With deforestation now reaching three football fields per minute and murderous invasions of indigenous territories spiking, the Bolsonaro regime has created a perfect storm that is pushing the world’s largest rainforest toward an irreversible tipping point, with drastic implications for us all.  

Last month’s assassination of Chief Emyra Waiãpi by illegal miners in Amapá state indicates the deadly climate faced by Amazonian Earth Defenders. It is also emblematic of a wave of violent criminality spreading across the region’s protected forests, as the Brazilian government abandons its duty to enforce environmental law and uphold human rights.

Brazil’s indigenous peoples effectively stand between Bolsonaro’s reckless agenda and global climate chaos. And as his regime unleashes fury on the Amazon by slashing governance and inspiring lawlessness, indigenous communities are placed on the front lines of resistance, increasingly defending lands and rights on their own.