Course:CONS370/Projects/The threats posed by the Belo Monte hydro-electric dam to the Indigenous People of Brazil

This case study outlines the overall systems of tenure, administration, affected stakeholders, and interested outside stakeholders that are involved in Amazon forest in Brazil and indigenous people who live in the region. Moreover, it illustrates how the architects of the Monte hydro-electric dam invaded and affected the lives of various indigenous people of Brazil, ignoring inherent, cultural, and spiritual rights. The amazon forest region claims fair globalization by the state but it is still far from recognizing and respecting values of indigenous people in Brazil. Thus, this case study refers back and reminds readers to the ideal state we are putting efforts to achieve. Furthermore, this wiki page explores the fundamental knowledge and history of affected region and lives until the present along with how indigenous lands and protected lands are correlated to provide us information on how to effectively execute conservation. The concerns of affected stakeholders will also be illustrated such as preserving indigenous peoples' lands for conservation, illegal hunting/logging, biodiversity, and habitats. Negative influences from Brazilian political and military parties to inherent rights. Unlike aboriginal peoples in North American, the Indian tribes of Brazil can't rely on treaty rights because no treaties were ever concluded between Brazilian Indians, and the Portuguese colonists. To advance the livelihood of Amazonian forest-dependent peoples, it is crucial to improve education, imposing stricter compliance with regulations on illegal hunting/logging, and with constitutional protection of lands, cultural, and inherent rights through monitoring and enforcement.

Location

Figure 1. Map of Belo Monte Dam

Amazon is the largest rainforest on the earth. It is a precious forest which not only contains more than 20% of all world species, also enormous quantity of CO². Indigenous habitats are mostly concentrated in the Amazon region. Population of individual Indigenous communities in Brazil ranges from one man to 40,000. But severe deforestation happens in the northern and western parts due to rapid industrialization. Most of their lands are stolen or taken from and being used by Brazilian government for their benefits .The Amazon region is the main focus of Brazilian hydro development. The federal government constructed Belo Monte Hydroelectric Complex on the Xingu river in the Amazonian state of Para, in the North of Brazil. It involves three sites: the Belo Monte Site, which lies at the intersection of the Xingu river and the Transamazon highway, the Pimental site, which lies in Vitória do Xingu and Altamira, and the Bela Vista site, in the region between Belo Monte and Pimental. The most remarkable change is the reduction in the area of the reservoir from 1255 km² to 440 km² . [explain why the change is remarkable]

History

Before 1970s, conservation and climate change mitigation were two main goals of Brazil government. But now, priority changes to economic development of forests. Many politicians want to diminish indigenous territories which limit economic growth plan. Also they want to restrict indigenous rights, so as to build dams and roads on the forests without regulation. Hydropower is Brazil's main source of electric energy. The past decade's energy crisis has awakened the country to the potential of alternative energy.

In early-1970s: A state governor irrationally mentioned indigenous people in Amazon as a huge barrier of development process

In 1978: A cabinet secretary made a proposal to invoke acculturated Indians which means that indigenous land could be sold by granting them individual land titles.

In 1987: An powerful indigenous stakeholders like indigenous leaders, anthropologists, lawyers, and geologists were gathered to make indigenous rights clear in the new Constitution.

In 1988: Accordingly, indigenous rights were guaranteed in the 1988 Constitution. The Article 231 not only safeguarded resident spaces and cultivated areas, but also preserved lands for physical and cultural reproduction.

In mid-1980s: Rubber-tappers made a link between their struggle and ecological concerns

In late-1980s: Forest Peoples Alliance covered both rubber-tappers and indigenous people for the conservation of the Amazonian rain forest. The Altamira rally, led by Kayapo tribes opposed the projected Xingu Dam.

In 1992: International alliance of the indigenous-tribal peoples of the tropical forests was created. Rio Summit in June of 1992 clarified the importance of international conservation by indigenous and local communities

Tenure arrangements

The indigenous land rights are significant political and socio-economical issues in contemporaneous Brazil. Conflict between non-indigenous land ownership and indigenous land claim causes serious problems in Brazil. Due to non-indigenous materialism, indigenous people are having intense land disputes with them. The International Labour Organization (ILO) clarifies elements for the indigenous and tribal peoples' land protection include acknowledging traditional land rights of ownership and possession in individual and collective modes. Also, Article 15 of ILO Convention 169 recognizing natural resources pertaining to the indigenous' lands should be protected

