Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and the “Common Good”

A recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations shows that the indigenous peoples of Latin America are an important line of defence against the destruction of the Amazon and environmental catastrophe.

Large-scale deforestation has been linked to irreversible loss of biodiversity.It also causes an intensification of the effects of climate change: the Amazon’s ability to absorb CO2 is reduced as the forest cover dwindles, and the forest fires that follow the felling of trees increase the presence of CO2 in the atmosphere. The widespread destruction of nature has also been linked with the increase in animal to human transmission of diseases, as wildlife lose their natural habitats – increasing the likelihood of more pandemics