This article is adapted from AQ’s forthcoming special report on trends to watch in Latin America in 2025 In some towns on the border between Brazil and Bolivia there’s a slight feeling of bitterness among Bolivians towards their Brazilian neighbors Latin Americans are eager to see more regional integration—70% of them are in favor of that But although Brazil borders every country in South America except for two (Ecuador and Chile) it has often struggled to truly engage with them—perhaps because of linguistic differences it’s relevant that Brazil seems poised to deliver on a very old project: the construction of a new bridge between Guajará-Mirim (Brazil) and Guayaramerín (Bolivia) expected to be completed in 2027 at an estimated cost of $70 million “We are beginning a new era in Brazil-Bolivia relations,” Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said during a visit to Bolivia in July 2024 “We are convinced that integration is no longer just rhetoric for election campaign speeches Integration is a necessity for the survival of South American countries.” The history of the project helps illustrate why regional integration in South America while frequently presented as a lofty political goal And its present iteration suggests the extent to which Latin American leaders see integration as a way of connecting not only with each other In the first years of the 20th century the northwestern Amazon region of Brazil, where the state of Acre is now, belonged to Bolivia— but around 100,000 Brazilians lived in the area for years it attracted Brazilian rubber tappers eager to exploit its natural wealth Bolivian maps described that part of the Amazon as tierras non descubiertas—undiscovered lands But as European and North American demand for rubber grew In 1899, the Bolivian government set up a customs office in Puerto Alonso, which today is called Porto Acre, and entered a deal with the U.S.-based consortium Bolivian Syndicate, giving them the right to produce and export rubber It was a way the Bolivians found to gain back control of the territory Armed rubber tappers expelled the Bolivian Army in the Acrean Revolution (1902-03) and twice tried to set up an independent republic had to that point not challenged Bolivia’s official claim of the territory of Acre it decided to defend a negotiated solution in which Acre would be incorporated into Brazilian maps Brazilian and Bolivian diplomats met in Petrópolis and the Treaty of Petrópolis was signed on November 17 Brazil annexed the Acre region—it is no coincidence that the state’s capital is named after the Brazilian diplomat who led the negotiations José Maria da Silva Paranhos do Rio Branco Brazil would grant their neighbors land in the Paraguay River Basin 2 million British pounds and the commitment to build a railway cutting across the Amazon to facilitate Bolivian access to the Atlantic Ocean an important source of rubber at a time of high global demand All of this reinforced the sense that Bolivia had lost a valuable opportunity for economic development as the ceded territory to Brazil progressed at a faster rate than Bolivia’s Amazon region,” said Regiane Bressan associate professor in the International Relations Program at the Federal University of São Paulo—Unifesp The memory of the deal is still fresh in the minds of those who live in border towns in the rubber-producing region of the Amazon. “The bridge today is seen as Brazil finally honoring its debt to Bolivians. This is something you hear in everyday conversation with regular people in the streets,” said Marta Cerqueira Melo an expert on Latin American political economy and integration who has spent the past few years developing her PhD thesis in that very frontier region The bridge project was left in limbo for decades despite repeated attempts by the Bolivian government to revive it under Lula in Brazil and Evo Morales in Bolivia Between 2020 and 2023, the current Bolivian government wrote to then-Brazilian president monthly to try to push construction forward Although the idea of building infrastructure in the Amazon was in line with Bolsonaro’s project for economic development perhaps due to the leftist nature of Bolivia’s government—the success of regional integration in Latin America depends on ideological alignment between governments When Lula came back into office for a third term in 2022 he began implementing the South American Integration Routes project which aims to connect the continent’s countries to both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans Construction of the Mamoré International Bridge is set to begin in the second half of 2025 and details of the tender are still being finalized as of January Brazilian commodities will have a faster way to access the Pacific Ocean passing through Bolivian territory to reach Chilean ports on their way to Asia And Bolivians will get what was agreed in the Treaty of Petrópolis better access to the Atlantic Ocean through Brazilian territory “These infrastructure projects strengthen the notion of greater proximity between Brazil and neighboring countries integration isn’t just a concept—it’s a daily lived experience South American integration has assumed a perspective strictly oriented toward Brazilian foreign trade Today there’s been a shift toward the Asia-Pacific region So the notion of South American integration has been impoverished catering almost exclusively to the interests of Brazil’s agro-export sector,” Cerqueira Melo told AQ The bridge also exposes inherent contradictions and tensions in Lula’s political and economic project Elected with the support of environmental and Indigenous movements the government has had success in halting deforestation in the Amazon but has pursued infrastructure projects that favor agribusiness in the region Cerqueira Melo said another common local concern is crime—on the walls on