Administrative arrangements

Figure 2. Indigenous lands procedure based on LADM approach

Article 231 of the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 indicates that indigenous lands are imprescriptible to the natural resource preservation. It also enhances the pre-existing land rights of indigenous people like fishing, farming, or mining activities. According to the ISA report, there are 693 indigenous lands. Among those, 122 are should be identified the size of the land that will be demarcated. In addition, 421 indigenous lands were legally managed and regulated which were located in the "Amazonia Legal", the Northern states in Amazon Basin. Meanwhile, the Indigenous Statute (Law #6001/73) mentions that Federal Lands can be delimited in any part of the territory including recognized indigenous lands. There are 4 types of these Federal Lands:

(a) Indigenous Reserve - Area used for the habitat of indigenous people.

(b) Indigenous Park - Area under indigenous possession which integrates with government for federal economic, educational, and health assistance. At the same time, natural resources are safeguarded.

(c) Indigenous Agricultural Colony - Area used for the agricultural development which managed by the indigenous affairs organization FUNAI. Both indigenous people and non-indigenous individuals living in the area

(d) Indigenous Federal Territory - Administrative area administered by “União Brasileira”. At least a third of population is indigenous in this area.

The Land Administration Domain Model provides essential information related to land administration based on a conceptual model which consists of parties, basic administrative units, rights and spatial units. Various land administration information from different sources are useful in practice. LADM enables sustainable development through the rapid implementation of appropriate land management. Also, LADM provides compatibility of vital data.

Affected Stakeholders

The hydroelectric dam is located in the Xingu River Basin of the Amazon forest. It is the world's third biggest dam which is able to generate up to 11,123 megawatts. However a lot of indigenous tribes receive negative impacts from it due to unfair agreement done by the government without negotiating with these affected stakeholders. In this case study, affected stakeholders are considered as the indigenous people of Brazil such as Kayapo, Arara, Juruna, and Xipia.

Kayapo

Kayapo community has lived in vast areas of Amazon forest such as Para and Mato Grosso.Kayapo's territories span more than 13 million hectares and are crucial for biodiversity conservation. For centuries, indigenous people including Kayapo community have lived and depended on Amazon forest for their sustenance such as housing, food, and agriculture. The Kayapo tribe is located at the east side of Xingu river. Their villages are scattered along side of the river and the population ranges from few hundred to few thousand people.

Arara

The Arara tribes are also one of the indigenous people that live alongside of Xingu river in the state of Para of Brazil. This tribe also depend on the surrounding ecosystem from Xingu river for their daily and seasonal needs to continue values that are crucial for them. However due to operating the dam, the leader has announced, " our ancestors are there inside this land, our blood is inside the land, and we have to pass on this land with the story of our ancestors to our children and their children. we do not want to fight but we are ready to fight for our land if we are threatened. We want to live on our land in peace with all that we have there".

Overall, Amazon forest is an essential for the indigenous communities as they rely on the forest for their food, cultural/spiritual values, education, medicines, and housing. Rivers are one of the most crucial elements within the forest but due to operating the hydroelectric dam and other illegal actions such as gold mining and logging pollutes the rivers dramatically. Further negotiation between the tribes in Amazon forest and the state government is required as well as stricter regulations on Amazon forest for conservation for the nature and peoples living in there.

Interested Outside Stakeholders

There were a couple of stakeholders both on the supportive side and the non-supportive side that played as an interested stakeholder from outside the community. Supportive sides include commercial construction companies such as The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) and Norte Energia, the company that is building the Belo Monte dam. In the meantime stakeholders in the non-supportive side include the Xingu Forever Alive, a Brazilian nongovernmental organization and the Amazon Watch, an international campaigning group.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME)

The MME, according to their own official site, was established after the independence of Namibia on March 1990 is the Namibia State’s lead agency that puts their focus on attracting private investment in resources exploration and development. Their core aim is to formulate concrete policies and legislations in the mining and energy sectors and to provide services to support the development of sustainable economy. Since this stakeholder is operated as part of the government, we can say that the MME has very significant and influential power over decision making.

Norte Energia S.A.

