies because of these products.”

And the phenomenon is getting worse: deforestation increased by 40% last year in the Cerrado. Boris Patentreger, France director of the NGO Mighty Earth, is alarmed.“Almost the entire surface of Paris is deforested for soybeans near soy traders who export to Europe every month,” he explains.

The Cerrado savannah not protected by future European regulations

In these conditions, future European regulations on deforestation are of great importance. The text will aim to ban the import of products responsible for forest destruction, which came into force at the end of the year but with a major exception in its current version. “It’s a great regulation that will have a huge impact on forests, but the regulation does not include ecosystems with trees less than five meters tall, which is the case of the Cerrado savannah,” nuance the French director of the NGO Mighty Earth.

“We have a big hole in the racket with the exclusion of the Cerrado. Especially since this is where the European Union and France have the most impact.”

Boris Patentreger, France director of the NGO Mighty Earth

at franceinfo

Because 60% of the soya imported by France comes from Brazil, according to the NGO, mainly to feed farms. Everyone therefore has their role to play, even on the other side of the world. This is what Eliane Chouakalo, another representative of indigenous peoples, is asking: “Use social networks which are an incredible weapon to put pressure on, talk about it to your elected officials, your neighbors, your friends. Talk about it as much as possible, that’s what you can do.” The Cerrado must become a symbol, adds Eliane Xunakalo, like the Amazon forest. The latter is now better protected since deforestation there halved last year, compared to 2022.