Murdered For Our Appetite

Murders of indigenous forest defenders highlight illegal logging and what we can do to prevent it.

Murdered For Our Appetite

On September 1st, 4 leaders of the Indigenous Ashéninka tribe in Peru were brutally murdered by the hands of illegal loggers. These men had fought tirelessly for only one thing for the past decade: the title to their land. It is their home they wanted to protect and it was their right. Now they are dead. Left to rot in the jungles so that the growing appetite of the international market can be fed off their blood.

It has taken several days for this news to travel and spread. Edwin Chota, and three other leaders of the Alto Tamaya Saweto community; Jorge Rios, Francisco Pinedo and Leoncio Quinticima have laid their lives in trying to protect the Amazon Basin. We in the high-consuming industrial countries in the North certainly share a measure of blame for what's happening today in the Amazon. The timber cut by rapacious loggers in Peru feeds a growing international market. These men are victims of our society.

Chota, had been petitioning the Ucayali regional government in Pucallpa to gain legal title for Saweto. It is believed that the title would given them the power to fight loggers off their land. His last post on facebook was:

"If we do not stop the illegal logging that is in our national interest and instead just destroy for the pursuit of wealth, there will be no room for the human heart…and it will stay that way, or worse."

Everyday of inaction is taking us closer to the tipping point where we will lose "the lungs" of this Earth. This is not just a Peruvian issue- it is an all of us issue. A multi year investigation into the industry done by a non-profit environmental investigative agency has shown the extensive fraud that occurs due to falsified papers from where the timber is coming from. Lets work towards ending this.

Let's join hands together in trying to protect this land. There is petition to grant title to the people of Saweto so their deaths are not in vain. (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/give-saweto-title-to-their-territory).

Go ahead and like the facebook page. Share it with friends and family.

Lets not have blood on our hands of anyone ever- Lets become a movement.