Norte Energia is a construction consortium mainly operating in the electric power sector and is comprised of Eletronorte, Neonergia, Cemig, Light, H Malucelli Energia, Vale and Sinobras. Electronorte, a Brazilian federal power utility holds the largest interest of about 50%. The firm is based in Brasilia, Brazil and it is the company that was formed to build the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam. This company is largely recognized by the government, and was approved of the implementation of the project by the then president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Xingu Forever Alive

Xingu Forever Alive is an NGO that are representatives of indigenous peoples, river bank dwellers, gatherers of forest products, family farmers, and urban dwellers. They work to spread awareness of destructive projects planned and/or ongoing in their valued lands and publicly communicate to the society, federal state, and local government to express their ideas of defence. This stakeholder is one of the many voice that opposes to government decisions focused on economic growth. Although they do have their own voice, it is often not considered by the government.

Amazon Watch

Amazon watch is another nonprofit organization founded in 1996 with the mission to not only protect the rainforest and indigenous peoples living there, but to advance their rights for future fairness. The organization mainly focuses on improving the indigenous self-determination with the belief that indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices contribute greatly to the environmental sustainability. As with the Xingu Forever Alive, Amazon watch is also an organization that works on fighting environmentally destructive decisions the governments make, and are also limited in the degree of power they hold.

Discussion

The ultimate aim of this case study is to examine the relationship between the government and military party of Brazil and the Indigenous people living there. The case study took the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam construction as a focus to represent how the relationship is carried and what restriction there may exist. Since there are no reliable treaty rights between the Brazilian government and the Indigenous people, the Indigenous people in the Amazon rainforest have very limited power in claiming their rights in their territory. Although the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam was approved and is already built, making it seem like it was a complete failure, there were some success seen in the process of planning.

Relative success

The planning process of the Belo Monte dam started back in 1975, originally announcing a plan to build 6 dams along the Xingu River. An immediate response from the Indigenous peoples living in the area and others that would potentially be affected by this construction erupted not only within Brazil but worldwide. This resulted in a halt to the government’s plans at that stage. Many attempts similar to this were made over 2 decades, forcing the Brazilian government to alter the launch of their plan and repeatedly having them modify the plan to a less destructive project. Out of the many attempts made, the one that included a report submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights by the Indigenous people, seeking for help was said to be the most significant effort made. With the help of an internationally recognized, strong organization, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, they were able to bring up all of the possible human rights violations the Brazilian government has and is causing.

Relative failures

As mentioned above, there were some success in opposing the Belo Monte dam construction plan, however, even the most significant effort made was shut down forcefully by the Brazilian government. The government stated that the requests and statements made by the Inter-American Commission was not acceptable, and threatened them by stating they would stop funding them if they would proceed to oppose the dam construction. The Organization of American States Secretary-General feared the threat and asked the Inter-American Commission to basically take down the opposing requests. We can see from this how powerful the Brazilian government can be, and as a result, the license to build the Belo Monte dam was granted on June 2011.

Assessment of Power

Despite the massive efforts and numerous attempts to ban the construction plan of the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, the Norte Energia S.A., backed by the Brazilian government still managed to be granted a license and construct the dam. This gives us the most accurate understanding of how much power the Brazilian government holds, over any other social actors both nationally and internationally. As mentioned in the previous section, social actors such as the Inter-American Commission, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, and many other NGOs have participated in taking action to cancel the project. Protests leading to the First Encounter of the Indigenous Nations of the Xingu had great impact on delaying and modifying the project, however, it was still carried out for the sake of the potential economic benefits they aimed for.

The Brazilian government continued to refuse to completely cancel the dam construction project to a point where they have started to threaten opposing actors. It may be a surprise to many people by now that Brazil have actually voted for or ratified various international legal instruments related to human rights. Some votes include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and some ratifications include the American Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The actions and decisions made leading to the construction of the Belo Monte dam suggests the government did not take these legal instruments seriously and that they are using these as a tool to achieve support from various organizations.

The Indigenous peoples in the Amazon rainforest are still not being recognized enough for their rights of territory and land even compared to the many other regions with Indigenous peoples. The lack of historic or present concrete treaties between the Indigenous peoples and the government slows down the movement towards self-determination for the Indigenous peoples living in Brazil.

Recommendations

Amazon forest is not only essential for sustainable land management, but it is also crucial for several indigenous communities that rely on the forest. In this case, the Kayapo and other relatively smaller tribes that are dependent on the forest and Xingu River for their sustenance. Although, Indigenous tribes have fought against loosing their lands to build hydroelectric dam in Xingu river basin, their voices were not taken into account by the government and construction proceeded regardless of indigenous peoples' opinions and rights. The Belo Monte dam project defies constitutional and international policies, and will have devastating social and environmental consequences. The efforts to stop Belo Monte and conserve Xingu River region is essential to preserve indigenous cultural values and to ensure fair treatment for the present and the future. Therefore, enhancing the constitution laws or international legislation on protecting Indigenous peoples' rights must be completed because protecting indigenous lands are directly related to sustainability.

