The article reflects on the legacy of journalist Dom Phillips and his collaborator Bruno Pereira, who were murdered while investigating the Amazon rainforest for Phillips’s book, "How to Save the Amazon." Their final inquiries emphasized the importance of Indigenous knowledge for environmental conservation. Phillips outlined a poignant message in his book: saving the Amazon necessitates recognizing the interconnectedness of all societies and the vital role of Indigenous peoples as guardians of their land. The author retraced Phillips and Pereira's last steps in the Javari Valley, underscoring the urgent need for protection against ongoing threats in the region.
Dom left us with a big unanswered question: How Do We Save the Amazon? In an outline for the final chapter of his book, he wrote, "Listen to Indigenous People." The world, he added, "is not a disconnected, random series of nations and societies, but an interconnected whole whose survival depends on cooperation, not competition." To understand this, he argued, "the best teachers are the Amazon's original inhabitants: its Indigenous peoples."
Considering its location on the frontline of a deadly conflict, the Valley's Lago do Jaburu feels a blessedly tranquil place. A couple of archetypal riverine homes, built on stilts, with wood-plank walls and corrugated roofs, are perched at the top of a steep bank above the Itaquaí river.
Dom and Bruno spent the final day of their lives seeking lessons from those very teachers. Before writing this conclusion to the book Dom didn't live to complete, I retraced their steps, venturing back to the Javari Valley where their friendship was first cemented.
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