Over several years, he showed his culture to Thomas Fischermann, a German journalist writing for the German newspaper Die Zeit. Now, the two men wrote a book about their journeys, called “The last Guardian of the Amazon”. Yes, both men. Madarejuwá Tenharim is listed as the first author in the book, Fischermann as the second. This is something that makes this book special in my eyes. It’s not the typical story of a foreigner visiting a foreign culture, collecting data and information to leave for good and write a book about this culture, not giving back anything to the people.

“The last Guardian of the Amazon” is different. The book is written from Madarejuwá Tenharim’s perspective: he takes the reader onto a journey through the Amazon, showing him his daily life and telling him which problems his community is facing. For example, deforestation which is destroying the rainforest. Or Brazilian loggers threatening him and his family because they want to exploit the Tenharim’s land. Or his own balancing act living between two completely different worlds – the Brazilian life with cities, buses and smartphones, and the Tenharim life with hunting animals, learning from the elders and listening to the birds.

The 184 pages of the book are a source of knowledge for the reader and a guide to understand the Tenharim culture. The reader also learns why the Amazon rainforest is so important for the indigenous communities living in and off it. Not only is it the provider of food, but it is also the main part of the people’s identity and spirituality. If the Amazon gets destroyed, the indigenous people inhabiting it are dying both physically and mentally. But it also gives an impression of how determined and resolute Madarejuwá Tenharim and other indigenous people are to protect the forest.

Unfortunately, so far, the book is only available in German but there is an English preview on the book’s website where still some important parts of Madarejuwá’s story are available. (Maybe, if enough English speaking persons insist on a translation, there will be an English version, who knows…)

A few days ago, Madarejuwá’s message became more important than ever: Paulo Paulino Guajajara, a 26-year old member of the Guajajara indigenous group was killed in the Araribóia reserve located in Brazil’s North-East. He was one of the most prominent indigenous activists fighting for the protection of the Amazon rainforest in the country. Under the far-right government of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil has become one of the most dangerous countries for environmental and indigenous activists. Bolsonaro wants to open indigenous territories to exploitation. This is fatal in various ways: indigenous communities rely on the intactness of the surrounding nature since it provides their daily life; also, indigenous people are one of the most important players when it comes to environmental protection in the Amazon rainforest. Large parts of the Amazon forest were burning in August and September 2019 due to wildfires which were in parts caused by human activities, especially by land clearing for farming. After the burning was controlled in October, deforestation has increased extremely. This year, the deforestation rate of the first nine months has been 85% higher than the one of the respective time span of last year.

The Amazon forests seem to be far away. Many may say: Why should I care? The Amazon rainforest is also called the “lungs of the planet” because its innumerable trees and plants are providing oxygen and working as a CO2 sink – which in times of the global climate crisis is of incomparable importance. Therefore, we should all care about what is going on in Brazil.

Indigenous communities are fighting, risking their lives to protect the forest which is the center of their culture, traditions, and lives. There are various institutions and organizations supporting the indigenous groups’ resistance against the exploitation of the Amazon forest, here are some: Amazonwatch, Amazonfrontlines, The Amazon Conservation Team, Amazon Conservation, and others. 

The post Guardians of the Amazon appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

There have been five major mass extinction events in the history of earth. Extinctions of single species has always happened, but these five big extinction events are characterized by a loss of 75% or more of all species. The first mass extinction event occurred in the End Ordovician, 444 million years ago, where 86% of all species were lost. This event was probably triggered by a short and severe ice age, killing most of the – at the time mainly aquatic – species. The second extinction occurred in the Late Devonian, 375 million years ago. 75% of the species were lost. The culprit this time: Newly evolved land plants that stirred up the earth and released nutrients in the ocean, which for its part caused algae blooms, using up oxygen and harming ground-dwellers such as trilobites. The third mass extinction, also known as “the great dying” occurred in End Permian, 251 million years ago. Several natural catastrophes – occurring at the same time and causing each other in a domino effect – killed nearly all life on Earth: 96% of all species vanished. Some groups of species never evolved again. The forth mass extinction happened 200 million years ago, at the End Triassic. Even though 80% of all species were killed, a clear cause could never be found. The fifth mass extinction – 66 million years ago at the End Cretaceous – might be the most famous one: Volcanic activity, climate change and an asteroid’s impact ended the era of dinosaurs on Earth. But also, other species suffered: 76% of all species went extinct. (1)

But soon, we might have to add another mass extinction to this list. The sixth mass extinction, happening in the Anthropocene, right now. How many percent of the species on Earth will be gone this time? Some authors think the sixth mass extinction event has already begun, others say, we are on the edge. Clear is, we are observing currently a rapid extinction of many species due to human activity: Habit destruction, overexploitation, new diseases, invasive species and climate change are just some of the driving factors.

To define a mass extinction event, one has to look at the extinction rate, specifying how many species go extinct in “normal periods”. These so-called “natural background extinction rates” can be estimated by going through fossil databanks. With there help it can be for example estimated that under “normal” conditions every 700 years one mammal species will go extinct. This changes when a mass extinction event occurs. The palaeontologists Anthony Hallam and Paul Wignall write that “a mass extinction is an extinction of a significant proportion of the world’s biota in a geologically insignificant period of time”. (2) And even if we don’t know whether we are witnessing an extinction event equal to the former five events, one thing is clear: Species are vanishing, faster and more thoroughly than during the last 66 million years.

In the first part of the book, Kolbert addresses some species that have already disappeared: The mastodon, an extinct mammoth species, the great auk, the last individual being killed in 1844 in Iceland, and the ammonites, for their part witnesses of a mass extinction event. Kolbert tells the story how in 19th century certain natural scientists discovered there must have been species roaming the earth that went extinct – a blasphemous thought! Hadn’t god created all species, perfectly adapted to their environment? How could some species just have vanished? It took quite some time until the thought of the extinction species caught on…

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History is quite an eye-opener, covering all important processes that are contribution to the ongoing extinction. And even though the book is dealing with a serious topic, Kolbert writes in a way that leaves you not thoroughly depressed. Now you know the Panamanian golden frog and the white-plumed antbird. And the more people know about their fate, there is a chance that other species don’t have to go the same way.

The post Book recommendation: The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert appeared first on Global Change Ecology.