Development and Peace – Caritas Canada welcomes the new “Amazoniza-te” campaign launched by the Episcopal Commission for the Amazon of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) in partnership with other ecclesial and civil society organisations to sensitize the Brazilian and international public opinion about the dangers threatening life in the Amazon, its territories and populations. This campaign aims to raise awareness among Brazilian and international public opinion about the dangers that threaten life in the Amazon, its territories and populations.
Development and Peace’s most recent campaign, For Our Common Home, focuses on the protection of the Amazon and invites Canadians to stand in solidarity with the peoples of the Amazon, particularly the, notamment avec le Mura people and the Seringueiros of Machadinho d’Oeste – Brazil..
“Amazoniza-te” is set in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated an already overwhelming situation for Amazonian communities. For years, indigenous and traditional peoples have faced increasing deforestation and land grabbing, violence, fires, mineral exploitation, and gold panning. Since coming to power, President Bolsonaro’s government has increased the exploitation of natural resources and limited the powers and resources of environmental agencies.
According to the president of the CNBB, Mgr. Walmor Oliveira de Azevedo, the “Amazonize yourself” campaign is an invitation, a call and an opportunity to express solidarity with the forest and with the peoples of the region. “In this invitation to ‘amazonize’, we want to overcome the systematic violation of environmental protection legislation and the dismantling of public bodies by government action to deregulate and illegally expand the activities of mining companies, agribusiness, loggers and ranchers in the region”. Read more on the campaign .
The initiative joins in the stream of activities implemented over the past few years in view of the Synod for the Amazon, held in October 2019 in Rome. It is the culmination of several actions carried out by Church and social organizations that work in, or in defense of, the Amazon, of which many of Development and Peace’s partners such as the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI), the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), and the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM).
Development and Peace invites all Canadians to mobilize for the protection of the Amazon and its peoples and sign our solidarity letter.
