Thousands of families have been left homeless in the western Amazon after torrential rains caused severe flooding across the Brazilian state of Acre At an already critical time due to the Covid-19 pandemic those most hard-hit are the poor who live on the banks of rivers This is the case for the community of Sena Madureira Located about 145 km from the capital Rio Branco Sena is the third most populous municipality in Acre 4 thousand are already housed in public reception facilities such as sports fields and schools The Catholic Church has joined in the solidarity mobilisation and is welcoming families Fr Moisés de Oliveira Coelho of the Order of the Servants of Mary and parish priest of Nossa Senhora da Conceição Parish spoke to Vatican News and explained "we have some chapels that are being used as temporary shelters such as the Nossa Senhora Aparecida Chapel the São Sebastião Chapel and the Santa Cruz Chapel Other chapels are also occupied by the goods that families in need of help have managed to recover The Church is also working to collect donations for those who have lost everything Fr Moisés explained that this is why the Ação Bom Samaritano ("Action of the Good Samaritan") has been launched: a solidarity campaign promoted in collaboration with the local government personal hygiene and cleaning products: "We receive donations from our faithful from people of goodwill and we prepare food parcels and then distribute them to shelters."  The solidarity of the local Church does not stop at the current emergency For this reason Fr Moisés said that they are putting donation money aside: "We have opened an account so that we will be able to help families buy cleaning products personal hygiene items and basic necessities These are still small gestures compared to the magnitude of what is happening but they are sufficient and necessary and will increase as donations grow we depend on donations to be able to do these good deeds and that is why we always count on the help and collaboration of everyone at this time." The flooding of regional rivers in the State of Acre also created problems in the capital Rio Branco in Cruzeiro do Sul and in the municipalities of Tarauacá all public agencies are on high alert and are providing relief to the population at risk State authorities have created 23 temporary shelters for displaced people and last weekend they distributed more than 500 food parcels to the population More than 32 thousand families have been devastated by these extreme weather events The health situation in Acre is also particularly critical due to the Covid-19 pandemic Both infections and hospitalisations are increasing Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here Please press and hold the button until it turns completely green If you believe this is an error, please contact our support team 147.45.197.102 : a922c028-ab09-4742-b95f-07b706e0 Funai signs ordinance to protect isolated indigenous people of the Mashco people telegram Join our Telegram channel! telegram located between the municipalities of Manoel Urbano The TI had its Use Restriction ordinance published thanks to the determination of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) for Funai to adopt all necessary measures to protect territories with the presence of isolated and recently contacted indigenous peoples The court also decided that the renewal of the ordinances must be guaranteed before the end of the period of validity until they are definitively demarcated or the presence of isolated indigenous peoples is discarded Entry into the 538-hectare area can now only be done with a limited-validity authorization issued by the General Coordination of Isolated and Recently Contacted Indigenous Peoples (CGIIRC/FUNAI) the ordinance also prohibits the exploitation of natural resources in the area “The measure is within the determinations of the Claim of Non-Compliance with Fundamental Precept (ADPF) 991, which establishes that if there are isolated indigenous peoples, there must also be a specific protection action. In the case of this Indigenous Land, this is a record of isolated people that has been confirmed for a long time and overlaps with an area of ​​integral protection that is the Chandless State Park” researcher at the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA) For the indigenous rights activist and founding partner of the Observatory of Human Rights of Isolated and Recently Contacted Indigenous Peoples (OPI) Maria Emília Coelho who has already reported on the situation of isolated peoples in two editions of the collection Indigenous Peoples in Brazil “it is now important that there is coordination between government agencies so that this protection work is carried out effectively” She also explains that despite the ten-year gap between the official confirmation of their presence in the region and the publication of the Use Restriction ordinance there have been reports of the Mashco people in Brazilian territory since the 1970s It was only in the 1970s that FUNAI established itself in the region the policies to protect isolated peoples that are currently in force did not exist Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted by Brazil and which guarantees the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples even with the presence of the indigenous agency in the territory official confirmation of the presence of the isolated Mashco only came in 2015 after an expedition by Funai and the Acre State Environmental Secretariat (Sema-AC) in Chandless State Park there are three types of records of isolated indigenous peoples: “in information” when the possible existence of an isolated people is reported; “under