Abrolhos a diamond about to get roughed up. 

Progress for the sake of progress is something humans have and will always do but this progress now needs to go hand in hand with how our planet will cope with these changes and therefore how humans will survive.  Oil is not a part of this future and our progress should be renewable energy and the protection of us and natures which are both in a perilous place. 

Abrolhos is a special place that contains the largest coral reef structure, and contains the richest area of marine biodiversity in the south Atlantic ocean, and it needs our protection not only is it suffering from plastic pollution warming sea and coral bleaching but now it protected status is under treat form big corporations who want to drill the area for oil.  This is being sold as a great way to boast Brazil’s economy but most of the money that is made does not stay in brazil but goes back to these foreign corporations. 

These massive corporation have shown they cannot be trusted to put human and environmental health at the top of their priorities but at the very bottom, with the recent collapse of two dams that officials were told that could burst.

BHP Billiton, which owns half of Samarco, said in an email: “We have no reason to believe BHP people knew the dam was at risk of failing. BHP and its representatives will defend these charges.”

Vale, which owns the other half of the joint venture, said in an email that it “repudiates vehemently the complaint presented by prosecutors because innumerable pieces of evidence and testimony presented in the case files that proved that Vale was never responsible for the operational management of the Fundão dam were disrespected”. Vale said: “Board members were always expressly assured of the regularity of the structures.”

According to minutes included in court documents, Samarco’s board of directors, which included representatives of Vale and BHP Billiton, was briefed several times between 2009 and 2014 on the dam’s construction problems and efforts to fix it.

Showing that these massive corporation are more than happy to lie about how much they knew about the problem and their complete disregard to human and the immeasurable damage it caused to the environment, killing everything in the near by rivers.

The total cost to human life with these disasters was 19 deaths in the first dam and 157 deaths and 182 missing in the second one, totalling 358.  With many more people suffering the after affects of the toxin water causing illnesses, and disease which will last for decades.  Can you put a cost on a humans life, these corporation can. 

Knowing all of this we can not let this corporation destroy our home for their own selfishness and profits.  What can we do to stop Abrolhos becoming the next environmental disaster.  Luckily the mining has not started yet and the bidding for the rights starts in October 2019. The main environmental protection agency, Ibama, advised against the auction of oil exploration blocs near Abrolhos national park, however the new leader of this institution has disregarded advice from scientist

Now it is up to the people to take control and make their voices heard and push our leader to make the choices they so far have been too scared or corrupted to do.  Below is a petition calling for the sale of this natural wonder to cease, to avoid another natural disastrous such as the great amazon burning.   for the sake of the future of billions of marine life and the sake of humanities future please sign.