How to Protect Our Planet: Learning From Indigenous Communities in Brazil

On this episode of OptOutcast, our LGBTQ+ Editor, Liana DeMasi, sits down with our Climate Editor, Amanda Magnani, to talk about sustainable initiatives developed by Indigenous communities in the Brazilian Amazon and what we all have to learn from them in terms of public policies and climate action. 

Amanda spent two months in the state of Roraima, which is, on the one hand, the most Indigenous, and, on the other, the most pro-Bolsonaro state in Brazil. There, surrounded by plantations and illegal mining, native communities have been finding ways to be sustainable, both environmentally and economically. They combine traditional knowledge with modern techniques to grow crops in community farms, protect traditional seeds, and raise animals, from fish to poultry to cattle. They are in a constant fight for their physical and cultural survival.

The two editors discuss these practices and talk about parallels between a Bolsonaro-run Brazil and the future of the U.S. if the country goes red in the upcoming election. They address the relation between the Brazilian Indigenous Movement and the country’s new government, and much more. 

This episode is supported in part by the Amazon Rainforest Journalism Fund from the Pulitzer Center. You can also read a bit about the experience in our special newsletter written from the field.