Chico Mendes: “The Destruction of Our Rain Forest”
(1988)Document Text
In the first place, I wish to thank the National Campaign for the Defense and Development of the Amazon for running this forum for the whole of Brazil, mainly in the Amazon Region. I also thank the speakers that came with the objective of helping and contributing with their ideas. As a member of the National Council of the Seringueiros, I would like to emphasize some aspects that I consider of the highest importance.
The matter of the Amazon Region consists of the defense of the people of the jungle. We consider the matter of the Amazon Region a serious problem that has to be dealt with, not through speeches but with facts that we have to develop from now on. The Amazon region is inhabited. In every corner there are Indians, there are working people, extracting rubber and at the same time fighting for the conservation of nature. It is this reality that we want to show here. We want to support a policy that guarantees the future of these workers, who have been living...
Chico Mendes. “The Destruction of Our Rain Forest.” Speaking of Earth: Environmental Speeches That Moved the World. Edited by Alon Tal.New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2006.
