Thorpe Woods matter a lot to very many people. But what if the woods were, in the end, turned into housing estates? We might boil with rage or feel physically sick, or even fantasise about plotting revenge. We'd feel deep regret and sadness about losing the woods but, in time, these feelings would fade away to memories. Ultimately, we'd carry on with our lives as normal.
But there are still people on this Earth whose very existence depends completely on the forest. Right now, as you're reading this, the Awa people of Maranhao State in Brazil are facing genocide because of the greed of a few people for their forest. Logging companies (where did your furniture, front door or bit of plywood come from?), mining companies (where did the metal in your car or your tin of beans come from?) and cattle ranchers (very cheap, that Brazilian beef) are systematically destroying the Awa's forest, where they have lived for thousands of years.
The Awa are one of this planet's last remaining nomadic tribes. Half of their number have never been in any contact with the outside world. They live exclusively in and from the forest. It is their life. But it's the usual story: forest stands in the way of potential profit, therefore forest has to go. The Awa try their best to stand up against the developers, but they can't do anything against guns and bulldozers. Many have been murdered, many more severely wounded, and all of them terrorised. The genocide has escalated dramatically in the last few months. Brazil's minister of justice has the power to stop this, but so far hasn't bothered. Logging, mining and ranching means economic growth, and that's what governments the world over care most about.
The Brazilian minister of justice needs to know that people all over the world know about, and care about, the plight of the Awa people, and want him to do the right thing. Please
click on the link and go to the Survival International website, and click on the "A Message Worth Sending" button.
If you care, please take a look at this link
http://www.survivalinternational.org/awa .
It will tell you what you can do to register your disgust at the way the Brazilian authorities are failing to stop this genocide.
But there are still people on this Earth whose very existence depends completely on the forest. Right now, as you're reading this, the Awa people of Maranhao State in Brazil are facing genocide because of the greed of a few people for their forest. Logging companies (where did your furniture, front door or bit of plywood come from?), mining companies (where did the metal in your car or your tin of beans come from?) and cattle ranchers (very cheap, that Brazilian beef) are systematically destroying the Awa's forest, where they have lived for thousands of years. 
