A study shows that less than 20% of the Amazon Rainforest remains in the Pindaré River Basin, and that this small preserved portion is located entirely within Indigenous Territories.
The Pindaré River Basin Committee (CBH – Pindaré) met on the eve of World Water Day, March 22nd, with little to celebrate. The meeting was held in Viana, a city in the Baixada Maranhense region, 217 kilometers from the capital, São Luís, amidst news of contamination of the Pindaré River's waters by phosphorus levels exceeding the 0,1 mg per liter recommended by the National Environment Council (Conama). Furthermore, during the meeting, Dr. Walter Luis Muedas Yauri, professor of Oceanography at the Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA) and member of the CBH – Pindaré, provided details of a study analyzing the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest in the Pindaré Valley over 30 years and the disastrous consequences of this process.
The news of contamination of the Pindaré waters comes from the study. "Qualitative Aspects of the Water of the Pindaré River in the Amazon Region of Maranhão", published in 2023 by researchers from the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and the Federal Rural University of the Amazon (UFRA). Learn more in the report on the Infoamazonia portal: Indigenous people fight to save the Pindaré River while construction and agriculture contaminate the water with phosphorus in Maranhão. Learn more HERE
Beyond water contamination and land pressure on indigenous territories, other damages to the Pindaré River and to riverside cities and populations are highlighted in the still unpublished study by Dr. Walter Luis Muedas Yauri, the result of his postdoctoral research at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. The work, entitled “Deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest in the Pindaré Valley,” is currently under review for publication in a scientific journal. Professor Muedas, who is also the UFMA representative on the Committee, presented details of the research during the meeting on March 21st.
Based on the analysis of images from NASA's Landsat-5 satellite, Professor Muedas observed the entire evolution of deforestation in the Pindaré River Basin region. The first photographs analyzed date back to 1984. One of the study's conclusions is that less than 20% of the initially observed forest remains, divided into isolated blocks located within the Indigenous Lands of Alto Turiaçu, Awá, Caru, Rio Pindaré, Araribóia, Governador, and Krikati.
“We have less than 20% native forest, and the areas with the most forest are the indigenous areas, because you know that the indigenous people protect these areas with their lives. These are the areas that are most preserved, so to speak, thanks to the indigenous territories that exist within the Pindaré River Basin. This fact could also be generalized to other indigenous areas in the Amazon, which are the preserved areas. So, when you take the remnants of forest in the latest satellite photographs and overlay the images, you will see that the patches of forest coincide with the areas of Indigenous Lands,” Muedas explained.
The Pindaré River Basin Committee meeting was held at the Viana Justice Forum, which is one of the more than 30 municipalities that the Pindaré River Basin encompasses. With its course of approximately 600 km, the Pindaré River is fundamental to a population of hundreds of thousands of people in Maranhão. And yet, as Professor Moedas' study reinforces, only the indigenous peoples effectively conserve the forest that keeps the Pindaré River alive.
In fact, indigenous people actively and systematically protect the forest. In the Caru Indigenous Territory, in Bom Jardim, a group of 40 Guajajara men monitors the territory to combat deforestation by loggers and invaders, as well as hunting, predatory fishing, and even the cultivation of marijuana by traffickers. The Guardians of the Forest have existed since 2013. “We’ve been in this organization, the Guardians, for 11 years, but the fight has been going on for a long time. We’ve always done this work of protecting, of fighting against deforestation.”"This is what Cláudio José da Silva, one of the founders and general coordinator of the Guardians of the Caru Land Forest, affirms."
The Guardians conduct expeditions to verify the presence of invaders or illegal activities within the indigenous territory and, if necessary, contact the competent authorities. “Our work is one of monitoring and surveillance. It's about identifying illegal activities happening within the territory and compiling a report on the regions where this occurs most frequently. Depending on the severity, we prepare a report and send it to the Federal Police, FUNAI (National Indian Foundation), and IBAMA (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources),” explains Cláudio da Silva. He believes that some problems still persist, mainly the actions of hunters and fishermen, but that deforestation has drastically decreased, and invasions have practically ceased, after the Guardians' work.
In the Rio Pindaré territory, also in Bom Jardim, where there is another group of Forest Guardians, with 24 Guajajara men, the results are even more evident with the recovery of the fauna and flora. Márcio Brito Silva Guajajara, from the Novo Planeta Village, team coordinator of the Guardians, lists several positive aspects of the work of monitoring the territory and deterring invaders, hunters, and fishermen.
“We are seeing an increase in the bird population. There's also been an increase in game, which has multiplied. The lakes aren't drying up like they used to. Until about three years ago, they dried up due to deforestation in the surrounding areas, fires, and wildfires. We're seeing this in the Pindaré River region. Recently, I think in 2018, we conducted a forest assessment and also saw that the forest is returning. This is a result of the vigilance and monitoring of our territory,” assesses Márcio Guajajara.
