Pope Francis defends Amazon, says 'consumerist greed' should be stopped from destroying habitat

Record ID: 973970

  • Title: Pope Francis defends Amazon, says 'consumerist greed' should be stopped from destroying habitat
  • Date: 19th January 2018
  • Summary: INDIGENOUS WOMAN IN CROWD VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF INDIGENOUS TRIBE PERFORMING TRADITIONAL DANCE
  • Embargoed: 2nd February 2018 19:58
  • Keywords: Pope Franics Amazon indigenous tribes environment protection
  • Location: PUERTO MALDONADO, PERU
  • City: PUERTO MALDONADO, PERU
  • Country: Peru
  • Topics: Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
  • Reuters ID: LVA0027YS3CXZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Pope Francis made a ringing defence of the people and the environment of the Amazon on Friday (January 19), saying big business and "consumerist greed" could not be allowed to destroy a natural habitat vital for the entire planet.
    Francis, who has made protecting the environment and threats of climate change a key part of his nearly five-year-old pontificate, made his appeal in a corner of the Amazon where pristine rainforest and biodiversity is being blighted by mining and logging, much of it illegal.
    "The native Amazonian peoples have probably never been so threatened on their own lands as they are at present," the pope told a crowd of indigenous from more than 20 groups including the Harakbut, Esse-ejas, Shipibos, Asháninkas and Juni Kuin.
    He decried the "pressure being exerted by great business interests" seeking petroleum, gas, lumber, and gold and plundering "an inexhaustible source of supplies for other countries without concern for its inhabitants."
    The southeastern region of Peru known as "Madre de Dios," Spanish for "Mother of God" in recent years has been decimated by unregulated gold mining pouring mercury into rivers. Illegal loggers and drug traffickers in other parts of the Peruvian Amazon have killed activists and attacked indigenous tribes that shun contact with outsiders.
    While more regulated, foreign companies have eagerly eyed the Camisea gas reserves in the neighbouring region of Cusco, in northern Peru more than a dozen oil spills from a state-operated pipeline have polluted native lands.
    The pope, speaking to thousands who had gathered to see him from regions across Peru, some in traditional regional costumes and featherheads, urged local authorities and bishops to work to defend young people and women from violence, improve education and preserve local cultures.
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