Even the military may not be enough to protect an endangered Amazon tribe - The Washington Post

11.11.15

Even the military may not be enough to protect an endangered Amazon tribe - The Washington Post: The three-month offensive was aimed at saving what has been called the world’s most endangered tribe — the Aw� — from extinction. It was Brazil’s biggest-ever operation of its kind and was hailed by activists internationally.

But now, signs of the settlers’ return are rife. Cattle are back grazing on this sprawling reserve. Plots of vegetables have been found growing in isolated areas. Loggers are culling the valuable wood in the forests.

It took more than 200 Brazilian soldiers, police officers and government agents to evict 427 families of farmers and settlers last year and flatten their homes and outbuildings. But today there are just half a dozen employees from the government’s agency on indigenous people to protect the 450-square-mile reserve in northeastern Maranhao state.