Mutiãro da Amazônia is the best, the very best that COP30 could be. It means “Amazonian Collective Effort.” Yet, is that really happening at COP30 in Belém, Brazil?
At 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 11th, I saw protesters storm past entry barricades to the Blue Zone, where negotiations were underway. I heard them shouting and carrying banners condemning fossil fuels. News reports identified them as “wearing what appeared to be traditional indigenous dress.”
The next day, Wednesday, I attended a luncheon with a professor from São Paulo and told him about it. His response? “They have to do that. Their situation is becoming desperate.” He explained that Indigenous land is being taken by private parties, clear cut and farmed against the will of the Indigenous Peoples. Apparently, if the usurpers retain control for a certain number of years, legal title to the land passes to them.
By Friday, November 14th, the military presence at the Blue Zone had increased. There was a peaceful protest by the Munduruku Amazonian people. They were gathered to the right in this image:
Once admitted into the Blue Zone, we saw this:
We all proceeded together into the Blue Zone negotiation area. Mutiãro.
The Amazon itself has a voice, which we have been hearing during COP30.
If we listen, the Amazon is saying to conference participants: “Remember me, you are with me now. I am in control.”
In fact, a fire broke out on Thursday, November 20th in the Blue Zone and disrupted negotiations while the area was evacuated.
I would not be surprised to learn that water had seeped into the building’s electrical systems during some storms and caused the eventual fire.
The risks to the Amazon, and for our planet, are real. The newly-opened Museu das Amazônias offers information and inspiration to keep conference participants working toward protection of the Amazon. Mutiãro.
Sebastião Salgado’s black and white photography exhibit, Amazônia, is a tribute to the peoples of the Amazon and the land they cherish.
He introduces us to the Suruwahá, the Zo’é, the Xingu, the Awá-Guajá and many other Indigenous Peoples. He offers us vistas and aerial views showing us the terrestrial treasures within the Amazon.
1,500 km (930 miles) long. Each day, it disgorges – some 17 billion tonnes of water – 20% of the world’s freshwater into the Atlantic Ocean.”
Some of his iconic imagery of the Amazon was also presented by the BBC.
I had the opportunity to speak with Rev. Emilie the evening before her departure from Brazil and one question I posed was whether her goals had been realized. Her response is within her epistle for November 20th:
“In the end it is “A Reposto Somos Nos”. We are the Answer. The communities know what to do, and they are doing it. They know the way. Indigenous presence may have been higher at this COP, much higher, but have they been there in the centre of every decision? I don’t know. I know we have much luta (struggle) ahead of us.”
“I wonder again about my journey. What was I hoping for? Did I reach my goal? I never had a goal. Except to journey, to listen, to write, to fall in love, to stand with those who have never forgotten to love this earth. To learn, humbly, and not extractively, from them. All that has happened.”
COP30: Green Faith – Green Action, by Amy Quirk