COLIN FIRTH: Campaign triumphs as loggers expelled from territory of ‘Earth’s most threatened tribe’

SURVIVAL
February 26, 2014

A global campaign by Survival International, fronted by Colin Firth, to save the Awá, Earth’s most threatened tribe, has triumphed this week, as loggers and ranchers responsible for the destruction of the tribe’s rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon are being expelled. The first deadlines for the invaders to leave voluntarily expired on Monday, February 24, 2014.

According to reports by FUNAI, Brazil’s indigenous affairs department, several loggers and ranchers have left the area in the last week, and a ground squad is set to remove all remaining invaders by March 9.

The operation marks a major success in Survival International’s high-profile campaign to save the Awá tribe from extinction. After the launch of the campaign in April 2012, the Brazilian government announced that the Awá case was a priority, and sent a ground squad of at least 200 soldiers, police officers and government agents at the beginning of 2014 to remove the invaders. Official sources have confirmed that the launch of Operation Awá is due to international pressure.

Brazil’s Justice Minister has received over 56,000 messages from Survival supporters calling for the Awá’s land to be protected, and celebrities such as Hollywood star Colin Firth, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado have spread the campaign’s message ‘Brazil: Save the Awá’ around the world.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Americas’ top human rights body, has also been demanding answers from Brazil about its treatment of the Awá, after receiving an urgent submission from Survival and Brazilian NGO CIMI, which has worked closely with the Awá for decades.

The Awá are one of the last nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes in Brazil who depend on the forest and its game for survival. But they have been living in fear as illegal loggers are closing in on them.

READ MORE HERE AT SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL: http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/10026

Colin Firth Campaign for Brazilian Tribe Breaks Records Sunday, 29 April 2012, 11:45 am Press Release: Survival International (SCOOP WORLD)

Colin Firth's appeal has generated more than 10,000 protest emails.

 A campaign launched by Colin Firth to save the world’s most threatened tribe has generated more than 10,000 protest emails to the Brazilian government in just three days – a record for protest action for tribal peoples anywhere in the world.

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP

The Survival International campaign aims to save the Awá tribe, whose lands are being illegally invaded and destroyed. In a video appeal, Colin Firth asks viewers to send a protest message to Brazil’s Justice Minister, who has the power to send in federal police to evict the loggers, ranchers and settlers who are ravaging the tribe’s land.

In his appeal Colin Firth says, ‘The Awá’s forest is being illegally cut for timber. When the loggers see them, they kill them. Their bows and arrows are no match for guns. And at any other time in history, that's where it would end. Another people wiped off the face of the earth, forever. But we're going to make sure the world doesn't let that happen...’

Brazil’s Justice Minister José Eduardo Cardozo has yet to respond to the barrage of messages, but told a Brazilian journalist, ‘Unfortunately we have a lot of violence in relation to indigenous peoples, and the scale is such that it is impossible, for any government, to prevent situations as they unfold.’


READ MORE: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1204/S00535/colin-firth-campaign-for-brazilian-tribe-breaks-records.htm

Colin Firth launches campaign to save ‘Earth’s most threatened tribe’ 25 April (SURVIVAL FOR TRIBAL PEOPLE)

Many Awá are still uncontacted, and they are running for their lives. 

‘One man has the power to stop the loggers: Brazil’s Minister of Justice. But it’s just not his priority. Let’s push it up his list.’ — Colin Firth

Oscar-winning film star Colin Firth today launched a major Survival International campaign to save ‘Earth’s most threatened tribe’ – the Awá of the Brazilian Amazon.

 The centerpiece of the campaign is a short film, featuring an appeal by Colin Firth and music by Grammy-winning composer Heitor Pereira.

 The Awá are a small tribe whose territory has been invaded by a vast army of illegal loggers, ranchers and settlers. Astonishing graphics on the campaign website show the devastating destruction of the Indians’ forest – which is happening faster than any other Amazon tribe.

The situation is now so critical that several Brazilian experts have spoken of a ‘genocide’ and ‘extinction’.

DO MORE THAN JUST WATCH OR READ - SEE WHAT IS POSSIBLE:  http://www.survivalinternational.org/awa#intro-film


 There are around 360 contacted Awá. Many are the survivors of brutal massacres.

It is believed that 20-25% more are hiding in the rapidly-shrinking forest, desperately seeking a refuge from the constant destruction. The campaign aims to persuade Brazil’s Justice Minister to send in federal police to clear out the loggers, ranchers and settlers, and keep them out.

 In his appeal Colin Firth says, ‘The Awá’s forest is being illegally cut for timber. When the loggers see them, they kill them. Their bows and arrows are no match for guns. And at any other time in history, that’s where it would end. Another people wiped off the face of the earth, forever. But we’re going to make sure the world doesn’t let that happen…