Artisanal gold mining is driving the global demand for mercury, with 2,058 metric tons of the toxic metal contaminating water, land and air every year, according to a recent report…
Thirty years ago, Brazil issued a decree officially recognizing the ancestral land of the Yanomami people as an Indigenous territory. The new designation made the area, located deep in the…
Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado traveled the Amazon for six years to capture nature and the people of the world’s largest rainforest, now depicted in his new book, Amazônia.
Jair Bolsonaro and 6,000 of his appointees come from Brazil’s military, which historically sees Amazon infrastructure and development as vital to national security and to averting foreign invasion: Analysis.
Juma Xipaya, a young indigenous woman, medical student and fierce activist, fought the Belo Monte dam and exposed corruption; now she lives in daily terror of two thugs in a white pickup.
Four Alter do Châo volunteer firefighters were charged last year with setting Amazon fires; the police lack evidence, while locals say the real suspects — landgrabbers — are likely still on the loose.
Peter Speetjens is a Dutch journalist. Following his law studies in Rotterdam, he spent some 20 years in the Middle East and India, before moving to Brazil in 2016. Based in São Paolo he mainly writes about politics and the environment. His work has appeared in numerous Dutch and English language publications, including MO Magazine, Middle East Eye, Trouw, NRC and De Groene Amsterdammer. He has a soft spot for history, loves photography and in 2004 coauthored the documentary 2000 Terrorists.
