In 2004, archaeological anthropologist Renzo Duin joined an expedition into the mountainous tri-border area where Brazil, Suriname and Guyana meet alongside French botanists and ecologists. While the scientific team focused on mapping the biodiversity of what appeared to be untouched vegetation, Duin noticed that the ground told a very different story, rich with traces of pre-Columbian human occupation. “While they investigated what they perceived as pristine rainforest, I found the area dotted with fragments of pottery and other archaeological indications, including a site surrounded by a ditch,” Duin told Mongabay in a video call from The Hague, Netherlands. The evidence uncovered by Duin was one of many showing that the Amazon rainforest of Suriname and the Guianas region has been shaped and inhabited by people for millennia. Over the years, the researcher returned regularly to the region, making him one of the leading Amazon archaeologists, reshaping the knowledge about human occupation in the rainforest. “In the last three decades, archaeological knowledge of the Amazon has made a great stride forward in Brazil, Ecuador and Bolivia,” Duin said. “In Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, the picture of the past has improved along the coast and major rivers. Yet, in the inland-uplands we have barely scratched the surface regarding the long-time histories of the Indigenous peoples.” Renzo Duin in the Tumuc-Humac Mountains. Image by © 2004, Renzo Duin /AMIK. As elsewhere in the Amazon, archaeological research in the region has unveiled a wealth of ancient rock art sites, stone tools, pottery and…This article was originally published on Mongabay

MANAUS, Brazil — Midway through the conversation with Mongabay, Otacílio Farias, a 75-year-old farmer, stops to read a message on his phone: “Right now, there’s a fire near a friend’s house.” Farias has lived his entire life near the Autaz Mirim River, near Manaus, Brazil’s largest city in the Amazon. Forest fires have affected the area for more than 30 days. “Nearby, Lake Miriti was shrouded in haze at dawn, but it wasn’t morning mist: It was smoke,” he said. Farias says the nearby municipalities of Autazes and Careiro da Várzea are experiencing the worst fire crisis of his lifetime. “My throat and nose are in terrible shape,” he said. Farias’ community WhatsApp groups are packed with pleas to save crops and reports of elderly residents rescued as flames approached. Farias was at home on Oct. 1 when friends of his 18-year-old son, Fabrício, arrived on motorcycles, calling for help against fires approaching homes. Around 100 community members joined the effort. It wasn’t until Oct. 10, however, that the Amazonas state government declared an emergency in 36 municipalities, paving the way for federal assistance. Between Oct. 1 and 19, Brazil’s space agency, INPE, recorded 1,921 fire hotspots in Amazonas, up 202% from the same period in 2025. The daily average also rose 51.5% compared with late September 2026. Of these, 584 (30.4%) were in the Manaus metropolitan area: 197 in Autazes, 134 in Itacoatiara and seven in Manaus. Hotspots also spiked after the first round of Brazil’s presidential election: INPE…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Federal civil servants in environmental and Indigenous affairs fear a resurgence of the intimidation and institutional harassment they faced under the administration of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) if his son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, wins the presidency in Brazil. The candidate has announced that he will eliminate “environmental hurdles” so rural landowners can do “whatever they want on their land.” “We literally have a target in the middle of our forehead,” Tânia Maria de Souza, president of the federal environmental civil servants’ association, Ascema, told Mongabay. “It’s déjà vu.” The Bolsonaro administration brought a relentless series of actions against the environment and Indigenous rights. Bolsonaro refused to demarcate any Indigenous territories, fulfilling his 2018 campaign pledge, while deforestation and violence against Indigenous groups and public servants escalated alongside measures to open Indigenous lands to mining and agribusiness in clear violation of the Federal Constitution. “It was traumatic,”Alexandre Bahia Gontijo, former director of Ascema and former president of Asibama-DF, which represents IBAMA civil servants in the Federal District, said of the Bolsonaro administration. “Everyone is extremely apprehensive.” Activists call Flávio’s agenda “the return of the cattle herd,” referencing a 2020 statement by then-Environment Minister Ricardo Salles that the COVID-19 pandemic was an opportunity to “let the cattle herd run through” by changing environmental rules and regulations without drawing scrutiny from the National Congress and the press. Former Environment Minister Ricardo Salles left, with former President Jair Bolsonaro (right). Image courtesy of Marcos Corrêa/PR. Flávio finished first in the opening round…This article was originally published on Mongabay

“With a single stroke of a pen, he can undo all the achievements we have accomplished in these almost four years,” said the Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Eloy Terena, regarding a possible victory of the far-right candidate, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, for Brazil’s Presidency. “We are very concerned.” With 47.03% of the vote, Flávio topped the first round of the presidential election on Oct. 4, despite voting polls showing current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as the favorite for reelection. “If elected, one of the first ministries that will be abolished is the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples,” Terena told Mongabay by phone. “For us, this is a given, because it’s a government that has no commitment to Indigenous peoples.” The candidates face a runoff on Sunday, Oct. 25. The unprecedented Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI) was created by Lula in January 2023, fulfilling a promise to native peoples who supported his candidacy. Sonia Guajajara was appointed minister, the first time an Indigenous person led a ministry. “The creation of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples has a very great symbolic, but also effective, power, because it is a government that comes precisely after a period in which Indigenous peoples were extremely attacked during Bolsonaro’s administration,” said Terena, who took office in March when Sonia left the ministry to run for reelection as a federal deputy for São Paulo. The unprecedented Ministry of Indigenous Peoples was created by President Lula in January 2023. Sonia Guajajara was appointed minister, marking the first time…This article was originally published on Mongabay

Home of the world’s largest biodiversity, the Brazilian Amazon is one of the main hubs for international wildlife trafficking. Every day, thousands of animals are taken from the rainforest to be sold in other parts of the country and abroad. Despite its key role in this illegal market, there is still a lack of information about wildlife trafficking in the region. ​ Data on animal seizures is scattered at the municipal, state and federal levels. The lack of an integrated system, along with the region’s vast territories and porous international borders, makes it difficult to get a full picture of wildlife trafficking in the rainforest. ​ “Every river you travel on in the Amazon will have traffic incidents,” conservation intelligence specialist Antônio de Carvalho, from the conservation NGO WCS Brazil, told Mongabay in a phone interview. ​ WCS Brazil is currently working on a Global Wildlife Trafficking Observatory, which will rely on artificial intelligence to gather information about wildlife trafficking from news websites and academic researchers. The goal is to support the work of investigators, environmental agents and journalists. ​ “A lot of data on seizures is lost because the seizure is simply carried out and the animals are released right there on the spot, and that doesn’t even make it into official statistics,” Carvalho said. The zebra pleco (Hypancistrus zebra) lives only in a small stretch of the Xingu River, in Pará, and is highly coveted as an ornamental fish. Image courtesy of Birger A. In another attempt to…This article was originally published on Mongabay