Dicing with death: Brazil the law of the jungle

Deep in the Amazon in Brazil illegal villages are popping up as people flock here hoping to be the lucky one whose life is changed forever. They all come here in search of one thing; gold. The mines that litter the forest are unauthorised and dangerous but people here are desperate. The mines are also contributing to the destruction of the forest. And it isn’t just the mines, there is also the illegal logging and the burning of large areas by cowboys who need more space for their growing herds. Amongst these villages drive the delivery drivers, spurred on by the thought of having their pay docked for lateness they take risks driving too fast or at night on roads that often have large gold digger made holes that they struggle to see with their poor headlights.

However above all others there is one recent development here that has really changed the landscape forever. The Bello Monte dam has brought economic prosperity to the nearby villages as labourers come from all over the country. But it has also destroyed large areas of the forest and displaced 25,000 indigenous people who are now homeless.

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