This is a portrait of Raoni Metuktire, who is a Kayapo leader living near the Amazon basin of the Brazilian rainforest. Born around 1930, he rose to the attention of global leaders in the eighties, after being featured in a documentary called Raoni. After it was made, people and many world leaders became aware of the very real threat that deforestation posed to biodiversity – illegal logging still threatens many “protected” forests worldwide, and logging takes place at a very unsustainable rate. Metuktire has met with princes, kings, presidents and prime ministers, all who hopefully became aware of the demands their countries have made on the wood, paper and cattle industries which used the rainforest. The rainforest is home to a staggering array of animals; a single tree can support 700 species of beetles, and a number of pharmaceuticals have origins in rainforest plants. Beyond its usefulness to us, the rainforest must be preserved for its own sake.
Recently, Metuktire became involved in a global petition against the Belo Monte dam (Brazil uses hydroelectric dams for power) and said “President Dilma will have to kill me in front of the Planalto palace. Then you be able to build the Belo Monte dam.”
