The Great Amazonian Indigenous Land Grab

A new investigation by InfoAmazonia shows how over 38,000 hectares of Indigenous land in the Amazon has been stolen and developed into farmland between 2018 and 2021. In Expansion of pastures in indigenous lands triples in 4 years and threatens isolated peoples of the Amazon InfoAmazonia use a series of maps to show where rainforest has been deforested and turned into pasture for grazing cattle.

Under Brazil's constitution it is illegal to raise cattle on indigenous land. However as InfoAmazonia's maps show there is an extensive ongoing landgrab occurring on indigenous land, which is resulting in illegal deforestation and cattle ranching. The InfoAmazonia maps show the borders of indigenous lands in the Amazon and the areas within these borders which have been turned into new pasture land since 2018.

As you progress through the InfoAmazonia article a Mapbox Story Map is used to visualize the extent to which new pastures have been illegally created in a number of indigenous areas. The article also goes on to point out that illegal deforestation and cattle raising is not only limited to indigenous lands but is also rampant outside these so-called protected areas.

Via: Global Investigative Journalism Network