the Bolivian side of the border one already sees the acronyms of Brazilian organized crime groups Locals say no strategy has been announced from either side on how to keep that from getting worse as the original text of the Treaty of Petrópolis stated “consolidate forever” the “old friendship” and remove “disagreements of ulterior motives,” aiming to “facilitate the development of their commercial and neighborly relations.” But true integration still feels like a more complicated goal to achieve Reading Time: 6 minutesFranco is an editor Americas Quarterly (AQ) is the premier publication on politics We are an independent publication of the Americas Society/Council of the Americas PUBLISHED BY AMERICAS SOCIETY/ COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAS The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission Journal of Geochemical ExplorationCitation Excerpt :The Liaohe Estuary in North China is featured by the contamination of Cd and Hg in the surface sediments (Li et al. The heavy metal enrichments were also widely observed in the other estuaries and coastal areas in the world high Cd and Pb contamination in the Amazon Estuary and Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal in India (Nascimento et al. Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic metal present in soil and its high levels in the environment may cause adverse health effects on human bodies through inhalation Journal of Hazardous MaterialsCitation Excerpt :Moreover the vertical metal concentration profile in river sediment can indicate not only the pollutants in sources but also the pollutants transported or contributed into reservoir through the river [1] The history of heavy metals distribution can be assessed by taking vertical sediment core samples from river-beds as the makeup of sediment cores reflects the geochemical and contamination history of source region and can act as a useful indicator of metal pollution flux [4,8,9] multiple terrestrial sources of natural (erosion mining and smelting waste) lead to the presence of high levels of heavy metals in aqueous environments [10,11] All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. Near the western fringe of the Brazilian Amazon the emerald canopy blankets hundreds of thousands of hectares Tucked into the vast Guajará-Mirim State Park savanna forest stretches for miles before melting into rainforest in a rare encounter of two starkly different ecosystems lush jungle gives way to neat rectangles of charred land and toppled trees The park was created over three decades ago with the aim of shielding the rich biodiversity found in this area which is home to hundreds of plant and animal species – some of which like the black spider monkey (Ateles chamek) It also helped create a mosaic of protected lands in the region forming an important conservation corridor of pristine forest But even though all activity within it is prohibited the Guajará-Mirim park has come under attack this year as invaders rush to illegally clear and claim slices of it 74,598 deforestation alerts have been confirmed in primary forest within the park according to satellite data from the University of Maryland visualized on Global Forest Watch This represents a jump of 465% over the same period last year “This is an area that is under full state protection,” said Larissa Amorim “There shouldn’t be any deforestation within it But we see that it’s under immense pressure – deforestation has sky-rocketed there.”  Environmentalists blame land speculators and cattle ranchers for the destruction claiming they are illegally clearing swaths of forest to make way for pastures They say the surge in invasions was largely triggered by a law passed earlier this year which slashed the extent of the Guajará-Mirim Park by roughly 50,000 hectares and reduced another nearby reserve to a sliver The legislation encouraged invaders by signaling that they would soon be able to gain land titles for plots they were illegally deforesting and occupying who leads the Kanindé Ethno-environmental Defense Association an organization that defends the rights of Indigenous people “It was a gift to those committing environmental crimes,” said Cardozo whose organization fought against the reduction of the reserve “It’s as if state [lawmakers] gave a free pass to land grabbers Rondônia’s top court annulled the law last month ruling the reduction of the park’s limits to be unconstitutional Yet the invasions have shown no signs of slowing As the intruders encroach deeper into the forest they are consolidating their land holdings and opening up the broader ecological corridor to invasion while also chipping away at Guajará-Mirim’s protected status Cardozo said in voice messages to Mongabay you can’t justify having a protected park.” The invaders are also inching closer to vulnerable Indigenous and traditional communities in neighboring reserves which have so far been shielded from the destruction according to Naiara Ames De Castro Lazzari a prosecutor with the state attorney general’s office in Rondônia “These populations are often driven out by the invasions – they cannot maintain their livelihood or they fear for their safety,” she said in a phone interview Even though most of the intruders into the park were recent arrivals they were presented as traditional settlers who should be given legal titles to the land who helped challenge the legislation in court “It was a complete misrepresentation of what was happening within the park.” he sealed the fate of the Guajará-Mirim reserve and freed land grabbers to legally exploit the thousands of hectares that now lay outside its boundaries State officials in Rondônia did not respond to a request for comment It didn’t take long for deforestation to explode: in the months that followed ranchers and loggers scrambled to lay claim to slices of the park The