study” when a set of data or reports on the existence of an isolated people are gathered; and “confirmed” through location work such as that carried out on the expedition the territories inhabited by an isolated people are identified effective protection measures are required “The restriction on use is a fragile instrument that only depends on a signature from the president of Funai If the political situation and the presidency of Funai change That is why it is important that the identification and location studies are completed so that this Indigenous Land can be declared and that this area that must be demarcated is recognized,” argues Maria Emília Coelho Remember: Mining companies advance on uncontacted Piripkura indigenous people in Mato Grosso The Mashco are a cross-border people who move between Brazil and Peru with a greater presence on the Peruvian side of the border – although there are reports of their increasingly frequent presence in Brazilian territory due to threats and pressures such as logging and the advance of drug trafficking in the neighboring country The Mashco territory extends along the borders of the Juruá Purus and Ucayali rivers and has protected areas on both sides of the border Speakers of a language from the Arawak family the Mashco are known for their hunting skills Find out more about the Mashco people and the challenges for their integrated protection in the publication's special article “Sieges and resistance: isolated indigenous peoples in the Brazilian Amazon” founding partner of the Observatory for the Human Rights of Isolated and Recently Contacted Indigenous Peoples (OPI) and president of the board of directors of the Pro-Indigenous Commission of Acre live the Mashco or Mashco-Piro indigenous people as they were called throughout the colonization process of this border region centuries ago the literature considers them a people in “voluntary isolation,” characterized by organizing themselves into different groups and subgroups that move seasonally across a vast forest territory they occupy the highlands and dry lands of the headwaters they descend to the banks of the creeks and river courses moving across international borders (Clark; Michael; Beier they speak a language from the Arawak language family very similar to the language of the Yine people in Peru as well as their Manchineri relatives in Brazil Survivors of the raids against indigenous people during the height of the rubber and rubber boom at the turn of the 2011th and 2002th centuries they took refuge in hard-to-reach areas of the forest aspects of their social life underwent drastic transformations such as the abandonment of agriculture and the adoption of hunting and gathering as a survival strategy (Gow the Mashco territory is located on the watershed of the great Juruá in a region composed of different categories of Protected Areas which constitute an important mosaic for environmental conservation and a corridor of indigenous territories where several isolated peoples live The majority of the territory is on Peruvian soil encompassing several rivers and streams in a vast area there are records of the presence of the Mashco in the upper Acre enter Acre territory via the binational rivers Iaco (TI Mamoadate) Chandless (Parque Estadual Chandless) and Envira (TI Kampa and Isolated Peoples of the Rio Envira) their movements usually occur in the Amazon summer when they descend streams and rivers to collect forest products (Aquino; Meirelles The first reports of the existence of these isolated populations began to be systematically recorded in Brazil after the arrival of Funai on the upper Iaco River and the establishment of the Mamoadate Indigenous Post and the Extrema village between 1975 and 1976 settling the Manchineri and Jaminawa indigenous people the explorer José Carlos dos Reis Meirelles observed that these isolated people were called Masko by the Jaminawa their “traditional enemies” and with a relationship of perpetual conflict for decades The processes of contact between the Jaminawa and Manchineri with non-indigenous people pushed the Mashco to less inhabited regions great Jaminawa chief and first interpreter in contact with the “Xinane people” states that these indigenous people already knew the word Masko when they were “isolated” to refer to the uncontacted group that roams the headwaters of the Envira River: but ever since I can remember it’s been Masko I didn’t even start a conversation and they told me to be careful or the Maskos would kill us They had this idea since the first time I spoke to them.” used by the Mashco are part of the collective imagination of the Jaminawa and Manchineri communities of Alto Yaco as their residents have shared territories and natural resources with these groups for a long time the elders of the Mamoadate Indigenous Land say that according to their parents and grandparents the Mashco walked to the region where the Extrema village is located believe in the existence of two distinct groups that follow different routes in the Alto Iaco what characterizes the difference between the groups is the size of the trail left by their individuals: “They go to the meeting point of all those headwaters one with the big trail and one with the small trail I think they already know when the big trails pass Otávio and Lucas state that there are groups that also differ in whether or not they use iron and metal instruments “The group that travels along the Chandless uses machetes while the group that travels along the upper Iaco is different and does not use them.” They believe that the Yine Manchineri and Mashco speak the same language because they are part of the same people Lucas suggests that