Greetings, everyone – my name is Dahvii Shiva and I am writing to you from a small fragment of the rich Atlantic Rainforest, the ‘Mata Atlantica’, in Bahia, Northeast Brazil. I have been attempting to write this ‘On the Ground’ piece for the past three weeks, but it is only now I have had the opportunity to sit and write amongst a lot of travelling and the political changes happening in my country. And this is the perfect moment, as a new political cycle has just begun, giving me confidence and attentiveness to what we call ‘Sinais do Tempo’ (the signs of time). After Brazil went through a period that will go down in the annals of history as the most nefarious political moment since the democratization of Brazil in 1988, we can finally glimpse the horizon of a new day from these lands. In 2019, as soon as the former Brazilian president Bolsonaro (still in office but ‘gone’) took office, he withdrew Brazil from hosting the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Climate Change Convention (COP25), which was to be hosted in Brazil that year. Now, at this very moment, the newly elected president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (known   as   Lula), who will take office on 1 January 2023, is already on his way to COP27 in Egypt. Yes, friends, it is a drastic transformation in the official Brazilian posture in forums related to the environment, and yes, we have a lot to talk about and build together.

Lula’s victory in the presidential elections in Brazil has immense implications for not only us in Brazil, but for everyone on the planet. His election reopens opportunities for us to deal with the climate and biodiversity loss crisis as a mega-ecological power and holder of the greatest biodiversity on the planet. New avenues of cooperation are opening for the protection and valorization of biodiversity, the protection of life, and the maintenance and regeneration of living systems for a ‘good living’ and planetary well-being, with major impacts on issues of planetary emergency. Not only is Brazil the most biologically mega-diverse country in the world, but it is also in its territory that we find the largest rainforest and river basin in the world: the Amazon. These are treasures of immense greatness to which the fate of all the planet’s inhabitants is tied, and which play a crucial role in maintaining the possibility of regeneration of the Earth’s living systems. Historically, Brazil assumed a leadership role in international forums related to environmental issues. However, even though prohibited by the Brazilian Federal Constitution, we have suffered terrible setbacks in this area since the fascist government assumed political power in our country (in 2019). The affront and dismantling of environmental and climate change policies and systems in our country has been very serious, with a heavy ecological debt: The immense escalation of frightening deforestation occurring in the Amazon and other biomes, encouraged and incited by the federal government, coupled with a blatant disregard of the rights of first nations peoples and the destruction of the bodies at the service of indigenous policy – these factors form some complex transversal environmental issues that Brazil should face as emergency level.

To give us some perspective, it is worth pointing out that according to the latest reports released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2022), humanity is left with a small window of time  (no more than 10 years) when it is still possible to take some action to mitigate and adapt to climate change-with the associated serious socio-environmental catastrophes, many of which are already being faced insufficiently and unfairly, such as the recent case of extreme flooding in Pakistan. The reports are categorical in stating that the efforts of humanity must be allocated to combat the climate emergency and, so to what the indigenous peoples in Brazil call the ‘Luta pela Vida’ (Struggle for Life).

But before I go into more detail, please allow me to introduce myself and set you some more context. Since 2009, I have lived in a shamanic educative (intentional) community, located in   the Metropolitan Region of Salvador (RMS), the capital of Bahia, Brazil. The area I live in is one of the last fragments of the Atlantic Forest, of which only 7% of the territory is now occupied by the forest. I live in a biodiversity hotspot (part of the United Nations Biosphere Reserve system) which is one of the richest on the planet (proportionally more biodiverse than the Amazon itself) and, of course, very much endangered [1]. My academic background is in law and environmental and human rights. However, my research in applied human sciences has crossed into a more integral and holistic approach since 2006, during which time I was finishing my undergraduate degree. Since this time, my research has developed in an unconventional way, from within the community movement, research through activism rather than from a theoretical position.

This has led me to explore integral-popular education and transpersonal psychology approaches, highlighting that the changes I wanted to see in the world must be driven by initiatives that promote justice and protect life through (holistic) community-based approaches, rather than top-down conservation measures. Thus, my life has been intensely dedicated to strengthening local, indigenous, and traditional communities, in the struggle for the realization of human rights, with a special focus on the right to an ‘ecologically balanced environment’. This fundamental right is enshrined in the Brazilian Federal Constitution (art. 225, CF-88). From here, through research and action via decolonizing lens, I have been investigating and dialoguing for the recognition of Nature’s sovereignty and planetary citizenship.

