Brazil

About fifty years ago, Aracruz Celulose, now called Fibria, replaced original Atlantic Forest with the first fast-growing eucalyptus plantations in the northern part of Espírito Santo State, Brazil (1). Forty years ago, an industrial pulp complex— now owned by Fibria — was installed in the main Tupiniquim indigenous village (Macacos), in Barra do Riacho, Aracruz district. Now in 2017, drought punishes the remaining villages and families in resistance, and contamination serves as a political weapon to expropriate their territories.

To begin to discuss in depth the production and consumption of food, especially in a country like Brazil, it is necessary to recall and mention a series of points.

In the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo, the Landless Peasant Movement MST is occupying some 400 hectares of land appropriated by pulp and paper company Fibria (formerly Aracruz Celulose). 190 families have already established a camp and are preparing the land for the cultivation of food free of pesticides.

Please, click here to sign-on: https://secure.avaaz.org/po/petition/cepedescepedesorgbr_ Liberdade_para_o_Cacique_Babau_e_seu_irmao_Jose_Aelson/

The December 2015 Raíces newsletter focuses on the problems arising around approval and regulation of the Legal Framework on Biodiversity, and the impacts of this new law. In this recent rush to privatize nature and traditional knowledge, government and business groups have teamed up to introduce the legalization of biopiracy—under new labels.

On November 5th, one of the largest environmental disasters in the history of Brazil occurred.  Two dams operated by mining company Samarco burst in the state of Minas Gerais, dumping sludge with the company's toxic waste in an area where hundreds of families lived.  The disaster killed dozens of people, destroyed hundreds of homes, and destroyed the life of one of Brazil's major rivers, the “Río Doce.” This in turn has affected the water supply of hundreds of thousands