Save The Planet
An Amazonian Tribal Leader Fights for His People, The Rainforest, and The Earth
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Almir Sarayamoga Suruí, the Amazonian tribal chieftain of the indigenous Suruí people, is a leader in the fight to save the rainforest not only for the preservation of his land and people, but for the Earth's and humanity's survival as well. Joining forces with such high-tech corporations as Apple and Google Earth, Suruí has become a guardian of his people and a global activist, despite death threats and million dollar bounties on his head. A recipient of the Global Citizen Award in 2012, Suruí has calculated the direct cost of the loss of our rainforests—"the lungs of the Earth"—in terms of the total amount of Co2 that their destruction would release into the atmosphere, and the monetary loss that this would entail, and by using this carbon deficit formula, has leased access to pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies who have joined him in the stewardship of these endangered lands, their flora, fauna, and people.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Amazonian tribal leader Suru pairs up with environmental journalist Sombrun to tell his story in this important but sometimes less-than-gripping volume. Suru offers a first-person account of life in the state of Rond nia in northwestern Brazil, hit hard by deforestation in recent decades it has lost approximately 40% of its native forest to agriculture and timber production. He details conflicts with land grabbers such as the Itaporanga company, which "illegally appropriated a section of territory bordering the Ji-Parana River" and sold counterfeit deeds to scores of settler families, who moved in and started cutting down trees. His personal endeavors include studying applied biology at the University of Goaiania and getting elected clan chief shortly after receiving his degree. Surui's initial goals for his group were to encourage them to "reconnect with our traditions," to develop an effective bilingual educational program for the children, and to improve the overall health of the population. He writes almost nonchalantly of the $100,000 bounty that has been put on his head by timber poachers upset with his conservation efforts, and of the bodyguards tasked to protect him. Though his story is undeniably fascinating, Surui's matter-of-fact narrative style can be rather dull, limiting the memoir's general appeal.
