Book by British journalist killed in the Amazon will be released in May

By Thais Matos – From Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – The posthumous book by the british journalist Dom Phillips, How to Save the Amazon, has been completed and will be released by Companhia das Letras in May this year in Brazil. Journalists, reporters, and editors from several countries collaborated to finish the work as a tribute to the journalist and to keep his memory alive.

Dom Phillips and the indigenous expert Bruno Pereira were shot and had their bodies burned and dismembered in 2022, near the Vale do Javari Indigenous Territory in Atalaia do Norte (1,138 kilometers from Manaus, capital of the State of Amazonas).

The journalist traveled to the region to produce the report-book, intending to interview local indigenous leaders, as the area hosts a large concentration of indigenous peoples. Phillips was well advanced in his research and had completed almost half of the work.

Professionals such as Sylvia Colombo, Claudio Ângelo, and Fabiano Maisonnave participated in the project in a collaborative effort to review the material. However, the book will bear only Dom Phillips’ name on the cover, with the collaborators credited within the chapters.

Remember the Case

Bruno and Dom disappeared while on an expedition for an investigation in the Amazon. The 72-kilometer trip was supposed to take only two hours, but the duo never reached their destination.

Their remains were found on June 15. The victims were shot, and their bodies were dismembered, burned and buried. According to an expert report from the Federal Police (PF), Bruno was shot three times, twice in the chest and once in the head. Dom was shot once in the chest.

The police found their remains after fisherman Amarildo da Costa Oliveira confessed his involvement in the murders and pointed out where the bodies were buried.

Translated from Portugueses by Gustô Alves