destruction continued even as Rondônia’s attorney general – together with Kanindé and other advocate groups – disputed the freshly-approved law in court “It represented the greatest environmental setback in the history of Rondônia,” Andrade said without any prior study of the environmental or social impacts.” sharply criticizing its proponents and ruling that the state cannot simply renounce its duty to protect the environment in the face of invasions “If conflicts are growing…it is because the government has shown itself to be inefficient in protecting these conservation units violating its constitutional duty,” wrote Justice Jorge Ribeiro da Luz The court’s decision represents a major victory sending a clear signal that assaults on environmental protections will not be tolerated But halting the destruction and expelling the intruders has remained a challenge “It sends an important message – it shows any attempt to reduce protected lands has to fall within the realm of legality,” Lazzari said the park is still a target of invaders and deforestation.” “This attempt to remove the invaders has already been met with a lot of violence,” said Rômulo Batista “What this shows us is that those who are invading the park are prepared for anything.” Advocates now plan to ask the courts to order the removal of all invaders from the park while also forcing state authorities to restore the areas that were cleared and burned “It was an important victory – but that ruling alone is not enough to solve the problem,” he told Mongabay over the phone “We want the invaders to be removed from the park That is the only way to stop the destruction of the park.” the tussle over land can be traced back more than half a century The area around it was first settled in the 1970s amid a gold rush that drew hordes of landless workers from other corners of Brazil the gold dwindled and timber began driving the local economy with illegal loggers encroaching deeper into virgin forest in search of profits the Guajará-Mirim park became a target for land grabbers Its limits were redrawn again and again over the years lawmakers slashed more than 50,000 hectares from the reserve giving out land titles to the settlers who had illegally moved into this part of the park arguing that it served as an important emergency route to communities around the park which would otherwise be stranded when the region floods “This park has a long history of being a target for invaders,” said Amorim “And all of these factors have contributed to the intense pressure that we’re seeing today.” the incursions into Guajará-Mirim have only intensified over the last three years fueled by a steady stream of friendly signals from authorities – from local politicians all the way up to the president himself lawmakers have been vocal about their plans to expand agricultural production developing the Amazon rather than protecting it has even defended mining and agriculture on Indigenous lands Rondônia has also joined forces with neighboring Acre and Amazonas states with the aim of creating a new “sustainable development zone” at the intersection of the three states the scheme – dubbed ‘Amacro’ – is widely expected to drive a surge in beef and soy production in this part of the Amazon “We have a political context in Rondônia where environmental protection is seen as a barrier,” said Andrade “They insist on expanding agricultural production at the expense of protected areas It is the most archaic view of economic development.” Since taking office in 2019, Bolsonaro has also slashed budgets for environmental enforcement and moved to obstruct the system of environmental fines by allowing offenders to dispute them. Fines punishing environmental crimes have plunged to their lowest level in 24 years. a representative of Brazil’s Ministry of Environment said that the agency’s budget this year rose by R$270 million ($47.4 million) with the funding “used for the purchase of equipment vehicles and navigation systems.” With this increase the resources aimed at environmental policing rose from R$228 million to R$478 million ($40 million to $83.9 million) in 2021 “The hiring of 739 new civil servants is already planned to expand the staff of Ibama and ICMBio inspectors as a way of strengthening the fight against illegal deforestation,” the Ministry representative said in an email Bolsonaro has also softened his tone recently, vowing during the UN’s climate summit last month to end deforestation in Brazil. The federal government this week pointed to a 19% drop in deforestation for the month of November as proof that it is moving in the right direction “Those who invade protected areas are opportunists – they commit these crimes and expect that their actions will be legalized,” Lazzari said occupying that area in some way may give them some future rights advocates now worry that local politicians – fresh off a defeat in Guajará-Mirim park – may look to weaken environmental protections elsewhere Land grabbers are already shifting to other reserves under state or federal protection land grabbers hope that state or federal lawmakers will eventually grant them amnesty or legalize illicit land claims by redrawing the borders of protected areas “We are certain that further attempts to weaken the environmental protections that we have [for] protected areas will certainly come,” Andrade said “We know that we still have many long battles ahead of us.” Banner image from Planet Labs via Global Forest Watch Editor’s note: This story was powered by Places to Watch a Global Forest Watch (GFW) initiative designed to quickly identify concerning forest loss around the world and catalyze further investigation of these areas Places to Watch draws on a combination of near-real-time satellite data automated algorithms and field intelligence to identify new areas on a monthly basis GFW is supporting