the Manchineri should send their interpreters in case of possible contact in Brazil and states that they are getting closer to the villages during their travels and reoccupying old territories the residents of Extrema have found their remains a few kilometers from the community the presence of Mashcos and their appearances has intensified in the areas now known as the Mamoadate and Kampa Indigenous Lands and the Envira River Isolation Areas three conflicts involving the Mashcos and the “Xinane people” were recorded in the upper Envira resulting in the death of a recently contacted indigenous person but there is a series of evidences that point to new forms of use and displacement and/or a process of territorial reoccupation a Mashco camp was found for the first time by ICMBio and FUNAI teams in an area very close to the Rio Acre Ecological Station Base a joint expedition between Funai and the Acre State Department of the Environment (Sema-AC) confirmed the presence of the Mashcos in Chandless State Park responding to a long-standing demand from the federal indigenous agency for the qualification of information in the protected area managed by the Acre State Government different Funai expeditions identified their presence in the upper Acre the Envira Ethnoenvironmental Protection Front recorded traces in the Cabeceira do Rio Acre Indigenous Land beyond the limits of the Rio Acre Ecological Station There were also reports of unusual sightings of isolated individuals with strong indications that they were Mashcos new traces were recorded in the upper Iaco and Purus rivers FUNAI has been observing that the Mashcos are increasingly occupying Brazilian territory The local population and government technicians have this perception especially after the discovery of the large number of recorded evidences in 2017 Another change identified was the increase in the frequency of their appearances during the Amazon winter months in which they traditionally occupy the highlands of the headwaters Neighboring communities have also observed the Mashcos' interest in acquiring metal instruments and cultivated foods These changes in their routes and travel times are possibly motivated by the search for safer spaces and as a result of conflicts with indigenous or non-indigenous populations with whom they share their territories The confirmation of isolated groups in two Conservation Units in Acre (Estação Ecológica Rio Acre and Parque Estadual Chandless) expands the debate on Mashco territorial protection strategies requiring the construction of shared management processes between federal and state government institutions that monitor the areas of use and occupation of isolated groups there have been reports of their presence since the beginning of the 20th century descendants of Peruvians who occupied the region during the rubber era tell stories about encounters and places where they used to find their remains They also claim that the Mashco are descending further and further and reoccupying territories they have not visited for more than XNUMX years recommends “anthropological consultancy to monitor the proposed and implemented activities ensuring the effective protection of the territories and natural resources traditionally used in the Park area by isolated indigenous groups” (Acre the southern area was considered an “Intangible Zone” to guarantee the exclusive use and territorial protection of the isolated groups it was established as a “Primitive Zone”: “one where there is little human intervention with species of fauna and flora and natural phenomena of great scientific value” (Acre after the presence of isolated groups in the area has been proven and the area should be reclassified as an “Intangible Zone” instead of the Primitive Zone (Acre supported by a Technical Cooperation Agreement to create and execute a project for the Amazon Protected Areas Program of the Ministry of the Environment Among the justifications was the lack of information on the forms of use and occupation of the Mashco in the area which makes it difficult to establish guidelines and strategies for its protection aimed to strengthen the relationship between the two government institutions the indigenous people living in the surrounding area (TIs Mamoadate and Alto Purus) and the residents of PEC (two riverside families) to minimize conflicts related to the use of natural resources and to qualify the information in areas with references to the displacement of isolated groups workshops were held with residents of the two Indigenous Lands and the Conservation Unit to invest in and validate coexistence agreements between indigenous people traditional populations and government agencies The partnership enabled experiments to monitor the presence of isolated groups by analyzing hotspots satellite images and prior information on the territories where the Mashco are displaced on the Brazil-Peru border The frequency or recurrence of these groups was observed in some regions of the PEC from 2010 onwards The first Funai expedition to locate isolated groups in the area also took place in 2015 resulting in confirmation of the presence of isolated groups proposed within the scope of the project “Protection and Monitoring of Isolated and Recently Contacted Indigenous Peoples in the Brazilian Amazon” of technical cooperation between CIT and Funai was carried out to qualify information on traces in a recent Mashco camp found by a resident of the Park agreements and understandings between PEC residents surrounding indigenous populations and federal and state government institutions is essential for monitoring the presence of isolated groups in the PEC With their own dynamics of