• Why a Brazilian favela facing eviction decided to go green
• Santa braves the sticky heat of the Amazon jungle to bring gifts to children in Brazilian village
• Huge deforested areas in the tropics could regenerate naturally, study finds

• Brazil: Maharishi University of Management faculty assist in introducing integrative medicine
• Brazil: Health Ministry hosts 1st International Congress of Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Public Health / 3rd International Ayurveda Congress
• Brazil: TM 'made me a better athlete . . . made me a better person' - Olympic medalist Flavio Canto

• Brazil passes 'devastation bill' that drastically weakens environmental law
• Chinese workers found in 'slavery-like conditions' at BYD construction site in Brazil
• Drought is making Sao Paulo's river emerald green while smoke turns its skies grey

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Positive Trends
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Why a Brazilian favela facing eviction decided to go green
22 September 2025 - In Brazil's crowded favelas, green space is hard to come by, but this Sao Paulo community is showing how more sustainable favelas can give back to their residents. ''We didn't have sustainability specialists to teach us how to preserve the environment, so we came up with the idea of creating a community garden,'' says Maria de Lourdes Andrade Silva. ''And with the garden, we would bring environmental education.'' (more)

Santa braves the sticky heat of the Amazon jungle to bring gifts to children in Brazilian village
24 December 2024 - Santa Claus braved the sticky heat of the Amazon rainforest this weekend, taking two boats to bring gifts to children in a village near the Brazilian city of Manaus. The visit was arranged by Amigos do Papai Noel, a Brazilian charity that has been taking gifts to children in the Amazon rainforest for the past 26 years. (more)

Huge deforested areas in the tropics could regenerate naturally, study finds
22 November 2024 - A new study shows that millions of acres of degraded and deforested land in the tropics could regenerate naturally. The Nature study suggests the ecological conditions are right for about 215 million hectares (531 million acres) of land in the tropics to regrow into forests. Tropical forests top the list for restoration because once they grow back, they provide habitat for a multitude of species and at the same time keep carbon out of the atmosphere where it would accelerate climate change. If all of the areas identified in the study grew back, it would pull 23.4 billion metric tons of carbon from the atmosphere in a 30-year period, the analysis found. That's the equivalent of more than twice as much carbon dioxide as the world emitted for energy in 2023. (more)

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon drops by nearly 31 percent compared to previous year
8 November 2024 - Forest loss in Brazil's Amazon dropped by 30.6 percent compared to the previous year, officials said Wednesday [6 November], the lowest level of destruction in nine years. ...Deforestation in Brazil's vast savannah, known as the Cerrado, decreased by 25.7 percent, the first decline in five years. (more)

Brazil Indigenous group hails a sacred cloak's homecoming after centuries in Europe
13 September 2024 - Indigenous chants and the rattle of maracas resounded Thursday [12 September] in a Rio de Janeiro park, where Brazil's Tupinamba people gathered to celebrate the homecoming of a sacred cloak absent for some 380 years. Made of feathers from the scarlet ibis, the artifact from northeastern Brazil resided in Copenhagen until the Danish National Museum donated the cloak to its Brazilian counterpart. (more)

Despite drought, Brazilian Amazon deforestation alerts hit five-year low
4 July 2024 - Month-over-month deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon declined for the 13th consecutive month as forest clearing in Earth's largest rainforest fell to the lowest level in five years. (more)

Amazon chocolatiers: Biofactory offers ''new way of living'' for forest communities
8 January 2024 - The Surucua community in the state of Para is the first to receive an Amazonian Creative Laboratory, a compact mobile biofactory designed to help kick-start the Amazon's bioeconomy. Having a livelihood coming directly from the forest encourages communities to stay there and protect it rather than engaging in harmful economic activities in the Amazon. (more)

Brazil: Indigenous Surui turn invaders' crop into high-quality Amazonian coffee
10 November 2023 - The Indigenous Paiter Surui people of Brazil have reclaimed the coffee farms established by invaders on their land, in the process opening up a new source of livelihood and strengthening community bonds. Growing coffee has also become an opportunity for the Surui to tell their own story, through ethnotourism and the training of Indigenous baristas (more)

Indigenous seed collectors grow a network of restoration across Brazil
18 October 2023 - Nearly 150 Indigenous seed collectors from the Amazonian Bioeconomic Seed Network, the first of its kind in the state of Rondonia, traveled to neighboring Mato Grosso state to meet with Brazil's oldest network of seed collectors, the Xingu Seed Network. The seed collector networks are the base of the ecological restoration chain and will play an essential role in enabling Brazil to reach its goal of restoring 12.5 million hectares (30.9 million acres) of native vegetation by 2030 -- vital in the fight to avoid climate breakdown. (more)