To solve these problems, Brazilian land administration experts have used Land Administration Domain Model (LADM) framework that enabled to find satisfying middle ground by allowing interoperability of land information. LADM provides essential information related to land administration based on a conceptual model which consists of parties, basic administrative units, rights, and spatial units. These various information from different sources are believed to be useful in practice. Additionally, LADM enables sustainable development through the rapid implementation of appropriate land management. By using the LADM based approach, meeting points between indigenous land claims and non-indigenous economic interests could be found.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has clarified that indigenous land protection includes not only traditional rights, but also individual and collective possession. For instance, Article 15 & 6 of ILO states that protecting natural resources in indigenous lands, and forcing proper provision before harvest licenses are granted to non-indigenous people.

Table.1 Current land demarcation and under PEC215/2000

	Current land demarcation process under Decree # 1775/1996	Demarcation process under PEC215/2000
Authority	Under executive branch: FUNAI under the Ministry of Justice and the President of the Republic.	Under legislative branch: National Congress could exclusively approve the land demarcation (traditionally occupied by indigenous people) and could request ratification of indigenous lands previously demarcated (changing the Article 49 of the Federal Constitution 1988)
Legal	Lands traditionally occupied by indigenous peoples, which have rights recognized even before a law or act to declare that they, are assets of the Union (direito originário)	Indigenous lands considered as goods of the States of the Federation by considering the “relevant public interest” (Changed by the proposed legislation PLP 227/12)
	Indigenous land are inalienable and not disposable assets; the rights over them are imprescriptible	Indigenous land are inalienable and not disposable assets; the rights over them are imprescriptible only after land demarcation has been approved by the Congress (changing the Article 231 of the Federal Constitution 1988)

Although there are many programs and projects to enhance and protect indigenous peoples in Brazil, there still be a lot of negotiating between the state and leaders of indigenous groups required to find the fair conclusion. In order to commit this the Brazil authorities must understand and respect the values of tribes, and ensure that law enforcement is transparent with the tribes. According to the leader of Kayapo due to the ongoing conflict, “I will not stop,” and the Kayapó struggle for recognition and justice will continue as they continue to combat political, economic, and social obstacles that prevent them from securing the future for their peoples and lands.

References

1. Sara Diamond & Christian Poirier (2010) Brazil’s Native Peoples and. the Belo Monte Dam: A Case Study, NACLA Report on the Americas, 43:5, 25-29, DOI:10.1080/10714839.2010.11725513
2. Zanotti, L. (2015). Water and life: Hydroelectric development and indigenous pathways to justice in the brazilian amazon. Politics, Groups, and Identities, 3(4), 666-672. doi:10.1080/21565503.2015.1080621
3. Zimmerman, B., Peres, C. A., Malcolm, J. R., & Turner, T. (2001). Conservation and development alliances with the kayapó of south-eastern amazonia, a tropical forest indigenous people. Environmental Conservation, 28(1), 10-22. doi:10.1017/S0376892901000029
4. Dowie, Mark (2009). "Chapter 15". Conservation Refugees: The Hundred-Year Conflict between Global Conservation and Native People. The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-01261-4.
5. Arara: Contact with nacional society." Povos Indígenas no Brasil. (retrieved 17 May 2011)
6. Hall, Anthony; Branford, Sue (6 July 2012). "Development, Dams and Dilma: the Saga of Belo Monte". Critical Sociology. 38 (6): 851–862. doi:10.1177/0896920512440712
7. Paixão, S., Hespanha, J. P., Ghawana, T., Carneiro, A. F. T., & Zevenbergen, J. (2013, September). Modelling Brazilian indigenous tribes land rights with ISO 19152 LADM. In 5th Land Administration Domain Model Workshop (pp. 24-25)
8. Le Tourneau, F. M. (June 2015). The sustainability challenges of indigenous territories in Brazil's Amazonia. Elsevier. pp. 213–220.
9. Sousa Júnior, Wilson Cabral (2010). "Uncertainties in Amazon Hydropower Development: Risk Scenarios and Environmental Issues around the Belo Monte Dam". Uncertainties in Amazon Hydropower Development: Risk Scenarios and Environmental Issues around the Belo Monte Dam: 249–268 – via DOAJ.

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