Covid-19 and deforestation would end the Amazon 1:14
(CNN) ––
Rieli Franciscato, an expert who worked to protect isolated Amazonian tribes, died after an arrow struck him in Brazil.
This was reported by the government's indigenous affairs agency, the Fundación Nacional do Índio (Funai).
Franciscato, 56, died on Wednesday while responding to the report of a sighting of an isolated group in Seringueiras, in the state of Rondonia, in northern Brazil.
LEE: Tens of thousands of fires in the Amazon are taking the region to a point where it will not be able to produce enough rain to sustain itself
The expert was hit by an arrow in the chest, when he was on the border of the Uru Eu Wau Wau tribe territory.
Franciscato was the coordinator of a team that helps protect the territories of isolated tribes in Rondonia.
Franciscato was called to the site after ranchers and loggers who targeted the reserve intensified their campaign in recent months.
This situation caused fires and destroyed most of the surrounding forest, reported Survival, a global organization that defends the rights of indigenous peoples.
An area of the Amazon rainforest in the Candeias do Jamari region, near Porto Velho, in Rondonia state, on August 25, 2019 after a series of forest fires.
«We only hear the sound of the arrow»
Police Paulo Ricardo Bressa told the Brazilian newspaper
O Globo
that he accompanied Franciscato to Line 6, a conflict zone in Seringueiras.
“We started to follow in his footsteps and we reached the river bank, near the area protected by Funai.
When we got close to the border (of protected indigenous land) we could see the sign there, 'This is a Funai reserve, do not enter' ”.
Fires in the Amazon could be worse this year 0:54
Bressa said Franciscato started up a hill, with an indigenous escort and police behind him.
Then we only heard the sound of the arrow, which hit him in the chest.
She screamed and pulled the arrow out of her chest and ran towards us.
He managed to run 50, 60 meters and fell.
The group took him to the police vehicle and took him to hospital.
"But he was no longer alive and we lost our friend, sadly," Bressa said.
Franciscato had worked for Funai for more than three decades and the organization said it deeply mourned his loss.
A "tragic" loss
Marcelo Xavier, president of Funai, said in a video: “It is with great sadness that Funai and his servants say goodbye to Rieli Franciscato, with great respect and admiration.
Rieli was an exemplary servant, with over 30 years protecting uncontacted Indians.
"Funai is in solidarity with Franciscato's colleagues and relatives."
Survival Principal Investigator Sarah Shenker said: "Rieli's death is a tragic and immeasurable loss for isolated tribes, for the forest and for the fight to stop the genocide in Brazil."
“For decades, he refused to accept the violent greed that was destroying the Amazon rainforest and its best guardians.
He worked tirelessly to protect the lands of isolated tribes from outsiders.
He dedicated his life to this, working on the front lines to combat the illegal invasions of loggers, ranchers and miners that threaten to destroy the most vulnerable peoples on the planet, ”he continued.
LEE: Deforestation in the Amazon is accelerating despite the coronavirus
And he added that isolated tribes "may well have mistaken Rieli, one of their closest allies, for one of their many enemies who threaten their survival" and have been "pushed to the limit."
“The last thing Rieli would want is for the government and the invaders to use his death as an excuse to attack the Uru Eu Wau Wau territory even more aggressively, or to make forced contact with the uncontacted Indians.
This would be fatal, and any attempt will meet with immediate opposition from indigenous peoples and their allies around the world, ”Shenker added.
In a video interview, which Survival shared on Twitter after his death, Franciscato makes his hopes clear: "The Brazil I want for the future is one where all this (indigenous land) remains protected."
CNN's Emma Reynolds contributed to this report.
AmazonAmazoniaIndigenous PeopleDeath