Indigenous communities in Brazil turn to native beekeeping to recover nature
16 October 2023 - Indigenous territories located in different Brazilian biomes -- the Amazon, the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest -- are hosting beekeeping projects aimed at both generating an income and restoring local ecosystems. The community projects show how these efforts, associated with agroecological food production, can improve quality of life, especially in the face of climate change impacts. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Brazil: Maharishi University of Management faculty assist in introducing integrative medicine
30 August 2018 - Brazil is one of the first non-Asian nations to introduce integrative healthcare into the national healthcare system, and faculty of Maharishi University of Management, USA are significantly contributing to the initiative. This year professors Robert Schneider, Sandy Nidich, and John Fagan spoke in Brazil at the 1st International Congress of Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Public Health, and MUM President John Hagelin and Professor Fred Travis sent presentations. 'This initiative by the federal government of Brazil is real,' Dr Schneider said. 'This is a major step of government implementation that will entail bringing Maharishi Ayur-Veda, Transcendental Meditation, and other prevention-oriented, natural health approaches to the people of the country through their national health care system.' (more)

Brazil: Health Ministry hosts 1st International Congress of Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Public Health / 3rd International Ayurveda Congress
11 July 2018 - In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 4,000 delegates recently participated in the historic 1st International Congress of Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Public Health, in which the 3rd International Ayurveda Congress formed a key part. The Ministry of Health of Brazil, while promoting the 1st International Congress of Complementary and Integrative Medicine in Public Health, had the honour to host and support the 3rd International Ayurveda Congress. The 1st International Congress marked the collaboration of important government health organizations. It also received support from the All India Ayurveda Congress, the International Academy of Ayurveda, the International Maharishi AyurVeda Foundation, and the Fundacion Maharishi de Latino America. (more)

Brazil: TM 'made me a better athlete . . . made me a better person' - Olympic medalist Flavio Canto
26 October 2016 - Flávio Canto is a Brazilian judoka and jiu jitsu black belt who won the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and three medals at the Pan American Games. He attributes his success and focus to practising Transcendental Meditation since 1995. In 2003 he founded Instituto Reação, a non-governmental organization that promotes human development and social inclusion through sports and education, transforming underprivileged kids into 'black belts' on and off the mat. TM helps institute students relieve stress and achieve the inner equilibrium required to excel both inside and outside the classroom. One student says: 'TM makes me feel relaxed, feel lighter, like if I could fly among the clouds. I was able to focus better on my studies, understand more about my life and reflect what I can become someday.' (more)

Rio de Janeiro's elite police learning Transcendental Meditation in preparation for 2016 Olympics
24 November 2015 - With Olympic Games just a year ahead, the pressure is mounting on Rio de Janeiro police. Security has remained a major challenge in preparation for the grand international event. To prevent stress-induced burnout, last week a group of 400 Rio police officers started a course of Transcendental Meditation. An official explained that a policeman who is less stressed will have a better capacity to make decisions. If TM is proven to reduce the stress, the goal is to expand teaching the technique to the whole troop. The courses are supported by the David Lynch Foundation, which was founded to prevent and eradicate the effects of traumatic, toxic stress among at-risk populations. (more)

Leader of Amazonian tribes to launch programmes for traditional peoples
24 November 2010 - A major leader of Amazonian tribes, who has worked to unify them and protect their traditional cultural values, expressed his intention to launch, in conjunction with the World Federation of Traditional Kings, a programme for the promotion of the region's traditional people. The World Federation is an initiative of the Global Country of World Peace. (more)

Safeguarding the knowledge of traditional peoples to benefit the world
24 November 2010 - The recent visit of Haru Kuntanawa, a great leader of Amazonian tribes, inspired deep appreciation among leaders of the Global Country of World Peace in MERU, Holland. That the knowledge of the traditional peoples has been safeguarded and protected deep in the Amazon forests is 'heartening and inspiring', commented a young Global Country leader in the field of culture. And now that knowledge is coming out into the world and is being shared with others. (more)

Brazilian TV news features Transcendental Meditation in Paul McCartney report
19 November 2010 - On Friday, 19 November, a prime time Brazilian TV news show covered the recent visit of Paul McCartney to the city of Sao Paulo, a report which included a three-minute segment on the Transcendental Meditation Programme. Nearly 60 million people viewed the broadcast, which described benefits of the technique in reducing stress and improving brain functioning. (more)

Agence France-Presse report: TM program helps de-stress schools in Brazil
14 November 2010 - Improved grades and better test scores, reduced stress and less anxiety, greater happiness and more inner peace. That is the forecast for more than one million students attending 1,000 public schools in Brazil's second-largest city, Rio de Janeiro, who will soon get the chance to practise Transcendental Meditation twice daily during class. This news was recently reported by the international wire service Agence France-Presse. (more)

Maharishi University of Management partners with college in Rio
17 June 2010 - An agreement to offer a joint MBA program with a Brazilian college will afford Maharishi University of Management students the opportunity to study in Rio de Janeiro. (more)

