BROADCASTS.com

About 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest is in Brazil and it is home to more than 300 indigenous groups. But for centuries both the rainforest and its indigenous inhabitants have been under threat, from deforestation, agri-business, mining and politics. Brazil\u2019s current president, Luis Ign\xe1cio de Silva, has made the future security of the Amazon and its peoples a key policy pledge. So far, the president has appointed a new minister for indigenous peoples and according to government figures, the first six months of this year saw a 33 percent drop in deforestation.

But at the recent Amazon Summit in Bel\xe9m, the president failed to commit to zero-deforestation, to the disappointment of indigenous leaders. They are calling for more protection for their land and their way of life, which they say is crucial to the future preservation of the Amazon and a matter for the whole world.\n \nThis week on The Inquiry we are asking \u2018Can Brazil\u2019s indigenous population save the Amazon?\u2019\n \nContributors: \nPedro Cesarino, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Sao Paolo and Writer, Brazil\nCarlos Peres, Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of East Anglia, England\nAna Carolina Alfinito, Legal Advisor at the NGO Amazon Watch \nKaw\xe1 Huni Kuin, Indigenous leader and representative from the Huni Kuin/Kaxinaw\xe1 people, in the State of Acre, Brazil.

Presenter: David Baker \nProducer: Jill Collins\nResearcher: Matt Toulson\nEditor: Tom Bigwood\nTechnical Producer: Kelly Young\nProduction Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown

(Image: Kaw\xe1 Huni Kuin, Photo Credit: Bimi Huni Kuin)