Indigenous communities under siege in Brazilian Amazon

In the state of Rondônia, there is something of a siege underway against indigenous groups. Looking at a map of the region—which lies north-east of Brazil’s border with Bolivia—you will see that decades of deforestation have left the indigenous lands as the only remaining green spots.

These lands are the sources of the state’s rivers. The forests are where several ethnic groups—some of them with only a few hundred survivors—call home.

These lands are coveted today for their timber and minerals. In other words: their “market value.” Within this besieged area not only is nature being decimated, but indigenous communities are increasingly becoming cornered.

The invasion of their lands using fake documents (a practice called ‘grilagem’ in Brazil) and illegal logging are the crimes fostering this division of indigenous lands. Territories inhabited by the Karipuna and Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau tribes are being attacked from different directions.

As...