View Online [[link removed]] | Subscribe now [[link removed]]Powered byKnow better. Do better.Climate. Change.News from the ground, in a warming world

By Jack Graham [[link removed]] | Deputy Editor, Funded Projects

Lula's raids

Gun-toting security forces tear along the Tapajós River in Brazil's Amazon in search of illegal gold mines [[link removed]].

Joining them on the raid is an inspector from the Indigenous affairs agency FUNAI, two more boats with federal special forces, and our reporter Dan Collyns.

The authorities were patrolling the corner of a region the size of Belize, which belongs to the Munduruku Indigenous people and has been poisoned by illegal mining.

As Dan reports, surging gold prices have incentivised a booming illegal gold trade in the Amazon that have left toxic mercury in their wake.

This poison has entered the water and food of Indigenous people, and is linked to major issues like neurodevelopment problems and physical disabilities in children.

Public security forces patrol a suspected illegal mining site in the Munduruku Indigenous Reserve, Brazil, Jan 9, 2025. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Dan Collyns

More than 400 air, river and land raids have been carried out in the territory since early November, according to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's executive office.

These raids have destroyed equipment like pumps and dredgers, and have cost illegal miners $16 million, it said.

"(Lula's) big commitment is that there is no more illegal mining inside Indigenous lands or conservation areas," said Nilton Tubino, who is leading the government's efforts in the Munduruku Indigenous Reserve.

"That's the big challenge," he said.

A Munduruku child with a tame parrot in Curima, Munduruku Indigenous Reserve, Brazil, Jan 9, 2025. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Dan Collyns

USAID cuts

Across the Amazon rainforest, criminal activities from the cocaine trade to illegal gold mining are driving destruction of crucial rainforest and the biodiversity it contains.

Tackling these problems in Brazil, Peru and Colombia is notoriously difficult, but they could be about to become even more challenging [[link removed]], reports our climate and nature correspondent Andre Cabette Fabio.

Hundreds of conservation projects in the Amazon River basin have been put in limbo by U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order to freeze billions of dollars in foreign aid for 90 days.

"We are giving free rein to illegal loggers, to coca plant growers", said Francisco Hernández Cayetano, president of the Federation of Ticuna and Yagua Communities of the Lower Amazon River in Peru.

His USAID-funded project - on hold for at least two or three months - enabled the communities to respond to satellite-generated deforestation alerts through an app, helping fight cocaine production and trafficking in Latin America.

Other projects try to improve sustainable businesses in the Amazon, such as fish farming and production of folk crafts, in a bid to reduce the economic drivers of deforestation for coca leaf production.

Even if funds for such projects and jobs within the department are restored and protected by courts, much damage has already been done, said a USAID employee.

The onus now is on countries like Brazil to step up and tackle these problems without American help. The Amazon may depend on it.

See you next week,

Jack

This week's top picks Brazil ramps up its war against illegal gold mining in the Amazon [[link removed]]

Lula government gets tough on artisanal gold miners whose lucrative business is hurting Indigenous communities

USAID cuts threaten Amazon forest and fuel drug trade concerns [[link removed]]

With cuts in U.S. funding, Indigenous-led efforts to protect the Amazon forest are in limbo

Exiled by climate, Bangladeshi migrants risk abuse in Gulf [[link removed]]

Climate change pushes more people more to migrate, only for many to face instability and abuse

Read all of our coverage here [[link removed]] Discover more Nature [[link removed]] Climate Risks [[link removed]] Net Zero [[link removed]] Just Transition [[link removed]] Climate Justice [[link removed]] Green Cities [[link removed]] Thank you for reading!

If you like this newsletter, please forward to a friend or share it on Social Media. [[link removed]'s%20poisonous%20trade&url=[link removed]]

We value your feedback - let us know what you think [mailto:[email protected]].

[[link removed]]

This email was sent to you by Thomson Reuters Foundation located at 5 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5AQ - a registered charity in the United Kingdom and the United States.

If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. If you do not wish to receive this type of correspondence in the future, contact us at [[email protected]] so that we can remove you from this list.

Thomson Reuters Foundation terms and conditions and privacy statement can be found online at www.trust.org [[link removed]].

Photos courtesy of Reuters or Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Manage your Subscriptions [[link removed]] | Unsubscribe from all TRF communications [link removed]