{"id":14442,"date":"2021-02-18T15:00:31","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T15:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conexoesamazonicas.org\/?post_type=artigos&p=14442"},"modified":"2025-06-16T02:10:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T02:10:19","slug":"jose-lutzenberger-e-a-defesa-da-amazonia2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/conexoesamazonicas.org\/en\/jose-lutzenberger-e-a-defesa-da-amazonia2\/","title":{"rendered":"Jos\u00e9 Lutzenberger and the defense of Amazonia"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jos\u00e9 Lutzenberger and the defense of Amazonia<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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18 February 2021 | Duration of reading: 7 min<\/p>\n

By <\/i>Elenita Malta Pereira<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most important fights of the environmentalist Jos\u00e9 Lutzenberger was the defense of the Amazon. Lutzenberger (1926-2002), born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, descendant of German immigrants, was an agronomist engineer and the president of the Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Ga\u00facha de Prote\u00e7\u00e3o ao Ambiente Natural (AGAPAN<\/a>), founded in April 1971.<\/p>\n

          In the 1970\u2019s, Lutzenberger's engagement in favor of the Amazon came through the writing of articles, speeches and interviews. In the late 1970\u2019s and mostly in the 1980\u2019s, Lutzenberger traveled many times to the region to know more closely the Amazon\u2019s reality.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Lutzenberger in a lake near Solim\u00f5es river, Manaus, 07\/17\/1978 (Reproduction of Jos\u00e9 Lutzenberger\u2019s Private Collection).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In 1981 Lutzenberger took part of the documentary seriesThe decade of destruction\"<\/a> by Adrian Cowell as the narrator of the episode \u201cAshes of Forest\u201d.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Brochure\u2019s cover for promotion of The Decade of Destruction series (Reproduction of Jos\u00e9 Lutzenberger\u2019s Private Collection). Frame of \"Ashes of Forest\u201d with Lutzenberger showing a devastated property in Rond\u00f4nia.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In the documentary Lutzenberger criticized the migration of settlers from South, Southeast and Northeast of Brazil to the Amazon, encouraged by the military government to solve the problem caused by the spreading of industrial agriculture in these regions. In this context, international attention was turned to the importance of tropical rainforests. Especially in the 1980\u2019s the debate regarding climate change and biodiversity preservation gained strength not only among specialists but became a general society's concern and a global interest. Thus, the defense of the Amazon in the 1980\u2019s makes Lutzenberger increasingly known in Brazil and worldwide.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Lutzerberger pointed out causes of forest destruction at international events. In his vision, the devastation was promoted by livestock, megaprojects such as Projeto Caraj\u00e1s<\/a>, the POLONOROESTE (an integrated development program for Brazil\u2019s Northwest region)<\/a>and also by the presence of\u00a0multinational corporations<\/a>in the Amazon. The consequences, for Lutzenberger, was the genocide of indigenous people, rubber tappers and other forest inhabitants that have a lifestyle compatible with the preservation of their environment.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Lutzenberger speech of \u201cBrazilian Wilderness: A Problem or a Model for the World?\u201d, in 1983, at the 3rd World Wilderness Congress, organized by Findhorn Foundation, in Esc\u00f3cia (Reproduction of Jos\u00e9 Lutzenberger\u2019s Private Collection).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Thus, the protection of the forest was accompanied with reflections about its role in global climate equilibrium, social sustainability and biodiversity preservation. However, as in all his other militancy fronts, the central problem for the ambientalist was a philosophical dilemma caused by the anthropocentric and exclusivist ethic of modern industrial society - that's how he called the consumerist capitalist society.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 His defense of tropical rainforest allied to his criticism of pesticides resulted him a Right Livelihood<\/a>Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize<\/a>In the ceremony, in Sweden, 1988, Lutzenberger highlighted the importance of biodiversity preservation and alerted the dangers of climate change caused by forest destruction.\u00a0<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In the 1980\u2019s Lutzenberger had contact with the Gaia Theory<\/a>, formulated by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis, and became one of its major disseminators. He participated in the creation of NGOs inspired by the Gaia Theory, such as the Gaia Foundation, in England, and Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Gaia in Brazil<\/a> (Pantano Grande, Rio Grande do Sul). With the Gaia Theory and his practical and intellectual militancy as a base, Lutzenberger formulated the ethics of eco-sustainable development as a path to guarantee the continuity of the Amazon and of life as a whole.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Lutzenberger in Rinc\u00e3o Gaia, headquarter of Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Gaia in Pantano Grande (Reproduction of Jos\u00e9 Lutzenberger\u2019s Private Collection).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 In the 1990\u2019s the Amazon subject acquired another character in the vision of Lutzenberger. He was nominated Environment Secretary in Collor\u2019s government and from the beginning asserted that the defense of the forest would be his priority. He was criticized while he held this position but contributed to important achievements in the environment field, such as the end of nuclear experiments in Serra do Cachimbo<\/a> and the demarcation of the Yanomami Indigenous land.<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The fight for the Amazon preservation that Lutzenberger faced was not limited to fauna and flora preservation but also considers the protection of people affected by this devastation: indigenous, rubber tappers, and ribeirinhos. The concern with the Amazon forest was in international spotlight in the 1980\u2019s and 1990\u2019s due to the work of people like Jos\u00e9 Lutzenberger - people that activate their network of contacts to provide a better awareness of the Amazon and of the urgency for an conviviality ethic that preserves Gaia and humankind.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Science is done collaboratively<\/strong><\/p>\n

       This research is derived from the doctorate thesis of this text author and is part of the project \u201cJos\u00e9 Lutzenberger: Um mediador entre o ambientalismo brasileiro e global (D\u00e9c. 1980-1990)\u201d, developed from 2017 to 2020 in partnership with Sara Rocha Fritz (graduating at UFSC) and Denis Henrique Fiuza (under doctorate at UFSC). This research was financially supported by the federal government through  CNPq <\/a>(Edital Universal 01\/2016)..<\/a><\/p>\n

Want to know more? Access the links below! <\/strong><\/p>\n

Project Lutz Global Website (Link<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Lutz Global YouTube Channel (Link<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Pereira, E. M. A \u00e9tica da conviv\u00eancia ecossustent\u00e1vel: uma biografia de Jos\u00e9 Lutzenberger. Tese de Doutorado em Hist\u00f3ria. Programa de P\u00f3s-Gradua\u00e7\u00e3o em Hist\u00f3ria, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Porto Alegre, 2016. (Link<\/a>).<\/p>\n

______. \u201cA d\u00e9cada da destrui\u00e7\u00e3o da Amaz\u00f4nia\u201d: Jos\u00e9 Lutzenberger e a contrarreforma agr\u00e1ria em Rond\u00f4nia (Anos 1980). Hist\u00f3ria Unisinos. 21(1):26-37, Janeiro\/Abril 2017. (Link<\/a>).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

PEREIRA, Elenita Malta; FIUZA, Denis Henrique; FRITZ, Sara Rocha. Jos\u00e9 Lutzenberger e a luta pela Amaz\u00f4nia: milit\u00e2ncia ambientalista internacional em defesa da floresta (1970-1990). Dossi\u00ea Hist\u00f3ria Ambiental, Oficina do Historiador (PUCRS), 2\u00ba semestre 2020. (Link<\/a>).<\/p>\n


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Elenita Malta Pereira is graduated, master and doctor in History at UFRGS. Blog editor of A Voz da Primavera. See more at Plataforma Lattes, ResearchGate and Google Scholar. A Voz da Primavera<\/a>. See more on Lattes<\/a>, ResearchGate<\/a> and Google Scholar<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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