Media in Brazil report benefits of Transcendental Meditation for cardiovascular health
17 November 2009 - The Transcendental Meditation Programme not only reduces stress, but recent research shows that it lowered risk of heart attack, stroke, and death by nearly 50 per cent in patients with coronary heart disease. A local couple in Brazil also shares the benefits they've experienced in their lives. (more)

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Flops
Short Summaries of Top Stories

Brazil passes 'devastation bill' that drastically weakens environmental law
17 July 2025 - Brazil's President has 15 days to approve or veto legislation that critics say will lead to vast deforestation and destruction of Indigenous communities. Brazilian lawmakers have passed a bill that drastically weakens the country's environmental safeguards and is seen by many activists as the most significant setback for the country's environmental legislation in the past 40 years. (more)

Chinese workers found in 'slavery-like conditions' at BYD construction site in Brazil
24 December 2024 - Brazilian officials found 163 Chinese nationals working in 'slavery-like conditions' at a construction site for a factory owned by Chinese electric vehicle producer BYD in Brazil's Bahia state, the local labor prosecutor's office said Monday [23 December]. (more)

Drought is making Sao Paulo's river emerald green while smoke turns its skies grey
10 September 2024 - A major river in the Brazilian metropolis of Sao Paulo is suddenly emerald green and clear skies this week turned from blue to grey. In the late afternoon, the sun's rays filtering through the smoky haze exhibit the color of deep orange. This isn't a fantasy world: Environmental threats in recent days have transformed the colors of the city's landscape. The state's environmental authority attributes the Pinheiros River's new green hue to an algae bloom, the result of severe drought that has significantly lowered water levels. (more)

Severe drought has returned to the Amazon. And it's happening earlier than expected
3 August 2024 - Holder of one-fifth of the world's fresh water, the Amazon is beginning the dry season with many of its rivers already at critically low levels, prompting governments to anticipate contingency measures to address issues ranging from disrupted navigation to increasing forest fires. (more)

Sharks in Brazil test positive for cocaine, say scientists
23 July 2024 - Sharks living off the coast of Brazil have tested positive for cocaine, according to new research, the first time that the drug has been detected in free-ranging sharks. Scientists tested 13 Brazilian sharpnose sharks in the waters off the city of Rio de Janeiro and found cocaine present in both the liver and muscle tissue of all 13 specimens ...Cocaine consumption has risen massively around the world in recent decades, according to the study. ...[Study co-author Rachel Ann] Hauser Davis said that it is 'very likely' that crustaceans, fish, and other animals that the sharks prey on are also contaminated with cocaine. (more)

More than third of Amazon rainforest struggling to recover from drought, study finds
20 May 2024 - More than a third of the Amazon rainforest is struggling to recover from drought, according to a new study that warns of a 'critical slowing down' of this globally important ecosystem. The signs of weakening resilience raise concerns that the world's greatest tropical forest -- and biggest terrestrial carbon sink -- is degrading towards a point of no return. (more)

It's not yet summer in Brazil, but a dangerous heat wave is sweeping the country
20 November 2023 - It's still spring in Brazil, but a dangerous heat wave is sweeping across large swathes of the country, forcing Rio de Janeiro's vendors off the streets due to health alerts and driving up energy demand amid reports of power outages. Most Brazilian states face 'great danger' from the heat, according to the National Institute of Meteorology (more)

Human activity and drought 'degrading more than a third of Amazon rainforest'
26 January 2023 - Human activity and drought may have degraded more than a third of the Amazon rainforest, double the previous estimate, according to a study that heightens concerns that the globally important ecosystem is slipping towards a point of no return. (more)

Brazilian voters attacked by misinformation days before vote
25 October 2022 - Brazilian voters are being bombarded by online misinformation less than a week before they pick their next leader. ... Baseless and politically motivated rumors are whipping through social media in Latin America's largest democracy, roiling Brazilian politics much as U.S. politics has been roiled. ... Overall, conservative channels produce more content -- and more false, problematic content, too. According to a tally by the Igarape institute, in the eight days before and after the Oct. 2 first-round vote, far-right YouTube channels attracted 99 million views while leftist channels had 28 million views. Political analysts and the opposition have expressed fears that Bolsonaro's internet army may help him challenge the results if he loses, by spreading unfounded allegations of fraud. (more)

Brazil moves toward paving road key to deforestation
30 July 2022 - In a decision that critics have labeled as dangerous, Brazil's government granted a preliminary environmental permit for paving a dirt highway that cuts through one of the Amazon rainforest's most preserved areas. Researchers and environmentalists argue that the paving will lead to mass clearing of pristine rainforest, given that most Amazon deforestation occurs alongside roads where access is easier and land value is higher. ... The BR-319 Observatory, a network of non-profits including WWF Brazil, Greenpeace Brazil, and the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations, says local communities haven't been consulted about the project, as the law requires. (more)