2023-08-14 22:15:00
In the Maranhão Amazon, the group of Forest Warriors, made up of indigenous people from the Guajajara people, realized another way of acting in the protection of their territory: by speaking. Formed in 2014, the group aims to protect the forests of the Gurupi Mosaic, made up of six Indigenous Lands and a biological reserve (Rebio do Gurupi).
Men from the Guajajara people had already formed the group Guardians of the Forest, which worked mainly with surveillance and monitoring expeditions. The women, however, decided to act in another direction: raising awareness of the surroundings.
From then on, they began to raise awareness, with lectures on the territorial rights of indigenous peoples in the neighboring villages of their territory. In these visits, they address the importance of environmental conservation of the forest and ecosystem services that extend to indigenous and non-indigenous people.
group of Forest Warriorsmade up of Guajajara indigenous people|Acervo Guerreiras da Floresta
The report is by João Guilherme Nunes Cruz, coordinator of the Indigenous Peoples Program of the Society, Population and Nature Institute (ISPN), during the Amazon Dialogues, held between the 4th and 6th of August in Belém (PA).
Specialists from four regions of the Amazon met on the 4th, at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA), to talk about territorial protection, in a rare and very rich exchange about the realities of each territory.
In the case of the Guerreiras, Cruz said that, from the contact with this surrounding reality, the women realized their own socioeconomic vulnerabilities of the non-indigenous population, and began to work from this reality, generating dialogues and partnerships.
Hence, the project “Traçando Novos Caminhos para o Bem Viver” was born, by the Wirazu association in partnership with ISPN and the Philanthropy Network for Social Justice (RFJS).
The initiative offers families or individuals in these villages a small line of financing via microprojects for the development of productive initiatives such as vegetable gardens, swiddens and planting fruit trees, reforestation/nursery and small animal breeding. Each selected microproject can receive financing of up to R$ 2,000.
Cruz speaks of a sparsely forested territory, in one of the most destroyed areas of the Amazon. The native vegetation only resists in the protected areas, the surroundings have already been destroyed for the most part. “Devastation deepens misery. Economic indices fall when socio-environmental ones also fall, ”he said.
From the other side of the Amazon, from Rondônia, came the example of the work of the indigenous people of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indigenous Land, through the report of advisor Israel Correa do Vale Junior. In his presentation, he showed a map of how indigenous people see their own territory.
Unlike the cartographic representation of non-indigenous people, the map presented by him brought details that only indigenous people could indicate within their own territory: sacred places, cemeteries, in addition to villages, rivers and other features. “The main thing is to listen to them,” said Israel.
It is the indigenous people who know the territory best and who travel through it more frequently. They are even the ones who provide the best intelligence information to combat invasions. Today, through a platform from the NGO Kanindé (Kanindé Deforestation Monitoring System, or SMDK), they are able to carry out real-time monitoring of deforestation alerts. Indigenous people are also being trained with the use of drones and information collection applications to verify alerts.
Israel recalls the importance of this monitoring during the pandemic. All government protection actions were paralyzed, but the invasions did not stop. The Jupaú then used their traditional knowledge combined with technology and carried out expeditions in the territory.
Today, there are four contacted peoples (Jupaú, Amondawa, Oro Win and Cabixi) who inhabit this territory, in addition to isolated indigenous peoples. Often they have specific problems. But, in territorial management, they unite, says Israel.
From Xingu, which originates in Mato Grosso and crosses the center of Pará, the geoprocessing analyst from the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) Thaise Rodrigues shared the experience of protecting the Xingu+ Network, an articulation formed by 32 organizations of indigenous peoples, riverside communities and institutions that are part of the Xingu Corridor of Protected Areas.
Panel at the Amazon Dialogues discussed territorial protection in Indigenous Lands in different regions of the Amazon|Ianca Moreira/ISA
There are three axes of monitoring: remote, based on satellite images and through geoprocessing and remote sensing techniques; the collaborative, carried out by partners who work in the field; and the administrative and judicial, which monitors processes that may affect the territory and the rights of the peoples and traditional communities in the corridor. And that unfold into an advocacy component, supporting local associations and communicating with society as a whole.
The networking of various organizations was fundamental in recent years, when deforestation in the region increased significantly and advanced into protected areas. According to the expert, it is Xingu corridor which are the Indigenous Lands and some of the most deforested Conservation Units in the entire Legal Amazon. It was in this scenario that the Xingu+ Network worked to ensure protection actions in the territories and the maintenance of the rights of their communities.
On the Network platform, it is possible to access the map of the Xingu Observatory, with layers of deforestation, works and various other information. In addition, there is a works radar, with updates on licensing and other processes of the main works that affect the basin. check out here.
Mining at the Yanomami TI
Estêvão Senra, ISA geographer, shared the experience of territorial protection actions and monitoring of the health emergency in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, which is located in Roraima and Amazonas.
“There is a whole structure of crime that sustains environmental crime,” he said. “In monitoring flyovers, excavator machines were found working inside the IT, which cost up to R$ 1 million. That is, the invasion involves big capital, they are not people who are fighting for their survival, ”he explained.
Despite the considerable improvement since the beginning of this year, with inspection operations carried out at the beginning of the new government, the situation is still sensitive. Senra cited the report We are still suffering: an assessment of the first months of the Yanomami emergencylaunched in early August by the associations Hutukara Yanomami Association (HAY), Wanasseduume Ye’kwana Association (SEDUUME) and Urihi Yanomami Association.
The report assesses that, among the government’s actions to achieve stabilization, those focused on “logistical bottlenecks” were the most effective in withdrawing invaders, especially controlling airspace and blocking large rivers.
Estêvão Senra (left) and Leonardo de Moura (center), from ISA, shared experiences in Roraima and Pará, respectively|Ianca Moreira/ISA
On January 30, the federal government created the Air Defense Identification Zone (Zida). However, the measure was sustained for only six days, due to pressure exerted by parliamentarians from Roraima who are associated with illegal mining.
From February 6 to April 6, exactly two months, the government maintained three aerial “humanitarian corridors” open in order to lead to a spontaneous exit of criminals.
The balance points out that this measure reduced the costs of combat actions, but also favored the “garimpos owners” who were able to remove part of their equipment without major damage. According to the report, there are rumors that some of these “businessmen” are waiting for the weakening of inspections to return to operating in the territory.
exchange of experiences
Technician Leonardo de Moura, from the ISA in Altamira (PA), who mediated the debate, recalled that this exchange of experiences on the protection actions of different territories is important to form a more comprehensive accumulation of knowledge on the subject to make the measures to combat deforestation more effectively throughout the Amazon region.
But he also recalled that more stable results from the actions depend on the development of a local economy based on sustainable activities. “While the local economies of many Amazonian municipalities are based on activities such as gold mining, illegal logging and the illegal occupation of public lands, command and control actions will always be mopping up the ice”, he assessed.
“At the first oversight, illegal activities return, as they are the main source of employment in these places”, he recalled. “On the other hand, this new economy also depends on command and control, as activities such as the exploitation of non-timber forest products, such as cocoa cultivation, do not compete economically with the activities they destroy. But they don’t even need to compete, as these are illegal and must be fought ”, he concluded.
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