A Samsung released this Wednesday (5) a special video to highlight an initiative that uses smartphones from the Galaxy line to help defend the Amazon rainforest. The devices were given to indigenous people in the region for local monitoring.
The video follows the routine of Uruma and Taissa Kambeba, from the Tururkari-Uka village, where the Kambeba ethnic group lives, originally from the Amazon region, between Brazil and Peru. The production shows the day to day of father and daughter in their monitoring around the region.
Indigenous people use their Samsung Galaxy cell phones to map and report deforestation and illegal hunting in their territory. For this, the application “Tô no Mapa” is used and allows to demarcate the areas affected by deforestation.
Through the app, it is possible take a picture marking the points that delimit the area to be reported, and having the complaint processed by the local authorities. This production is part of the series of mini-documentaries Voices of Galaxy.
Uruma says that he has been working on this protection for more than two decades and says that the arrival of the devices speeds up contact between the village and protection entities. Before cell phones, complaints were made through letters and phone calls.
“This fight of mine to protect the forest is for our good living. And living well is the dream of many people, of many indigenous relatives throughout Brazil. Now I have a cell phone and the power in my hand to do whatever I need to do. Everything is easier to do, from taking pictures to sending all these complaints”, said Uruma.
For the Kambeba people, as well as thousands of other indigenous peoples in Brazil, protecting the forest is more than an act in favor of the environment, it is the preservation of their culture and their lives, since they derive all their sustenance from the forest.