data-driven journalism by providing data and maps generated by Places to Watch Mongabay maintains complete editorial independence over the stories reported using this data Feedback: Use this form to send a message to the editor of this post The “fortress conservation” model is under pressure in East Africa as protected areas become battlegrounds over history and global efforts to halt biodiversity loss Mongabay’s Special Issue goes beyond the region’s world-renowned safaris to examine how rural communities and governments are reckoning with conservation’s colonial origins and trying to forge a path forward […] Bnamericas Published: Wednesday, September 20, 2023 Financing Bridge 43,000+ global companies doing business in the region 102,000+ key contacts related to companies and projects news and interviews about your industry in English Por um futuro em que as pessoas vivam em harmonia com a natureza Photos and graphics © WWF or used with permission. Text available under a Creative Commons licence You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience one of the six subgroups of the Wari’ people who have inhabited the Western Amazon for centuries this immemorial relationship is under increasing threat The relentless expansion of soybeans and pastures encroaches on their land while land-robbers promote illegal deforestation the Wari’ people are resorting to a new strategy: the white man’s law the municipality of Guajara-Mirim passed a groundbreaking law proposed by an Indigenous councilman that designates the Komi Memem and its tributaries as living entities with rights ranging from maintaining their natural flow to having the forest around them protected The law comes as representatives of eight South American governments gather Tuesday and Wednesday in Brazil to discuss ways to preserve the Amazon rainforest to help stave off climate change and protect its Indigenous peoples a tributary of a larger river that’s unprotected is now the first among hundreds of rivers in the Brazilian Amazon to have a law that grants it personhood status This is part of a new legislative approach to protect nature that has made inroads in many parts of the world “We are further organizing ourselves to fend off invaders,” councilman Francisco Oro Waram “We can’t fight with arrows; we have to use the laws.” Oro Waram lives with his family in Laje Velho village a 40-minute drive from downtown Guajara-Mirim mostly on paved highway surrounded by pasture heavy machinery was preparing soil for soybean crops which are fast replacing cattle ranching throughout this part of the Amazon in Rondonia state so the elders protect the water,” Oro Waram said of the river “We don’t pollute it or cut the trees that surround it Satellite images show the encirclement of the Indigenous Land Igarape Lage the federal government has created six non-continuous Indigenous territories has been awaiting the federal government’s approval of the expanded boundaries established by an anthropological study 15 years ago The Wari’ people lived independently until the late 1950s and early 1960s and are the largest group of Chapakuran speakers In the initial years after contact with outsiders three out of five Wari’ died from introduced diseases The population has increased tenfold since then but they now occupy less than one-third of their original territory according to anthropologist Beth Conklin from Vanderbilt University who has worked with them for nearly four decades “The Wari’ value their cosmology and rituals And all of it centers around promoting humans thriving in relationships with the non-human and the well-being of your people,” Conklin told the AP “So this law is a 21st century update of these very traditional social ecological values that are at the center of Wari’ culture.” poses a significant threat to the Komi Memem River an invasion by land-robbers has blocked the Wari’ people from accessing their essential fishing grounds When the stock market was climbing in January 2024 Donald Trump knew exactly who deserved credit: He did NEW YORK — Martin Scorsese is a producing a documentary made with Pope Francis that will chronicle the late .. Copyright © 2025 Central Pennsylvania Newspapers LLC | https://www.altoonamirror.com | 301 Cayuga Ave. AFTER AN INVESTIGATION by the Prosecutor’s Office of Rondônia two invaders of the Guajará-Mirim state park were arrested and obtained rural credit from Banco do Brasil (BB) and Banco da Amazônia (Basa) according to Central Bank data obtained by Greenpeace and accessed by Repórter Brasil One of the beneficiaries was former judge Hedy Carlos Soares he obtained four rural credit grants from Basa for cattle breeding and the acquisition of animals on his Prosperidade farm in the municipality of Buritis the Prosperidade farm had 130 hectares deforested between 2012 and 2021 according to Greenpeace analysis based on satellite data from Prodes a monitoring program by Inpe (National Institute for Space Research) the former judge obtained another rural credit issuance for the same property Soares was arrested by order of the Rondônia Court of Justice for having handed down rulings that favored him One of them legitimized the ownership of the Cantão farm which is part of the Guajará-Mirim park and of which the judge was a tenant The judge moved at least 300 head of cattle between the Cantão and Prosperidade farms according to documents called Animal Transit Guides (GTAs) The documents are mentioned in the Public Prosecutor’s investigations Repórter Brasil had already revealed that individuals identified as fronts for the judge supplied cattle for years to JBS and Marfrig who admitted the relationship with the suppliers and reported that they were blocked located just 400 meters from the Cantão property in Nova Mamoré (Rondônia) received 45,000 USD from Banco do Brasil in January 2020 for the acquisition and