EDWIN CHOTA

EARLY LIFE

• Born in 1962
• an environmentalist who fought against illegal logging in Peru
• He was born and raised in Saweto, Peru

SAWETO, PERU

• Citizens had been asking the government for legal protection against loggers.
• The Peruvian government granted them this in 2015, after Chota’s death.

ASHÁNIKA

• indigenous people living in Peru
• Chota was the leader of the Ashánika
• Ancestral lands include Junín, Pasco, and Huánico.

QUOTE FROM EDWIN

• “Nothing will defeat us if we stay together. I feel stronger with a network around me. It does not matter who the face of the network is. All that matters is that we push and walk together.”

ABOUT ILLEGAL LOGGING

• Nearly 2/3 of Peru’s land is covered in the Amazon’s dense forest.
• Almost 80% of Peru’s timber export is illegal.
• Many townspeople rely on logging as a second income source.

MORE ABOUT ILLEGAL LOGGING

• Illegal loggers will pay off police officers when they are caught so that they dont get fined or sent to jail.
• They also use the Javari River to transport their timber to Brazil, Peru, and/or Colombia.

Edwin fought against illegal loggers for 13 years.

• Edwin fought for 13 years against illegal logging

AIDESEP

• AIDESEP (Association for Protecting Peru’s Rainforests) claims that the police and government did nothing despite Chota speaking out about receiving death threats.

DEATH

• was supposed to be returning from a meeting
• villagers did not see him return so they searched for him.
• found him dead
• Died at 52 on September 1, 2014

THANK YOU!

WORKS CITED

• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/09/illegal-loggers-blamed- for-of-peru-forest-campaigner
• https://www.huffingtonpost.com/forest-trends/edwin-chotas-dream_b_5793066.h...
• http://www.internationalboulevard.com/the-man-who-chose-the-forest-and-died...