territorial use and occupation which transcend institutional and national borders the Mashco way of life increasingly requires integrated strategies and actions to protect their fundamental rights Brazilian and Peruvian indigenous communities and organizations have been discussing common problems and challenges and jointly considering the management and protection of their territories In dialogue with civil society and government agencies they have discussed the impacts of infrastructure projects and illegal extractive activities as well as the need for cross-border strategies that ensure the integrity of peoples who do not recognize national boundaries the Manchineri of Brazil and the Yine of Peru have been exchanging information and building a political alliance to protect their uncontacted “relatives.” This initiative is supported by non-governmental organizations from both countries To reduce pressure on the use of natural resources in the area used by the Mashco the residents of the Mamoadate Indigenous Territory have established an agreement that no one will cross the Abismo stream Leaders Manchineri and Yine also warn governments about the possible impacts of a road project that aims to connect the Peruvian municipalities of Iñapari and Puerto Esperanza ten kilometers from the border with Brazil They also discuss the importance of dialogue between the two countries to monitor illicit activities on the border the Brazilian and Peruvian governments signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation between FUNAI and the Peruvian Ministry of Culture aiming to promote activities for the protection of isolated and recently contacted peoples on the Brazil-Peru border The agreement was valid for two years and was a first step towards dialogue between the two indigenous institutions its implementation depended on a joint work plan A series of situations involving contact with isolated groups in both countries required emergency actions by the governments focused on implementing their own contingency plans did not find the ideal conditions for an integrated agenda cooperation between Brazil and Peru – both to curb illegal activities and to recognize the role of indigenous and traditional populations and their representative organizations in the development of protection policies – is fundamental today to guarantee the rights of isolated and recently contacted peoples in the Amazon The survival of the Mashco depends on cross-border policies developed with the participation of different actors working to defend their territories and way of life The most relevant news for you to form your opinion on the socio-environmental agenda LAST ISSUE Get our news on your inbox! Suscribe x MercoPress, en Español Montevideo, May 5th 2025 - 13:43 UTC Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday visited the state of Acre where several cities have been submerged in floodwaters adding yet another challenge for the beleaguered state Several rivers overflowed their banks due to extreme rainfall 120,000 people have been displaced as a result of flooding according to data from the state's fire department and federal authorities have declared a state of calamity in ten municipalities nearly 70% of its area was either submerged or affected by the floods televised images showed large swaths of the city flooded Water levels in several municipalities were falling on Wednesday The floods pose more hardship for the impoverished state that was already battling with a resurgence of COVID-19 an outbreak of dengue fever and a migratory crisis at its border with Peru Acre confirmed 622 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday Gladson Cameli said Tuesday that he had requested that more oxygen be dispatched to Acre in order to treat the rising number of patients and to avoid a public health disaster like that of neighboring Amazonas state hospitals' oxygen ran out in Amazonas' capital forcing patients' families to scramble to find cylinders on their own “I will not be caught off guard by someone's death because I didn't have oxygen,” Cameli said The state has also suffered more than 10,000 suspected cases of dengue in the first two months of this year more than double the amount in the same period in 2021 Cameli warned that once rivers' water levels recede dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases are likely to spread more aggressively increasing pressure on the public health system Acre authorities have to deal with a lingering migratory crisis at its border with Peru Some 400 migrants arrived at Acre's border town of Assis Brasil in mid-December have been trying to cross the border into Peru on their way to Mexico and the U.S But the Peruvian government closed its border with Brazil last year Commenting for this story is now closed.If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page! Overflowing rivers have brought flooding to several areas of Acre state since 23 February 2015 Some of the main areas affected include Rio Branco 86,937 people have been affected by the floods Currently 3,014 families are still displaced by the floods and are staying in one of 31 temporary shelters set up for flood victims A further 904 displaced families are staying with relatives or friends The flood waters in Rio Branco have receded sufficiently in some areas to be able to begin clean up operations The local authorities say 570 workers and 287 machines will be used to clear debris unblock the drainage system and clean the streets A slow-moving storm system will bring heavy rain and thunderstorms to parts of eastern Brazil over the next 3 days, according to AccuWeather The heaviest rainfall will be focused across the