Action by the Forest Guardians in the Januária Village, Rio Pindaré Indigenous Land, in Bom Jardim, to remove illegal fishing nets during the piracema period, with support from Funai and the National Force, on March 11, 2024 – Photo: Cássio Bezerra/ISPN ArchiveHowever, the Pindaré River continues to show signs that it is not doing well. “We observe that there are several changes in the Pindaré River, including the absence of certain types of fish due to all the deforestation in the surrounding area [outside of Indigenous Lands] and the developments that contribute to the devastation around and within the river itself.”"This is what Taynara Caragiu Guajajara, from the Januária Village, Rio Pindaré Indigenous Land, and representative of the Coordination of Organizations and Articulations of Indigenous Peoples of Maranhão (COAPIMA) in the CBH – Pindaré, affirms."
Deforestation over time
Professor Walter Muedas warns that these remaining blocks of preserved forest in Indigenous Lands need to be reconnected or they will continue to be threatened. He also advocates for the creation of ecological corridors in the Hydrographic Basin to interconnect what remains of the native vegetation. In his research, the professor analyzed how the deforestation process occurred and its consequences for the environment and the population of the Pindaré River Basin.Within this vast geographical area [the Pindaré River Basin], it is possible to determine the macro-influences that result in deforestation over 30 years., Explica.
The main source of deforestation since 1984, or the main macro-influence on deforestation, according to Professor Muedas, was the opening of the Carajás Railway and, subsequently, the fueling of blast furnaces in pig iron industries. Pig iron, the main raw material for steel, is cast iron resulting from the processing of iron ore. Large quantities of coal and hot air are needed to produce pig iron.
In this deforestation process, hardwood was removed from the forest and sold, while secondary forest was turned into charcoal to fuel the pig iron plants. The steel industry arrived in the Pindaré Basin in the 80s, in the municipality of Açailândia, to transform iron ore from Pará into pig iron, which was always exported for steel production in other countries.
After being devastated, part of the forest was replaced by pasture and cattle. Today, Maranhão is a major cattle producer, but the replacement of Amazonian vegetation by livestock farming has had disastrous consequences for cities and riverside populations. This process caused soil leaching, which is the removal of nutrients by water in areas without vegetation cover. The runoff of this organic and fertile material caused the silting up of the Pindaré River, which lost depth and became wider. As a result, the river ceased to be navigable, and floods during the rainy seasons began to cause inundations in the cities.
The salinization of freshwater sources is another consequence of this process of deforestation and erosion of the Pindaré River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean in the Gulf of Maranhão. According to Muedas, the large tides, typical of the Gulf, with amplitudes of more than six meters, have begun to introduce more saltwater upstream, which has affected, for example, the lakes of Viana, where traditional rice cultivation has been harmed.
The pig iron plants continued operating, and where the forest was not replaced by pasture and cattle, eucalyptus plantations were cultivated to supply charcoal to the steel mills. An exotic species, eucalyptus also causes damage to the Amazon Biome because it is completely unknown to the native fauna. “Eucalyptus is a plant native to Australia and it is completely unknown to the local fauna, so if you visit a eucalyptus forest, there is a silence, a desert; no animals, no birds, not even insects. Hence the need for us to create programs within the Pindaré Basin Committee for the reforestation of these areas. Without the forest, the river will not survive.”.
Independent basins
Another conclusion of Professor Muedas' study concerns the connection between the Pindaré River Basin and the Mearim River Basin, another important river in Maranhão. The Pindaré Hydrographic Basin is not listed on the website of the Geoenvironmental Center of the State University of Maranhão (NUGEO/UEMA).https://www.nugeo.uema.br/?page_id=233The NUGEO website shows the Mearim River Basin, the largest hydrographic basin in the state, and the Pindaré River appears as a tributary of the Mearim. Professor Muedas disagrees with this configuration: "With this work, we saw that they are, in fact, two independent basins that only join in their final stretch, at the outlet to São Marcos Bay."He says.
The president of the CBH – Pindaré, Nonato Moraes, reported that the Committee has initiated a process to separate the Pindaré Basin from the Mearim Basin, in bureaucratic terms. “We contacted UEMA and will go to the Legislative Assembly to speak with the Environment Committee and fulfill all necessary requirements for the Pindaré Basin to be recognized as independent from the Mearim Basin.”, he said.
River Basin Committees are advisory and deliberative collegiate bodies committed to building public policies for water resources and also have the function of ensuring the participation of organized civil society in this process. ISPN is part of the Pindaré River Basin Committee.
“ISPN’s involvement in discussions regarding the Pindaré River Basin has been ongoing since 2019, when, in our strategic planning, we prioritized this theme, given the importance of this basin for Maranhão and for the traditional peoples and communities with whom we interact. Since then, we have been following the discussions and agendas, as well as encouraging and supporting the participation of the indigenous peoples of the Pindaré Valley region.”"This is explained by Ruthiane Pereira, coordinator of the ISPN Maranhão Program."
