WATCHING THE CORPORATIONS

Photos show corporate destruction of indigenous forest

Brazilian company Yaguarete Pora S.A. has devastated hundreds of hectares of forest belonging to Paraguay's last uncontacted indigenous people in the last month alone, recent satellite photos have revealed.

The photos, taken earlier this month and published by campaign group Survival, show how Yaguarete Pora S.A. has destroyed a brand-new patch of forest belonging to Ayoreo-Totobiegosode, the last uncontacted people in South America outside the Amazon, who live in a sub-tropical forest known as the Chaco.

According to Survival, the devastation of the Totobiegosode's forest is rapidly accelerating. The amount of land cleared is now more than double what it was in May this year, when earlier satellite photos were taken. The forest is being destroyed by Yaguarete Pora S.A. and another Brazilian company, River Plate S.A., mainly to graze cattle for beef.

The photos have caused outrage in Paraguay and led to a mass plea to Paraguay's new president, Fernando Lugo. In a statement to Lugo, the destruction of the Totobiegosode's land was denounced as a "violation of [the Totobiegosode's] cultural, environmental and territorial rights."

The satellite photos taken from May to October this year can be viewed at:
www.survival-international.org/files/news/paraguay-deforest.jpg