maintenance of animals was arrested last November for invading the Guajará-Mirim park According to the Prosecutor’s Office investigations he was part of the same group as the former judge At the time that the property received the credit it had less than 4% of its area with native vegetation Of the 419.05 hectares of the Recanto farm 402 hectares were deforested between 2013 and 2015 according to Prodes/Inpe satellite data analyzed by Greenpeace This is equivalent to 95.9% of the property :: Read more: Land grabbing case in Brazil links meatpackers to corruption and money launder Even if it has been authorized to cut down vegetation the property is irregular because it does not respect the minimum conservation areas on rural properties set out in the Brazilian Forest Code Federal law states that rural properties must maintain a portion of native vegetation called the Legal Reserve the Legal Reserve must correspond to 80% of the property in forest areas The rule also establishes that Permanent Preservation Areas on river banks and hilltops must be maintained Rondônia’s state environmental development secretariat did not answer whether the Prosperidade and Recanto farms had received authorization from the agency to clear vegetation the so-called authorization for vegetation suppression (ASV) The responsibility of financial institutions has been regulated by Central Bank norms since 2008 to restrict rural credit to environmental offenders The accountability of the cattle supply chain in the Amazon for suppliers linked to environmental crimes relies only on the guidelines of the “Boi na Linha” protocol an initiative by Imaflora (Institute for Forest and Agricultural Management and Certification) in partnership with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office Central Bank resolutions were updated in 2023 with stricter rules banning credit to properties with embargoed areas suspended Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) Even so, according to Greenpeace analysis, the current norms are insufficient to prevent credit concessions to deforesters. In the report “Bankrolling Extinction,” published last April wholly or partially within conservation units in the Amazon were benefited by rural credit resources between 2018 and 2022 Also receiving financing were 24 properties overlapping 7 Indigenous lands 21,692 properties overlapping non-designated public forests; 798 properties financed with an Ibama embargo The research was carried out by cross-referencing public databases such as the Central Bank’s Rural Credit Operations System (Sicor) The properties of Hedy Carlos Soares and Walvernags Cotrin Gonçalves are among the cases investigated by Greenpeace.   “The banks claim they granted the credits before the Central Bank’s most recent rule How can the banks ignore the legislation?” asks Thais Bannwart Following Greenpeace’s report, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office issued a recommendation in early June for banks to cancel rural credit for properties in conservation areas in the Amazon Greenpeace suggests new credit-granting criteria to close the loopholes identified by the research these could be addressed with measures such as requiring authorization for vegetation suppression (ASV) and cattle traceability which would prevent rural credit from being used to acquire animals linked to deforestation Another suggestion from the NGO shifts the focus of scrutiny: the veto on resources would target the owner with embargoes or fines on any of their properties not just the property registered for the credit operation The changes would close the loopholes that allowed the granting of credits to Hedy Carlos Soares and Walvernags Cotrin Gonçalves The lawyers for both were contacted by Repórter Brasil but did not respond director of the Association for Inclusive Sustainable Solutions and former prosecutor of the Central Bank Banco do Brasil is the largest operator of rural credit in the Legal Amazon, according to Greenpeace. In 2022 alone, the institution granted 44.10% of the value of rural credit contracts in the region. BB ranked 8th among ten major banks evaluated in Rasa (Social and Environmental Performance Ranking of financial institutions) developed by the Association for Inclusive Sustainable Solutions Banco da Amazônia was evaluated by Rasa in the ranking of development banks and funding agencies and ranked 2nd behind only Brazil’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) When questioned about the granting of credit to invaders of the Guajará-Mirim park both banks reaffirmed their policies through statements they did not mention the cases presented by Repórter Brasil “The BB does not comment on specific cases out of respect for banking secrecy,” states the Banco do Brasil note adding that the bank “is confident about the compliance of its credit-granting processes.” Banco da Amazônia stated that it is constantly improving its criteria for evaluating socio-environmental and climatic risks these criteria include automatic verification of overlap with indigenous areas and embargoes,” says the bank’s note Sua contribuição permite que a gente continue revelando o que muita gente faz de tudo para esconder Receba as investigações daagência de jornalismo daRepórter Brasil no seu e-mail. JORNALISMODiretos HumanosMundo do TrabalhoPovos TradicionaisQuestão AgráriaSocioambientalTrabalho EscravoEnglishEspeciais PESQUISAImpactoSobreO que fazemosParceriasBibliotecaEnglish  PODCASTS  Cova medidaEsperançaJornadasTrabalheira VÍDEOSReportagensDocumentáriosOutros SOBRE NÓSQuem somosEquipeTransparênciaPrêmiosContato Diretos HumanosMundo do TrabalhoPovos TradicionaisQuestão AgráriaSocioambientalTrabalho EscravoEnglishEspeciais ImpactoSobreO que fazemosParceriasBibliotecaEnglish EDUCAÇÃO PODCASTS Cova medidaEsperançaJornadasTrabalheira ReportagensDocumentáriosOutros