To attend the Minamata COP-6 Special Event, which features a panel discussion and a film screening "Amazon, the New Minamata?", kindly register using this form. To access the venue, please bring a valid identification document.
The Amazon basin is home to extraordinary biodiversity and to communities whose lives are deeply tied to the river. Yet illegal gold mining and mercury pollution pose serious threats to both ecosystems and human health.
This special event highlights the work of Fernando Trujillo, renowned conservation scientist and NatGeo Rolex Explorer of the Year. Through his decades of research on pink river dolphins and his advocacy against mercury pollution, Fernando exemplifies how science can inspire action and support decision-making.
Adding historical perspective, Aileen Mioko Smith—Executive Director of Green Action in Japan and co-author of Minamata (1975) with photographer W. Eugene Smith—will connect the legacy of Minamata disease to current challenges in the Amazon and introduce the COP-6 photo exhibit Minamata: Photographer’s Eye Project. Aileen Mioko Smith is also the Recipient of the Nuclear-Free Future Award (2014) in recognition for her contributions to education and activism in the anti-nuclear movement.
The dialogue will be followed by the screening of the documentary Amazon, the New Minamata?, which portrays the impacts of mercury on Indigenous Peoples of Brazil’s Tapajós River. The film reveals how mercury contamination threatens Amazonian communities with the specter of Minamata disease, while following the Munduruku people’s struggle to defend their ancestral territory from the destructive effects of gold mining.
By bringing together science, testimonies and historical experiences, this session will encourage reflection on how lessons from the past and knowledge from the field can guide current and future action against mercury pollution.
More information: https://www.genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/events/amazon-the-new-minamata-film-screening-minamata-cop-6-special-event/