At this moment, renewing our perspectives with the long-awaited victory of democracy in Brazil and on the horizons that are opening up, I would like to highlight the example that during the two previous governments of President Lula, the rate of deforestation of the   Amazon Forest reached a drop of around 80% with the Ministry of the Environment, under the leadership of Marina Silva. Towards the end of the second mandate, she had to resign from office because it was not possible to continue developing the work due to demands for development and lobby of extractives industries, such as mining and agrobusiness. We stand at a critical moment for the future of the Amazon, which is currently hanging in the balance. We know, from previous experience, that zero deforestation in the Amazon is possible, and each of us can contribute to this [2].

Take, for example, the recent decision of the European Parliament not to import products that ‘do not respect environmental and human rights legislation’, which (although late) is already having a significant impact in Brazil. This is significant, when bearing in mind that Europe is one of the largest buyers of these goods which are contributing to the destruction of forests and the geno-ethnocide of indigenous and traditional populations in Brazil. Imagine the political force of transformation when the people of the Global North ‘together’ with the people of the Global South, listening to the call and clamour of indigenous peoples, take it upon themselves to ensure that financial institutions such as Blackrock and Vanguard do not invest in such projects, whilst respecting the rule of human rights and Nature. Today these institutions are among the most responsible for financing mining in indigenous lands, contributing to the geno-ethnocide of indigenous people and the destruction of our Amazon Forest.

As I write this, we are still under the fascist regime and it is important to note that Brazil is going through one of its worst historical moments in terms of environmental destruction and threat to life in various forms. Currently, it is the country that deforests the most forests and native vegetation in the world. Observation of the political cycles that have taken place in Brazil over the past two decades has great power to reveal the intricate relationships that exist between the political power of the national state, the socio-economic development agenda and the destruction or preservation of the forest and other biomes in Brazil. Carlos Nobre (2022), a Brazilian climatologist and a recently elected member of the British Royal Society, said,

“In the last three and a half years, with the current federal government of Brazil, we have seen a purposeful decontrol, a policy of expanding farming, of taking mining to take everything there (in the Amazon Forest) – indigenous areas, protected areas, everything. We have gone back, incredible as it may seem, to the 1970s and 1980s.”

We are not in the 1970s and yet the impacts of these abusive political-economic actions have been pushing the Amazon rainforest to its tipping point. Once crossed, the Forest will no longer have its inherent capacity of regenerating itself. A study published by the journal Nature Climate Change revealed that, over the last two decades, the Amazon Rainforest has been taking longer and longer to recover from long periods of drought, resulting in damage to ecosystems and biodiversity. As pointed out by the Brazilian Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), the weakening by Bolsonaro’s government of environmental inspection and human right defence bodies in the last four years has worsened the scenario [3].

The Protection of Our Planet’s Biodiversity

When we think strategically about the theme of biodiversity and the urgency of its protection, we need to consider also that about 70% of the planet’s biodiversity is concentrated in less than 10% of the surface of planet Earth. What is more, these territories where biodiversity is concentrated, almost without exception, are in the so-called ‘developing’ or even ‘poor’ countries. Thus, in addressing the pressing challenges of protecting biodiversity on the planet we need to consider the complexity of this reality and envision ways to overcome the inefficiency of the current international structures for environmental cooperation and governance.

When we consider the global efforts carried out through the United Nations system for the protection of biodiversity, we come across the Convention on Biological Diversity. This was the first international legal instrument created to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Over 160 countries signed the agreement that  was  kicked off by the United Nations Conference in Environment and Development held in Brazil  in 1992, also known as the ‘Earth Summit’ (Rio 92 or  Eco 92), which aimed to reconcile global efforts to protect the environment and ‘socio-economic development’, fostering at the time the ‘sustainable development’ concept. However, like the other international conventions and treaties that address the planetary environmental challenges and were created over the decades that followed the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972, the Convention on Biological Diversity remains far short of its due implementation. The destruction of forests and other habitats continues at alarming levels of growth, and the signatory countries of the agreements do not show the necessary political will to seek the effective implementation of the agreements and their work programme.

