After lecturing at Stanford University about the struggle to overcome political and economic resistance from those who profit from deforestation in the Amazon, Professor Octavio Ferraz attended a screening of “Orphan Mothers,” a documentary about police violence in Rio de Janeiro.
Professor Octavio Ferraz, Co-Director of the Institute for Transnational Law, spoke last Friday at Stanford University in California, USA, about the struggle to overcome political and economic resistance from those who profit from deforestation in the Amazon.
The Brazilian Amazon (about 60% of the total forest) and its traditional people (indigenous peoples, riverine communities, and communities of former slaves) are under unprecedented pressure. Cattle ranching, soy, logging, and mining have already destroyed about a fifth of the forest in the past decades, affecting the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people who have traditionally lived in harmony with the forest. Many scientists believe that if destruction continues, the biome may reach a tipping point, converting large areas of former tropical forest into savannah.
Because forests play a vital role in regulating rainfall and the local climate, this would be devastating not only for indigenous peoples, Brazil and the region, but also for the world as a whole, as we would lose one of the most important biodiversity hotspots on the planet.There is ample scientific knowledge about what needs to be done to save the Amazon, and a strong legal framework is in place to implement solutions.
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On Tuesday, Professor Fellers participated in a panel on Brazil’s challenges and progress, moderated by Professor Leif Wehner and supported by the McCoy Family Center for Social Ethics, the Center for Human Rights and International Justice, the Center for Latin American Studies, and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.
After discussions on human rights, environmental justice and social inequality, participants watched the film “A Troco de Nada” (Orphan Mothers), a co-production between the Transnational Law Institute and Canadian international human rights organizations. It will also be shown at King’s College London.The film tells the story of the struggle of mothers and activists against police brutality in Rio de Janeiro.
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