Quem somosEquipeTransparênciaPrêmiosContato Receba as investigações da agência dejornalismo da Repórter Brasil no seu e-mail. Desenvolvido por Studio Cubo e Design por Paula Carvalho HomeImpactoSobreO que fazemosParceriasBibliotecaEnglish HomeCova medidaEsperançaJornadasTrabalheira HomeReportagensDocumentáriosOutros APOIE Receba o conteúdo da Repórter Brasil direto na sua caixa de email. Assine nossa newsletter. The floods first struck at the beginning of March 2014 Parts of the state of Acre have also been affected Heavy rainfall over the last few days has worsened the situation Of particular concern are the levels of the Madeira River On Tuesday 4 March river levels stood at 18.75 metres Yesterday (Monday 24 march 2014) levels stood at a record high of 19.52 metres River levels are only expected to fall in around 5 days’ time according to Brazil’s Civil Defence (Defesa Civil) Communities all along the river have been hit where 3,262 families have been displaced by the flooding The region has also been struggling with transport disruption after the BR-364 federal highway that connects Rondônia with the Atlantic coast was blocked by flood water and debris Levels of flood water on some parts of the highway are said to stand at 1.4 metres Brazil’s National Department of Transport Infrastructure (Departamento Nacional de Infraestrutura de Transportes) will attempt to set up alternative suppy routes possibly including river ferries over the coming days in efforts to bring essential supplies such as food medicine and fuel to the affected communities Source: Agencia Brasil Richard Davies is the founder of floodlist.com and reports on flooding news Cookies | Privacy | Contacts © Copyright 2025 FloodList We encourage you to republish Dialogue Earth articles, online or in print, under the Creative Commons license. Please read our republishing guidelines to get started a joint initiative by Brazil and Bolivia on the Madeira River with fears raised for traditional ways of life and local ecosystems (Illustration: Gabriela Güllich / O Eco) On a hot August day in the city of Guajará-Mirim more than 140 people packed into a training centre for a consultation on a proposed hydroelectric project – one that has rekindled debates on power plants in the Amazon energy security and the plant’s socio-environmental impacts collide Representatives from the electricity sector and the government had come to share the first studies for the so-called Ribeirão dam a binational initiative between Brazil and Bolivia targeted on the Madeira River which divides the two countries just north of the city said she had only received the official invitation to attend on the same day as the meeting and reported that representatives at the event then told them “the study had already been done” “We weren’t needed to approve anything,” she added “What kind of work is this that doesn’t listen to the community?” Local dissatisfaction with the hydroelectric project had been expressed earlier in an open letter addressed to the presidents of both countries and signed by 37 civil society organisations “Summoning communities to publicise studies made without society’s prior knowledge… is to violate the participation of the peoples to be affected and to hide the synergistic and cumulative impacts that will affect them,” they wrote scientists and those who live off the land told reporters of common fears surrounding the project: the loss of ways of life and the collapse of ecosystems the Madeira River is suffering from a range of anthropogenic impacts Jirau and Santo Antônio are run-of-river dams which means they rely on the natural energy of the river to move their turbines “The effect of these dams on the hydrological regime is minimal,” said Javier Tomasella a researcher at Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) but he explained that the technology is more vulnerable to the climate climatic events on the Madeira River have been “like a pendulum” between intense floods and droughts.  “Hydroelectric dams are becoming less and less reliable in the north of the country,” claimed Natalie Unterstell a Brazilian environmental policy organisation She said this is because these facilities “have been or are being built in areas where the flow systems or rainfall patterns have changed.” Brazil and Bolivia signed an agreement to begin preliminary studies on a binational hydroelectric project in the Madeira Basin in an agreement between the then Brazilian state-owned Eletrobras the Bolivian state-owned ENDE and the CAF Latin American Development Bank a member of the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB) and Brazil’s National Human Rights Council believes that the studies were carried out “unilaterally” “Guajará-Mirim was once considered the greenest municipality in Brazil Much of it is forest and traditional community land,” he said Ninety per cent of Guajará-Mirim’s area is estimated to be covered by forests mainly concentrated in a mosaic of conservation areas and Indigenous territories the preliminary studies need approval from both the Brazilian and Bolivian sides Then both countries need to sign new agreements for the next stage “We’re very worried,” says Arão Oro Waram Xijeim “The flooding will be greater than predicted in the study and will directly affect the social organisation culture and health of the region’s Indigenous peoples,” he claims This Indigenous land is home to 783 people and extends over 107,000 hectares on the border between the municipalities of Nova Mamoré and Guajará-Mirim “The Mamoré and Madeira are extremely important rivers for our region because we use them to transport our produce and “They’re going to build that Ribeirão power station over there The studies recognise that a projected increase in migration due to the works could “cause changes to existing ways of life” and “increase conflicts