President Michel Temer has abolished a protected reserve (Renca) in Brazil’s Amazon spanning 46,450km² – larger than Denmark – to make way for mining companies. This sparked public outcry, leading artists, activists and celebrities to campaign against the proposal. Via Twitter, top model Gisele Bündchen said Temer’s decision brought “shame” on Brazil and accused the government of “auctioning off the Amazon”.
The dissolution of Renca, which straddles the Northern states of Amapá and Pará, could threaten both efforts to conserve the rainforest and the livelihood of locals. This lifts protections on nine designated conservation and indigenous rights areas, said the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in a statement, for the first time since the end of Brazil’s military dictatorship in 1984.
Opposition senator Randolfe Rodrigues of environmental party Rede Sustentabilidade said opening up the Renca to mining constitutes the “biggest attack on the Amazon in the last fifty years”. This follows a series of rollbacks to environmental protections earlier this year including changes to land demarcation laws and funding cuts for the federal environmental protection agency Ibama and indigenous rights agency Funai.
On 23 August, Temer lifted protections on the Renca via presidential decree. In an interview with news site Época, former senator and presidential candidate Marina da Silva, also from Rede, criticised his decision. “Before, decrees were issued to conserve indigenous territories and protect natural resources…now they are used to undo what was done by previous administrations,” she said.
New decree creates confusion
Following public backlash, on 28 August, the government issued an amended decree to clarify how environmental protections in Renca would be preserved once mining companies were allowed in. This shows the government’s “responsibility to the area”, the minister for energy and mines, José Sarney Filho, argued.
The new decree explicitly stated that existing environmental protections to the Renca laid down by the 1998 constitution still apply. Mining companies could not enter designated conservation and indigenous land unless express permission is granted by the government. Additionally, a new environmental committee would be established, the Comitê de Acompanhamento das Áreas Ambientais da Extinta Renca, to monitor ongoing mining projects.
However, this did not put an end to the criticism since legal experts were not convinced that the new decree was radically different from the old one. A regional court in Amapá (MPF-AP) moved to appeal the decree for being unconstitutional. It argued that it undercut the rights of Amazonians living in the area since there was no consultation process before the decree went through.
More judicial challenges followed. On 30 August, a federal court in Brasília ruled that any decree to change the Renca area was unconstitutional unless it was approved by congress first. The decision is not final and is pending approval from Brazil’s attorney general’s office (AGU).
Lasting consequences
Besides the obvious risks of reducing biodiversity, greater deforestation and increased pollution, allowing mining in the Amazon could endanger the area in other ways. History shows that legal exploitation tends to be followed by illegal mining activities and land grabbers, some of which tend to be linked to organised crime groups. “That’s where the destruction really begins,” argues Miriam Leitão, columnist for news site O Globo. “Mining needs to be controlled very carefully otherwise the consequences will be irreversible.”
The risk of increased conflict between rural residents and private business owners is another concern. In 2016, Brazil’s Catholic Church’s Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) land commission documented 61 murders from land conflicts, which it attributes to “aggressive” development projects.
No such thing as paradise
The government counters that the opposition is painting a rosy picture of the Amazon to portray the decree in a bad light. “Renca is no paradise, as some misleadingly want us to believe,” read a statement issued by Brazil’s government blog on 24 August. The government found evidence that illegal miners are already tapping the Renca area, as evidenced by abnormally high levels of mercury found in local water sources (see sidebar).
The government has pledged to monitor the area more closely to put an end to the illegal activity. This includes creating a so-called mining black list of those who mined in the area without permission. However, sceptics say the enforcement of such a measure would be questionable at best.
The economic argument
The government is looking to boost mining investment as Brazil begins to emerge from one of its worst recessions in recent history. Last year mining generated around US$25bn and accounted for 4% of the country’s GDP but Temer hopes to improve on this.
The government has not put a figure on how much it hopes to generate from opening up the Renca to exploration. But the area is thought to be rich in gold, iron, manganese, nickel and tantalum deposits, among other metals. Twenty two companies have already inquired about doing business there.
On a more local level, mining could aid the economies of Pará and Amapá states and bring more jobs to the area. “Amapá is a rich state but it did not profit from that wealth because protected areas prohibit exploration. We have to change those conservation policies so development can happen,” said Romero Peixoto, superintendent for the department of mineral production (DNPM) in Amapá state.
Mining as a gateway
The recent decree comes as Temer is looking to rebuild his support in congress, where powerful mining and agricultural lobbies, linked to the 200-men-strong bancada ruralista bench in congress, hold sway.
This has caused concern that if miners are allowed in to the Amazon, private investment from other sectors such as agriculture and energy would soon follow. While this may generate revenue in the short term, over the long term both rainforest and riches could dry up.
To prevent this outcome, activists have stepped up their campaigns to promote greater environmental awareness. Around 250 artists rallied to protect the Renca using the slogan #todospelaamazonia or #everyonefortheamazon. Brazilian musician Ivete Sangalo tweeted that opening up the Renca to investment would be akin to “playing with Brazilian patrimony”.
- Mercury deposits
A report jointly commissioned by the WWF and the conservation institute ICMBio found evidence of mercury poisoning in the national park of Tumucamque e na Flona in Amapá state; 81% of fish swimming in the park showed signs of contamination from mercury, a substance used for gold extraction, showing there could be illegal mining activity nearby. The results were published in news site Folha de São Paulo on 25 August.
- Total may get Amazon licence revoked
Brazilian regulator Ibama threatened to suspend a licence for French oil company Total to drill oil offshore in Amazon basin Foz de Amazonas unless it gives more information about the environmental impact of its operations. A consortium led by Total including BP and Brazilian state oil company Petrobras won the right to operate in the area in 2013. But the discovery of a nearby coral reef made it more difficult to obtain permission to start work.