Interrelation of Biological and Social Diversities

Coming   from   Brazil,   originally   ‘The   land    of a thousand peoples’ [4]. And a country still marked by the diversity of peoples and of life, it is critically necessary that we bring to everyone’s (re)consideration the need to relate the diversity of life –  biodiversity  –  with the diversity of peoples and cultures, and socio- diversity. When the process of colonization of Brazil began in the 1500s, its biodiversity mega-power was also expressed in its enormous diversity of peoples and cultures. They were Indigenous cultures linked to the Earth, to its elements and cycles; however, they were greatly diverse among themselves. This socio-cultural diversity has enriched and helped sustain biodiversity in these lands. And it is thanks to their legacy that we still benefit from the richness of the forests and biomes they have passed on to our time.

Nowadays, Brazil has the largest cattle herds in the world, and it is one of the three largest agricultural producers on the planet, leading in sectors such as animal protein, coffee, sugar, soybeans and others. As well said by Ronilson Costa, CPT national coordinator, ‘the international logic of the division of labour has placed the country in the position of a mere producer of commodities, mainly agricultural and mining commodities. These are sectors that demand continuous land expansion.

This expansion occurs over territories that have been occupied through millennia or centuries by diverse indigenous and other traditional/tribal peoples and local communities. It is in the name of disputes over these lands that, suddenly, these indigenous nations and peoples are severely threatened. And here resides one of the biggest unjust and criminal situations related to our environmental, climate and biodiversity issues.

Indigenous peoples make up about 5% of the world population, yet they are responsible for protecting and maintaining about 85% of all planetary biodiversity. According to published scientific reviews, tropical deforestation rates are lowest on lands where indigenous peoples’ rights are protected. World Resources Institute (WRI) reports also show that securing indigenous lands is a low-cost and high-benefit investment; thus, it makes good sense also in economic and financial terms [5]. At the same time, reports show these are the peoples who suffer the greatest violence. The conclusion should be obvious: if we want to keep the forests standing and the biodiversity alive, we need to protect indigenous leaders, and strengthen their communities and governance over their territories.

According to data from Global Witness, a UK-based non-governmental organisation, Brazil is the world leader in the killing of environmentalists in the last decade. As Sonia Guajajara – executive coordinator of the Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) and recently elected federal deputy for the state of São Paulo – states, there is a war against Nature and her defenders. In the period 2012 to 2021, 1733 deaths of environmental defenders were recorded around the globe, among which almost 20% occurred in Brazil, and more than 85% happened in the Amazon, being them, the indigenous peoples, the majority of victims of the murders. After more than five centuries of genocide and ethnocide, more than 300 different indigenous peoples speaking more than 200 languages still live in the lands now called Brazil. Understanding that the freedom and diversity of human life is intrinsically related to the health and diversity of life in ecosystems is of indispensable value if we are to respond skillfully to the serious challenges we face today.

The Future Is Ancestral

We need much more than ‘innovation’. What we need now is a renaissance of indigenous, native ancestrality. That is why we will hear more and more that the ‘future is ancestral’, that ‘the future is indigenous’. Let it be clear from the outset that we are not referring to a ‘return to the past’ or to a kind of primitivism. Nothing of the sort. We are talking about evolution, cultural diversity and healing for this planetary moment. Nature and the indigenous peoples await and claim from Western societies the decolonization of their beings, understandings, ways, and systems of life. There is no solution without justice.

Justice is essential to combat climate change, the danger of mass extinction, and to pave any path to planetary regeneration and healing.

Notes on Contributor

Dahvii Shiva Sampaio is a defender of human and nature rights, advocate for deep/planetary citizenship

1. SOS Mata Atlantica. 2022.
2. Clima Info. Retomada do Fundo Amazonia pode ajudar Lula a atingir meta de desmatamento zero. 2022.
3. Comissao Pastoral da Terra, CPT. Massacred No Campo. Accessed 21 November 2022.
4. Kaka Wera. A terra dos mil povos: historia indigena brasileira contada por um indio. Sao Paulo: Petropolis, 1998.
5. World Resources Institute. Climate Benefits, Ternure Costs. The Economic Case for Securing Indigenous Land Rights in the Amazon. 2022.
6. Boulton CA, Lenton TM, Boers N. Pronounced Loss of Amazon Rainforest Resilience since the Early 2000s. Nature Climate Change. 2022; 12: 271-278.
7. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, Sixth Assessment Report. Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. 2022.
8. Uma Gota no Oceano. So o Brasil real salva o Brasil Oficial. 2022.