Norwich council forging friendship with community in the Amazon
The indigenous people live 6,000 miles away in the rainforest
Norwich is looking to forge a friendship with a group of indigenous people living 6,000 miles away, in the Amazon rainforest.
The city council is planning to set up a ‘friendship link’ with the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people, who live in western Brazil.
The link is intended to establish a relationship between the two communities and provide practical support for projects.
The Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau faces threats from climate change and bullying, harassment and murder from illegal logging companies who are destroying their homes.
Alan Waters, the Labour leader of the council, said he hoped the link would raise the profile of their plight.
He said: “This is a really important connection for us as a council to make – we are looking to build a friendship link with a remarkably courageous group of people, whose purpose is to preserve the Amazonian rainforest from going extinct.”
Mr Water said it was a chance to learn from and work with a community of 200 people trying to defend 7,000 square miles of rainforest.
The council leader stressed the importance of the link being a reciprocal relationship of equals, sharing understanding and learning.
Jamie Osborn, speaking on behalf of the Green group, said: “People living in the rainforest in Brazil, who have lived there for thousands of years, are facing not just the loss of their land, not just the loss of their livelihoods but are being murdered by money grabbing wealthy elites in Brazil.
“Under Bolsonaro, that was tolerated or even encouraged.
“It’s really important that we have that visibility, it’s something that the indigenous people themselves have asked for they want people in wealthier countries are looking outwards and are making sure that this is something that cannot go unchallenged.”
A report to councillors ahead of a meeting on Tuesday said: “Hopefully a Friendship link would give visibility and a higher profile to the Ari-Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau and their fight to protect their territory and the precious rainforest.
“There is cause for optimism with the election of President-elect Lula. But that is no guarantee in the near future that illegal incursions will not continue.”
Councillors unanimously agreed to start the process of forming a link with the indigenous community.
They will now write to the Brazilian government, Brazilian Embassy in the UK, and the regional tiers of government to inform them of the connection between Norwich and the Ari-Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau.”
The council has already held online meetings with Bitaté Ari-Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau and Neidinha Bandeira — a young indigenous leader and his female mentor.
Initial ideas for how the groups can work together include:
Support programmes related to tackling deforestation
Working with village schools to promote learning English
Broadly explore connections to share practical strategies for tackling climate change
The plight of the indigenous group was recently brought to the silver screen in an award-winning film “The Territory” partially shot by the Ari-Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people and filmed over the course of several years.
Friendship links
A friendship link is intended to express solidarity with developing countries and help to create mutual understanding with people overseas.
The city council also shares a link with the El Viejo people of Nicaragua in Central America.
The link was established in 1986 following the overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship.
It was intended to facilitate exchanges between the two communities, and to promote and provide practical support for projects in El Viejo.
In 1999, the two communities decided form closer links by formally twining.
The city council is twinned with three other towns and cities – Rouen in France, Koblenz in Germany and Novi Sad in Serbia.