ACTIONAID BRAZIL
Maria Do Rosário is one of the 300,000 brave women who daily fight against the consequences of mass deforestation and land exploitation in the Amazon, Brazil. She is a quebradeira de coco babaçu (coconut breaker) and a member of the Coconut Breaker Movement (MICQB) that acts against deforestation and extractive industry.
ActionAid supports the coconut breakers and the indigenous communities in their fight for the environment. Recently Emmanuel Ponte, campaigns adviser for ActionAid Brazil, declared: “Deforestation and the destruction of the Amazon and Cerrado biomes [a vast tropical ecoregion at the centre of Brazil] are sadly nothing new, but we are reaching a point of no return. We are at risk of losing the world’s most important carbon sink and centre of biodiversity. Babassu coconut breakers and other traditional peoples are on the frontline of the fight to save these vital natural resources. In the face of growing threats from the expansion of agribusiness and the reduction of environmental protections, they need support more than ever.”
Join the fight! Find out how your contribution can make the difference.
Read further in this article of The Independent: how the coconut breakers are suffering from violent intimidation.