associated with land use and the exploitation of natural resources” “Brazil’s Indigenous and traditional populations,” the text continues “are the most sensitive to changes in rivers and natural environments and to the arrival of new people around their territories.” In its response for this report, Eletrobras said that the studies “are based on secondary data and only present an estimate of the probable human groups affected.” (Full response available here.) The company added that there has been “permanent communication with public and private institutions and the general population of both countries” since the start of the studies An information centre in Guajará-Mirim operated from March 2018 to May 2020 and “fortnightly visits to the communities” and “clarification meetings” were promoted Although the studies foresee “marginal flooding” in protected sustainable production areas known as “extractive reserves” local leaders said they had not been approached “We know that there was a company that set up shop and carried out the study for two years but at no point did it sit down with us extractivists to talk about what it thought was going to happen to us,” says Ronaldo Lins a group representing producers in the Pacaás Novos River extractive reserve The reserve is home to around 200 families who make a living from rubber and Brazil nut production Lins used to accompany his father when he was still a child to collect rubber and remembers kindling an early love for the forest The river that gives the reserve its name – a tributary of the Mamoré River that itself flows from the Madeira – is the producers’ main route to the collection sites and the transport of their produce to the city “The Pacaás is the most important river for us to transport our products: rubber in the 204,000-hectare Ouro Preto River reserve president of the Association of Rubber Tappers and Agro-extractivists of the Lower Ouro Preto River also criticised the project: “We have a consultation protocol They know where the traditional population is and how we want to be consulted.” the producers move to the chestnut groves on firmer ground recent flooding has lasted up to two months and shortened the rubber harvest The prolonged flooding also affects their family farming initiatives rubber and açaí trees are unable to survive as Lins described in the case of the Jaci-Paraná extractive reserve following the creation of the Jirau and Santo Antônio hydropower plants “They’ve lost a large part of the rubber plantations because the water invaded and took a long time to dry up,” says Lins “If we’re already having problems when the water recedes here in July The Upper Madeira is a region with little human presence which contributes to a preserved forest and a river with ample aquatic biodiversity “The species that are in the Guaporé and Mamoré rivers are able to fulfil their physiological migration process there are no dams to stop them,” said biologist Carolina Doria coordinator of the Ichthyofauna and Fisheries Laboratory at the Federal University of Rondônia The studies for the proposed dams describe potential impacts on aquatic habitats, changes in the dynamics of sediment transport and a reduction in river connectivity, with the formation of barriers to biological flows. Fishers were not mentioned in the studies, nor in the presentation on the official website for the binational project Gerônima Costa was born in the rubber plantations in the interior of Guajará-Mirim in 1962 to a family that made their living from rubber and fishing She said that an overflow of the Mamoré River in 2014 caused by the operations of the Jirau hydroelectric plant left several neighbourhoods underwater and affected the headquarters of the Z-2 community The fishers were compensated by the company that manages Jirau but Gerônima does not want a repeat of the experience: “Our town has become like an island We have to respect our reserves and Indigenous areas.” Fish farming ponds in Bolivia have also collapsed and fish such as the pirarucu have spread into local rivers preying on a number of species that are important in both the trade and diets of local residents Multiple interviewees for this report complained that the existing hydroelectric dams on the Madeira River produce electricity for the grid while in local municipalities energy is expensive and often from dirty and intermittent sources realised and built in Brazil was made for the national system It was never designed to supply the Amazonian population,” said Natalie Unterstell “This is proof of environmental racism,” she claimed the monthly energy bill is around 1,000 reais (US$200) “The hydroelectric plants are not for us,” says Gerônima Costa the official region comprised of nine Amazonian states there are 211 isolated electricity systems those that are not connected to the national system Around 80% of energy in these systems is estimated to come from diesel-fuelled sources these sites consumed 857,900 cubic metres of diesel oil producing almost 3 million tonnes of carbon emissions according to figures from the Ministry of Mines and Energy obtained by via Brazil’s Access to Information Act Some photovoltaic panels have already arrived at the Ouro Preto River reserve Each consumer pays a monthly fee of 60 reais (US$12) “Those people who live two or three days away from the city now have their own energy Drinking cold water – not many people had that privilege This story was first published by ((o))eco This version has been translated and lightly edited with permission for an international readership Kevin Damasio is a Brazilian journalist and writer focused on social and environmental issues including works published on the Rio Grande Rise ocean ridge and Brazil’s waters Select from our bespoke newsletters for news best suited to you We’ve sent you an email with a confirmation link 我们向您的邮箱发送了一封确认邮件，请点击邮件中的确认链接。