Awá : the world's most endangered tribe

The Awá are one of only two nomadic hunter-gathering tribes left in the Amazon. Some individuals from the tribe might leave to explore the outside world, but most will return home to its invaluable advantages: free food and housing, as opposed to scraping a living in shantytowns and slums, where life is usually nasty, brutish and short. According to Survival, they are now the world's most threatened tribe, assailed by gunmen, loggers and hostile settler farmers. In the words of actor, Colin Firth, who is supporting a campaign for the tribe: "One man can stop this: Brazil's minister of justice. He can send in the federal police to catch the loggers, and keep them out for good. But right now it's just not his priority.We have to change that before it's too late. We need enough people to message him that he takes notice… You, me, our friends, our families. Everyone counts. But we don't have much time. When the rains stop, the loggers will be back. This is our chance, right now, to actually do something. And if enough people show they care, it will work."

The campaign launches on Wednesday this week at http://www.survivalinternational.org/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/22/brazil-rainforest-awa-endangered-tribe