American Masters

The Workers Who Saved the Amazon Rainforest

Clip: 04/22/2014 | 2m

In the 1980s the fate of the Amazon rainforest turned on an unlikely environmental hero: Chico Mendes (1944 - 1988), a poor rubber tapper and union organizer in Brazil. As cattle ranching and logging threatened the rainforest with deforestation, Mendes formed a workers union that aligned itself with environmentalism. This excerpt is from American Masters: A Fierce Green Fire, premiering 4/22/14.

Aired: 04/22/14

Rating: TV-14

Problems Playing Video? | Closed Captioning

Support for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, Koo …

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