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| - Fact Check: Did arrival of Kukis turn Manipur hills into Wasteland? No, these images are from Brazil
A Brazilian couple spent two decades replanting and creating the lush forest. Now, a photo of their efforts has gone viral.
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India Today Fact Check
These images are actually from Brazil, where a couple transformed a barren land into a rainforest with their plantation efforts.
Nearly ten months into the ethnic violence in Manipur, tensions continue to escalate between the Meitei and Kuki communities, exacerbating the crisis.
Amidst this, two images comparing a lush green valley with a barren wasteland are viral on social media. Those sharing these images claimed that the green landscape predated the arrival of the Kuki community in Manipur hills, while the barren one reflected the aftermath of their settlement.
These images also featured texts that read, "Before Kuki arrived Manipur Hills. After Kuki arrived Manipur." An archived version of such posts can be seen here.
India Today Fact Check found that these images are neither from Manipur nor India. Instead, they show a Brazilian tropical forest planted by a couple.
OUR PROBE
A reverse image search of the collage led us to a Facebook post from September 1, 2021, featuring both images. According to the post, a Brazilian couple created this forest in Brazil in the early 2000s, a project that spanned nearly 18 years.
Further keyword search led us to a report from Metro UK published on May 4, 2019. The report featured images of a thriving forest and a lush valley while detailing the efforts of Brazilian photojournalist Sebasti£o Ribeiro Salgado and his wife Lélia to replant a vast plot of land over two decades. Images accompanying the report showed the progress of flourishing forests and valleys resulting from their endeavour.
A January 25, 2008, Forbes article highlighted the tree planting initiative called Instituto Terra's Reforestation Project, documenting the progress made over the last eight years of the plantation drive.
A June 2019 report by the Daily Mail noted that Salgado and his wife began planting trees in 1998 after discovering the devastation of the tropical forest upon their return to Brazil in 1994. Their laborious efforts transformed the area into a habitat that now supports about 300 species of trees, 170 species of birds, and 45 species of mammals and amphibians.
A comparison of the viral images with the actual landscape on Google Earth confirmed their Brazilian origin.
Hence, it's evident that a collage of two images from Brazil was falsely attributed to Manipur, perpetuating hostility against the Kuki community.
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