states of Sao Paulo southern Minas Gerais and southern Rio de Janeiro These areas will receive 25-75 mm (1-3 inches) of rainfall into Wednesday with localized amounts up to 150 mm (6 inches) Richard Davies is the founder of floodlist.com and reports on flooding news Cookies | Privacy | Contacts © Copyright 2025 FloodList Page Not FoundGo Back to Home PageQuick Links / PoliciesCONTACT USABOUT USAUTHORSPRIVACY POLICYCODE OF ETHICSTERMS & CONDITIONSFor any inquiries, please reach us at contactus@etvbharat.com Copyright © 2025 Ushodaya Enterprises Pvt The body of Vanessa Sequeira, 36, was found in western Brazil, near the border with Peru, after friends reported her missing. Yesterday police revealed she had been raped and then beaten to death. Ms Sequeira, originally from Portugal, was in the Brazilian state of Acre working on a doctorate with the University of Wales, Bangor. Police in Brazil said she was sexually assaulted, then strangled and beaten with a piece of wood. They said she was "in the wrong place at the wrong time". It is believed Ms Sequeira, who has an MSc from Bangor, was bathing in a creek near the remote Amazonian town of Sena Madureira - more than 2,000 miles from Rio de Janeiro. She was sexually attacked and beaten. Her naked body was dragged for 200 metres and dumped. Ms Sequeira's clothes and the blood-soaked piece of wood were found nearby. Her former boyfriend, Owain Williams, 38, spoke of his shock at her death. He met her during their time in university together. Mr Williams said, "She was a great person, very feisty, very Latin, very strong - a very free spirit. I think she was very fond of the city when she was there. She made lasting friendships and there will be a lot of people who will miss her." The International Herald Tribune reported that ex-convict Raimundo Nonato Rocha de Lima, 30, had been charged with killing Ms Sequeira. It said that Lima recently completed an 11-year prison sentence for homicide in the neighbouring town of Boca do Acre. Ms Sequeira's sister Nathalie, who lives in Innsbruck in Austria, said, "Her focus was to see how people could live in the forest without tearing everything down. "She spent many years trying to get people to give value to their traditions and things that have worked for many years." The daughter of a Portuguese father and a German mother, Ms Sequeira was developing a PhD on sustainable development for Costa Rica's Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Centre (Catie) in conjunction with the University of Wales, Bangor. She was studying the sustainability of settlements making use of both their farms and the surrounding jungle. Staff and students at Bangor yesterday expressed their sadness and shock at the murder. A university spokesman said, "Staff and students in the university, particularly in her department, the School of Environment and Natural Resources, were extremely distressed to hear of Vanessa's death and have expressed their deepest sympathy to the family." The university was represented at the funeral in Ms Sequeira's home village in Portugal. Friend Henrietta Larken, 38, a photographer whom she met at university during her first degree in Norwich, said, "It's a horrific death, without any doubt it's very hard to cope with. "It's so sickening and so disgusting what happened to her. I will take a really long time to accept it, but at the same time what a beautiful life she had. "Vanessa was a very special person, highly intelligent, passionate and determined. "She has been a great friend; insightful and inspirational and great fun. We shared many interests including photography - one of her many talents - and an appreciation of nature. "We also shared a love of horses. Vanessa was last seen on a horse as she set off from her friends." Inspector Joao Augusto Fernandes, who is leading the police investigation into Ms Sequeira's death, said, "She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This town is usually very quiet. We haven't had a homicide in six months." A number of activists, including union leader Chico Mendes and American nun Dorothy Stang have been killed in Brazil's Amazon because of their opposition to powerful logging and ranching interests. But police said Ms Sequeira's murder did not appear to be linked to any activism. In a statement, environmental campaign group the Rainforest Alliance said the organisation "deeply mourns the loss of colleague Vanessa Sequeira". It went on, "We will forever be grateful for her tireless dedication and important research into how impoverished residents of the Amazon might profit from the forest's resources without damaging the ecosystem." The Centre for International Forestry Research said, "It is with extreme sorrow Cifor reports that one of its partner scientists has been brutally murdered while carrying out research in Brazil. "Details of what happened, the actual time and the circumstances surrounding the murder remain unclear. "However, on the information available, it does not seem the murder was in any way provoked by the nature of her research. "Cifor extends its sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Ms Sequeira. Ms Sequeira was not married and did not have any children. "She was working with Cifor through the Poverty Environment Network (Pen) where she was undertaking her doctoral studies in conjunction with Catie and the University of Wales, Bangor. "Cifor is trying to liaise with Catie, the University of Wales, and all relevant parties involved to get a clearer picture of what has happened and to determine how it can best assist during this tragic time." Brazilian and Portuguese authorities are working together to investigate Ms Sequeira's death.