CILT BRAZIL, BRASILIA, TEACHER CRISTINA LOURENÇO

Sep 28, 2017 by Kássia Leandra Mendes de Oliveira

Brazil was colonized by Portugal, which brought enormous damage to both the natural resources and the native inhabitants with their exploitation.

The indigenous peoples underwent a process of conquest, physical decimation and cultural violence. Many were enslaved and forced to convert to the Christian religion. The Indians had and still having a strong relation of respect to nature.Different than white men (as they were called Europeans and non-Indians), they saw it as their home, so we took care of it as we take care of our houses. They took only what they needed to survive, while the Europeans considered it an inexhaustible source of resources to be exploited, for profit.

The Portuguese carried out the extraction of a tree called Pau-Brazil , which had red paint used in the manufacture of fabrics. This extraction lasted until the 19th century, and ended up bringing serious environmental impacts. Several species of animals and plants were extinguished, and large areas explored were completely unproductive.

While Brazil was a colony of Portugal there was no industrial development in our country. The metropolis prohibited the establishment of factories in the territory, so that Brazilians consumed the Portuguese manufactured products. It was only at the end of the 19th century that industrial development began in Brazil. Due to the late technological development, the country to date basically exports raw material and imports industrialized products.

Today, the economy is based on agricultural production (being one of the main soy exporters in the world) and livestock. Looking from the ecological point of view, the country emits a smaller amount of polluting gases, since it has less industrial activity, which would be a positive point.But 80 percent of the pollution comes from the burning of its forests. According to a footprint, if the rest of the world were equal to Brazil, 1.8 planets would be needed to provide sufficient resources. Compared to countries like the United States, where the average is 5.0, this value is relatively low, but far from ideal.

The main polluters remain the richest and most developed countries, and this should continue in line with economic growth.

These facts lead us to reflect: Would a developed country be a polluting country? Would it be necessary to pollute to have advances, and to stop having technological advances to be ecologically correct?

In my point of view, the answer is no, for all questions. The ideal is balance both situations, prioritizing each one. There is no sense in having the most developed equipment in our hands if the main resources for human survival (like water) will be scarce or nonexistent.

For me, the way to be constructed for a solution would be the governments encourage sustainable development organizations, as well as to support research and study centers in the same area, to find new solutions, and to have lower costs. it is not impossible, considering the fact that Brazilian public schools (with very few resources at their disposal) have been able to develop projects to help the environment only with the creativity and unity of the students - which leads to another question that can be considered the main, and needs more focus: the union and awareness of each human being, to what is happening to the planet Earth and the environment, as well as the attitudes that must be carried out together to change that reality.

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