page_title: Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest
section_title: Impact on indigenous people
hierarchical_section_title: Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest / Impacts / Impact on indigenous people
caption_attribution_description: Português: Índios isolados no estado brasileiro do Acre. English: Uncontacted indigenous tribe in the brazilian state of Acre.
context_page_description: The Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world, covering an area of 5,500,000 km². It represents over half of the planet's rainforests, and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations. The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60%, followed by Peru with 13%, Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and France.
  The cattle sector of the Brazilian Amazon, incentivized by the international beef and leather trades, has been responsible for about 80% of all deforestation in the region, or about 14% of the world's total annual deforestation, making it the world's largest single driver of deforestation. The vast majority of agricultural activity resulting in deforestation was subsidized by government tax revenue. By 1995, 70% of formerly forested land in the Amazon, and 91% of land deforested since 1970 had been converted to cattle ranching.
context_section_description: More than one-third of the Amazon forest belongs to over 4,466 formally acknowledged Indigenous Territories. Until 2015, only eight percent of Amazonian deforestation occurred in forests inhabited by indigenous peoples, while 88% occurred in the less than 50% of the Amazon area that is neither indigenous territory nor protected area. Historically, the livelihoods of indigenous Amazonian peoples have depended on the forest for food, shelter, water, fibre, fuel and medicines. The forest is also interconnected with their identity and cosmology. For this reason, the deforestation rates are lower in Indigenous Territories, despite pressures encouraging deforestation being stronger.
  The native tribes of the Amazon have often been abused during the Amazon's deforestation. Loggers have killed natives and encroached onto their land. Many uncontacted peoples have come out of the jungles to mingle with mainstream society after threats from outsiders. Uncontacted peoples making first contact with outsiders are susceptible to diseases to which they have little immunity. Tribes can easily be decimated.
  For many years, there has been a battle to conquer the territories that indigenous people live on in the Amazon, primarily from the Brazilian government. The demand for this land has originated partly from a desire to improve Brazil's economic status. Many people, including ranchers and land swindlers from the southeast, have wanted to claim the land for their own financial gain. As of the beginning of 2019, the new president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has made an executive order that permits the agriculture ministry to regulate the land that tribal members inhabit in the Amazon. This act is essentially declaring war on the indigenous people in the fight for their territory.
  In the past, mining locations were allowed to be constructed in the territory of an isolated tribal group called Yanomami. Because of the conditions that these indigenous people were subjected to, many of them developed health problems, including tuberculosis. If their land is used for new development, many of the tribal groups will be forced out of their homes and many may die. On top of the mistreatment of these people, the forest itself will be taken advantage of and many of the indigenous peoples' resources for daily life will be stripped from them.
caption: Members of an uncontacted tribe encountered in the Brazilian state of Acre in 2009
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