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Dear friends, A Brazilian lawmaker had called it
“the biggest attack on the Amazon of the last 50 years” -- a
law that would ensure a brazen giveaway to mining interests of
a massive, ecologically rich stretch of forest. But
after the mobilisation of almost
2 million Avaazers worldwide, appeals from indigenous
activists, celebrities and ally MPs in Brazil, and a major
media push -- we forced Brazil’s President Temer to give
in and protect the Amazon reserve!
Avaaz staff, indigenous
leaders and NGOs deliver the campaign, reaching major
media
The fight is far from over
-- mining, ranching and megaconstruction lobbies still hold
sway in Brazil, and bills to strip key forest protections are
still circulating in the Congress. But in this brilliant
victory our community was front and center. Here’s how we won
it together:
After president Temer made a surprise
announcement opening up an immense protected area in the
Amazon to mining, half a million Brazilian Avaazers sent a
viral petition ricocheting across social media -- one of the
most powerful online protests for the Amazon in history.
It was soon backed by musicians, actors, Youtubers,
and even supermodel Gisele Bündchen telling Temer -- "Hands
off the Amazon!"
Supermodel Gisele jumped in on
social media to protect the RENCA
reserve
Now it was time to take
our voices to the Congress -- so Avaaz staff travelled to
the Brazilian capital TWICE to deliver 1.5 million signatures,
with partner NGOs, celebrities and this being Brazil … soap
opera stars! The head of the House felt the heat and had to
take a public meeting with us, surrounded by media, and the
campaign dominated Brazilian news for days.
Brazilian celebrities
delivered over 1.5 million signatures from Avaaz and
Greenpeace!
Brazilian celebrities joined
by Avaaz and NGOs deliver the campaign to the Speaker of the
House
After our splash in Brasilia,
we knew Brazil’s president Michel Temer was heading to New
York to open a major United Nations meeting, so we took our
fight global. In days our petition DOUBLED with another
900,000 Avaazers jumping in from all over the world, tipping
it to an almost 2 million person call -- one of our biggest
ever.
Then things got wild: we crashed
Temer’s NYC dinner party with Trump with a raucous rally out
front -- with Brazilians, Avaazers and indigenous leaders
and Brazilian media covering it for his domestic audience.
Meanwhile our truck with Temer’s face and an animated
ad calling out Amazon deforestation circled the UN for
days. The president didn’t know what hit him!
Brazilians, indigenous leaders, and
Avaazers protest Temer outside an NYC dinner with
Trump!
Our Avaaz truck circled
the UN as President Temer gave his opening speech in New
York
Each and every one of us
made this possible -- from signing and sharing the
petition, calling on our own governments to press Brazil on
the issue, showing up at a rally and more.
“From
here on the front lines in Congress I want every Avaaz member
to know: your pressure works. The president never expected
this kind of backlash. Keep it up… we saved one reserve but we
still need protection for the entire Amazon!”
— MP
Alessandro Molon, coordinator of the Environmental Front in
the Brazilian Congress
Our community is in this fight
for the long haul. Two years ago we pooled funds behind a bold
vision: the world's first, international, fully protected,
incredibly massive Amazon reserve park! Since then the
political ground has shifted under our feet, with the
impeachment of Dilma Rouseff, and the rise of a government in
Brazil intent on ripping up Amazon protections. But that
beautiful dream is still alive, and in the meantime the Amazon
has a chance to breathe again. Let's enjoy how we got to
this victory -- then get ready for the next win.
Because the attacks aren’t over. To get real,
permanent protections for the forest our movement will need to
mount a serious challenge to forest killing politicians in
Brazil and everwhere in upcoming elections. It won’t be easy,
but we’ll be ready… together!
With hope and
determination,
Diego, Laura, Flora, Nana, Joseph,
Emma, and the rest of the Avaaz team
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