Internet access in the Amazon

Mon02Apr2007

Internet access in the Amazon

12:48 H | Topics: Brazil - Environment - Internet

You might think that indigenous groups living in the Amazon would be the last people to need or want access to the internet. The original headline on CNN reads: Brazil to Offer Free Internet Access to Amazon Tribes, and the first thing that comes to mind is a curious "huh?" (crafty, those AP headline writers) but the fact is not only does the Brazilian government believe that internet access for the people of the Amazon is vital, the Amazonians think so too. Both government and Amazon locals think that the web is an effective way to combat illegal activity affecting the rainforest:

The environment and communications ministers signed an agreement Thursday with the Forest People's Network to provide an Internet signal by satellite to 150 communities, including many reachable only by riverboat, allowing them to report illegal logging and ranching, request help and coordinate efforts to preserve the forest.

The goal is to "encourage those peoples to join the public powers in the environmental management of the country," Francisco Costa of the Environment Ministry said in a statement. "The government intends to strengthen the Forest People's Network, a digital web for monitoring, protection and education."

A spokesperson the Ashaninka tribe was quoted as saying that the arrival of the internet to his region in 2003 was "a success" and that this new initiative will "strengthen indigenous culture by linking them and providing environmental education."

That last quote has my mind reeling. I'm the biggest proponent of the internet you'll find anywhere. But I wonder: will the internet indeed strengthen the culture or dilute it? There's no doubt that this kind of infrastructure will be valuable to the Brazilian government's efforts to curb illegal activity in remote areas, but I wonder what impact the influx of outside influences will have on this previously isolated culture.

Via / CNN