They were considered the dream couple of the international climate protection: Germany and Brazil. The radical turnaround of the new President of Jair Bolsonaro in environmental policy arouses, therefore, in Germany, is a major concern.
“Ex-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had a Vision: Brazil is a large country, there is space for nature conservation and for industrial agriculture,” says Thomas Fatheuer from the Brazil network Cobra. “The message of the new President, Bolsonaro is that We need more space for agro-business.”
Immediately after his inauguration Bolsonaro made, this Vision a reality. He laid the responsibility for the expulsion of indigenous and environmental protection areas by the Ministry of justice to the Ministry of agriculture led by the agriculture lobbyist Tereza Cristina Dias. As the Minister of the environment appointed Bolsonaro, a lawyer, Ricardo Salles. The former Secretary for environmental protection in the Federal state of Sao Paulo already made in his short term of office from July 2016 to August 2017, with the controversial permits for the industry in environmental protection areas.
Business partners or protectors of the rain forest? Isolated indigenous people in the Amazon
Hatred of the “fine industry”
It should stop with the “fine industry” of the Brazilian environmental authority, Ibama, ranted, the new Brazilian President on Twitter, and added: “In the isolated protection of less than a Million people are being exploited by non-governmental organizations (NGO) areas of Indigenous life.”
Brazil’s indigenous people responded to the pole, Tweet and mix with an open letter. Not the alleged Manipulation by NGOs was a Problem, declared the indigenous leader Marcos Apurinã, Bonifácio, José e André Baniwa, but the inefficient policy of the Brazilian government towards the Indigenous. “We don’t want to be by new activities decimated and fight back against the political tutelage and the forced Assimilation”, – stated in the letter. “We want to remain Indigenous, and demand the recognition of our ethnic identity.”
Controversial and for the time being, The planned water power plant in Belo Monte at the river Xingu river stopped:
“The indigenous want to earn money”
Precisely this claim, however, is on the game. Because Bolsonaro considered Indigenous as a business partner, “and earn just like all the other Brazilians, too,” money, trade, Gold mining, precious woods and to take land want to lease.
“There’s a lot of money in the game,” says Thomas Fatheuer, has lived 20 years in Brazil, and there is also the office of the Heinrich-Böll-headed Foundation. “Out of petty cash you can pay for some of the indigenous leaders to agree to the licenses for mining in their areas.”
Brazil-Expert Thomas Fatheuer
The planned hydroelectric power plant of Belo Monte on the Xingu river, a tributary of the Amazon, had been operated this division of indigenous peoples. The legalization of mining in indigenous territories will be one of the great confrontations in the coming years, predicts Fatheuer.
Deforestation is rising again
Indigenous protected areas make up 13 percent of the Brazilian territory and under Brazilian law to property of the state. This leaves indigenous people of the enjoyment and expected, in return for a contribution to the protection of the rain forest. Mining in these protected areas is allowed only with the approval of the Brazilian Congress and the affected communities.
The expulsion of Indians protection and conservation areas has contributed to since 2004 to a significant slowing of deforestation in the Amazon rain forest. According to the National Institute for space studies (Inpe) decreased Abholzraten of a year, over 25,000 square kilometers to 5,000 square kilometers in the year 2014. Since then, fires and strikes to take back. 2018 are expected to disappear 7900 square kilometres of virgin rainforest.
The indigenous protected area “Sawré Muybu” in the state of Pará has been reported in 2016. In the 1780-square-mile area of 168 indigenous people
“Much has been achieved in the protection of tropical rainforests”, says expert Fatheuer. Therefore, there is now a lot to lose. And he adds a question that is of concern in this country, the Federal government and NGOs alike: What about the German-Brazilian partnership for development?
Helmut Kohl and the rain forest
The cooperation between the two countries began after the climate conference in Rio in 1992. Still under the direction of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl and the then environmental Minister Klaus Töpfer, the industrialized countries launched a pilot program to protect tropical rain forests (PPG7). From 1992 to 2009, the development Ministry (BMZ) funded the project with more than 300 million euros. To date, the BMZ is also supporting the international Amazon Fund.
The award-winning project “Saúde e Alegria” that promotes health and sustainable development in the Amazon, was one of the project partners of German development cooperation. Project coordinator Caetano Scannavino sees the success of his work is being threatened, if, in the future, logging and gold gräberei in protected areas be legalized.
And he doubts the economic expertise of the new government. “The environment has nothing to do with romance,” he explains. “The Amazon guarantees the water supply in the whole of Brazil. Who grows there, cutting down the rain forest and soy is detrimental to the agriculture in the South of the country. The economic and the agricultural Minister will understand.”
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Brazil is fighting against illegal minesIllegal gold mines destroy the Amazon
What at first glance picturesque, is in reality the result of an illegal gold mine in the middle of the rain forest. To create space, be like valuable tropical trees. Also soils and waters of the gold seekers to the victim.
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Brazil is fighting against illegal minesHarmful to humans and the environment
Miners use mercury to bind the Gold out of the ground. The dangerous heavy metal gets into the rivers and pollutes the environment. This causes the fish to shrink stocks. For the indigenous tribes in the Amazon, it’s a disaster, because fish is their main food source.
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Brazil is fighting against illegal minesRisky Operation
The officials of the Brazilian Institute of environment and Renewable energy sources (Ibama) are well equipped. You must always expect opposition.
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Brazil is fighting against illegal minesClose on the heels of
Exchange of fire between Ibama officials and the operators of illegal mining are on the agenda. Here, however, a mine worker shall, during a RAID, the escape from the officers.
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Brazil is fighting against illegal minesDetrimental To Health
Here, mine workers are not the objective of the environmental authority. You will be questioned, but not arrested. Every day you have to make with rudimentary tools the hard work. The gold breathe in the viewfinder of harmful mercury vapors.
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Brazil is fighting against illegal minesMission with fire
The purpose of the operations is to make excavators, tractors and other heavy equipment inoperable. Since this is relatively expensive, can replace the operators of illegal mines. Add to this the way of time-consuming transport, because most of the mines are located in remote regions.
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Brazil is fighting against illegal minesMeter High Smoke
The big machines are no longer usable, the Ibama officials in the fire. They are too heavy to you to seize. Since fire is faster – if not exactly eco-friendly Alternative.