The Life and Death of a Minke Whale in the Amazon: And Other Stories of the Brazilian Rainforest by Fábio Zuker

Author:Fábio Zuker [Zuker, Fábio]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Literary Collections, Essays, nature, Environmental Conservation & Protection
ISBN: 9781571311818
Google: sHUkzgEACAAJ
Publisher: Milkweed Editions
Published: 2022-06-07T20:39:02+00:00

Effects on the Forest

Heloíse Rocha is adamant that soy has taken over Belterra. Not only in the rural areas, but in urban spaces as well. And the drone images we captured show how right she is: the soybean fields spread right up against the edge of the Tapajós National Forest which, by law, can no longer be felled or clear-cut.

As a resident of Piquiatuba, Remerson Castro Almeida lives in one of fifteen riverside communities within the protected area, along with three Indigenous Munduruku villages: Bragança, Marituba, and Takuara. They’re separated from the soy fields by roughly fifty kilometers of dense rainforest where the local population goes to hunt, often coming across jaguar tracks. Still, though, the impacts of soy production are being felt. “Bugs we never knew existed” have started to appear in the community, most likely fleeing the poison. In 2019, preparations for the açaí festival had to be halted because the lighting equipment attracted insects never seen before in this community.

“If that forest were still standing, all these insects wouldn’t be coming here,” Remerson reflects. Another change is the increasing heat, which makes it more difficult to stay out working in the fields. “In the past, if we headed out at six in the morning, we could hold out until eleven-thirty or twelve,” Remerson says. “Nowadays, we make it till ten at the latest. As family farmers, losing even that hour or two per day is cutting into our production.”

At the time of the Tapajós National Forest’s formal designation, in 1974, as an Environmental Conservation Unit, there was a major mobilization of the residents, for the military government wanted a forest without people. But the locals refused to leave, sparking a struggle for the right to stay, which many of the older residents still remember.

Despite this, Remerson describes a degree of uncertainty over the continuation of communities in the National Forest. A land-use concession contract established in 2010 is, as the name suggests, a concession, a “loan,” as Remerson puts it. “What will happen to us when this concession ends? What will happen to us if the government wants to go back and change the law?” he worries.

This concern only increased when President Bolsonaro’s administration presented a list of sixty-seven conservation units to be reduced or eliminated. Among them is the Tapajós National Forest. The justification, according to the government, is to ensure legal security for government projects, especiallyinfrastructure, such as federal roads, railways, shipping ports, and airports. When asked to comment, ICMBio did not respond.

“For we who live here today, who live off of sustainability … we depend on the land, we collect what we need,” Remerson summarizes. “That’s how we survive. And now our future is in doubt. Will the laws that protect us remain in place, or will they be replaced by laws that favor big business? It’s basically a struggle between the poor and very wealthiest.” The overarching fear is that everything will be transformed into soy, and that the destiny of Boa Esperança will be repeated in Piquiatuba and the other rainforest communities.

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