For my second essay I have decided to write about another social issue that has interested me, that is, the deforestation of national reserves in the Amazon. More specifically, how indigenous tribes have been affected by illegal logging, mining, and farming. Some of the research questions that have come to mind are: Why are people illegally logging, mining, and farming in national reserves in the Amazon? How are indigenous tribes being affected by this? What is the government doing to help indigenous tribes protect their land? These questions arose after I watched a documentary called “Guardians of the Amazon”. This documentary follows a group of indigenous people, from Brazil, in their hunt to stop illegal loggers from logging on their lands. It also points out the lack of response from the Brazilian government in aiding them in their fight. Unfortunately, many more tribes have also had to wage war against illegal loggers, miners and farmers who have, day by day, taken more of their lands. This topic is very important because it talks about how the deforestation of the Amazon threatens the lives of indigenous tribes. Some of these indigenous tribes still remain uncontacted from the world, making them more vulnerable and more likely to disappear if these illegal activities were to continue on in the future. The consequences will be devastating to these local indigenous communities. It saddens me to think that these indigenous people have been forced to take it upon themselves to fight to protect their lands from disappearing. This rainforest has been the home to thousands of generations of indigenous tribes. They shouldn’t have to fight to preserve their homes or their way of life. I plan to answer these questions by researching more on what is causing the deforestation of the Amazonian rainforest, the effects it’s had on indigenous communities, and in what ways has the government not/assisted in protecting these national reserves. I’m still not sure if I want to cover different parts of the Amazon, since it expands over a few countries, or just focus in one location specifically. This battle to protect the rainforest and the indigenous tribes inhabiting them, takes place in several locations.  Lastly, for my opposing point of view, I might research for interviews with loggers, miners, and farmers on their reasons for exploiting the rainforest’s resources.

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