ISPN is implementing the Basic Environmental Plan for the Awá and Guajajara Indigenous Component (PBA-CI) of the Carajás Railway (EFC) duplication project, a Vale mining company undertaking. Compliance with the PBA-CI is an obligation of Vale, aimed at mitigating impacts among those cited by Professor Muedas in his study. This is achieved through the planning of actions for managing environmental issues related to the EFC. The preparation and execution of the PBA-CI is also a condition for the issuance of the installation and operation license for the project.
Among the subprograms foreseen in the Carajás Railway's PBA-CI is the Territorial Protection of the Alto Turiaçu, Awá, Caru, and Rio Pindaré Indigenous Lands, which, since 2016, has been helping indigenous communities find solutions to monitor and preserve the boundaries of their territories.
The subprogram operates with the leadership of Indigenous peoples. For example, it supports the Guardians of the Forest group in planning actions in areas most pressured by invaders, hunters, fishermen, farmers, etc. In the Caru and Rio Pindaré Indigenous Lands, it also supports the Surrounding Area Awareness Campaigns, an activity conceived by the Warriors of the Forest women's group, similar to the Guardians, to raise awareness among communities located on the borders of the Indigenous Land. The Awareness Campaigns include educational and informative lectures about Indigenous peoples and environmental conservation, which brings Indigenous and non-Indigenous people closer together, reduces conflicts, and protects the territory. The Awareness Campaigns always involve the participation of agencies such as FUNAI, ICMBio, the Military Police, among others.
The subprogram also organizes training in Territorial Protection, conducts environmental assessments, and supports transportation for activities within and outside the territories. According to anthropologist Pedro Maciel, coordinator of the Territorial Protection subprogram of the PBA-CI and ISPN representative on the CBH – Pindaré, the participation of indigenous people on the Committee is fundamental for the preservation of the Pindaré River's waters.
“We work with indigenous peoples who live, survive, care for, and protect the Pindaré River. Therefore, we also strengthen the participation of indigenous peoples in decisions and discussions about the river's resources; in an attempt to defend their territories and protect the fauna and flora that also protect this river.”"Maciel states."
World Water Day
The CBH – Pindaré meeting also made reference to World Water Day, March 22nd, and brought together, in addition to its members, high school students, teachers, representatives of non-governmental organizations, public servants, the State Public Prosecutor's Office, and the Public Defender's Office.
“The river crosses several municipalities and communities, and within them we see a lot of exploitation of the forest and predatory fishing. These meetings with popular participation would be crucial to raise awareness among these communities that their survival, and everyone else's, depends on this river. If you do this exploitation sustainably, it would be much more productive for everyone. But not just the riverside population or fishing. We know that along this route there are large farms, the exploitation of certain types of crops, and that this is often used both to devastate the forest and to plant non-native vegetation, with inadequate irrigation practices.”"commented the public prosecutor, Lays Gabriella Pedrosa Souza."
The president of the CBH – Pindaré, Nonato Moraes, emphasized the importance of finding ways to bring public policies to the population of the Pindaré River Basin Region.
“Our idea is to organize an expedition to understand the real situation of the Pindaré River, the state of the waters, but also the well-being of those who live in the Pindaré Basin; because the Pindaré Basin isn't just the river, it's also the population. So, we need to know about the state of health in this basin, education, basic sanitation – the sewage that is usually dumped into the river –; the state of the culture, this 'I have nothing to do with this' attitude, how we can change that.”.
Nonato Moraes, who works for the Judiciary in Viana, emphasizes the need to produce more knowledge about the Pindaré River Basin and recognizes the fundamental role of indigenous peoples.
“Professor Walter Moedas’ study found that forests only exist on Indigenous Lands, and where there are no Indigenous Lands, everything is devastated. Therefore, the importance of Indigenous peoples in this struggle for the recovery and preservation of the environment is also evident,” said Nonato Moraes.
(Photo: Cássio Bezerra)Praia do Açúcar, in the city of Pindaré-mirim, October 2023 – Photo: Cássio Bezerra/ISPN Archive
For the indigenous people, the Pindaré River represents much more than a source of survival. Reverencing the river and the forest, giving due value to nature, is the great lesson that non-indigenous people need to learn if they want to build a sustainable future.
“The Pindaré River was once teeming with fish and had good water quality, but today, unfortunately, with so much violence against nature and its riparian forests, it is crying out for help. The river represents history for the Guajajara people; it represents life and strengthens us spiritually. To speak of the Rio Pindaré Indigenous Land, of the Januária Village, of the people who live there, is to speak of the Pindaré River.”, says Taynara Caragiu Guajajara.
Also published in site ((o))eco, on April 16th.