如果您未收到该邮件，请查看垃圾邮件。 If you would like more information about the terms of our republication policy or permission to use content, please write to us: [email protected] We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Read our privacy and cookies policy for further information Dialogue Earth uses cookies to provide you with the best user experience possible Cookie information is stored in your browser It allows us to recognise you when you return to Dialogue Earth and helps us to understand which sections of the website you find useful Required Cookies should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings Dialogue Earth - Dialogue Earth is an independent organisation dedicated to promoting a common understanding of the world's urgent environmental challenges. Read our privacy policy Cloudflare - Cloudflare is a service used for the purposes of increasing the security and performance of web sites and services. Read Cloudflare's privacy policy and terms of service Dialogue Earth uses several functional cookies to collect anonymous information such as the number of site visitors and the most popular pages Keeping these cookies enabled helps us to improve our website Google Analytics - The Google Analytics cookies are used to gather anonymous information about how you use our websites. We use this information to improve our sites and report on the reach of our content. Read Google's privacy policy and terms of service This website uses the following additional cookies: execute and analyze marketing programs with greater ease and efficiency while enabling publishers to maximize their returns from online advertising Note that you may see cookies placed by Google for advertising under the Google.com or DoubleClick.net domains Twitter - Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest stories opinions and news about what you find interesting Simply find the accounts you find compelling and follow the conversations Linkedin - LinkedIn is a business- and employment-oriented social networking service that operates via websites and mobile apps. GUAJARA-MIRIM, Brazil (AP) — On the banks of the Komi Memem River, the activity never ceases: women go down the embankment from Laje Velho village carrying basins to wash clothing, while men embark in small canoes on hunting and fishing expeditions. At day’s end, it’s the children’s turn to dive into its tea-colored waters. The river, named Laje in non-Indigenous maps, is vital to the Oro Waram, one of the six subgroups of the Wari’ people, who have inhabited the Western Amazon for centuries. However, this immemorial relationship is under increasing threat. The relentless expansion of soybeans and pastures encroaches on their land, while land-robbers promote illegal deforestation. To protect themselves, the Wari’ people are resorting to a new strategy: the white man’s law. In June, the municipality of Guajara-Mirim passed a groundbreaking law proposed by an Indigenous councilman that designates the Komi Memem and its tributaries as living entities with rights, ranging from maintaining their natural flow to having the forest around them protected. The law comes as representatives of eight South American governments gather Tuesday and Wednesday in Brazil to discuss ways to preserve the Amazon rainforest to help stave off climate change and protect its Indigenous peoples. The Komi Memem, a tributary of a larger river that’s unprotected, is now the first among hundreds of rivers in the Brazilian Amazon to have a law that grants it personhood status. This is part of a new legislative approach to protect nature that has made inroads in many parts of the world, from New Zealand to Chile. “We are further organizing ourselves to fend off invaders,” councilman Francisco Oro Waram, the law’s proponent, told The Associated Press. “We can’t fight with arrows; we have to use the laws.” A teacher by profession, Oro Waram lives with his family in Laje Velho village, a 40-minute drive from downtown Guajara-Mirim, mostly on paved highway surrounded by pasture. Right before the village entrance, heavy machinery was preparing soil for soybean crops, which are fast replacing cattle ranching throughout this part of the Amazon in Rondonia state. “There are many generations to come, so the elders protect the water,” Oro Waram said of the river. “We don’t pollute it or cut the trees that surround it. It is a living being for us.” Satellite images show the encirclement of the Indigenous Land Igarapé Lage, a green rectangle amid deforestation. This is where Laje Velho is located. In the past decades, the federal government has created six non-continuous Indigenous territories. One, Rio Negro Ocaia, has been awaiting the federal government’s approval of the expanded boundaries established by an anthropological study 15 years ago. “The Wari’ value their cosmology and rituals. And all of it centers around promoting human thriving in relationships with the non-human, with the larger world, and the well-being of your people,” Conklin told the AP. “So this law is a 21st century update of these very traditional social, biological, ecological values that are at the center of Wari’ culture.” The expansion of soy, with heavily pesticide-dependent crops, poses a significant threat to the Komi Memem River. But it is not the only one. Upriver from Laje Velho, an invasion by land-robbers has blocked the Wari’ people from accessing their essential fishing grounds. Moreover, the river’s headwaters are located near Guajará-Mirim State Park, a former Wari’ territory. Despite being a protected area, it has been extensively invaded and deforested by land-robbers in the past few years. Instead of evicting them, the state governor, Marcos Rocha, an ally of the far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro, signed a law in 2021 reducing the park’s boundaries to legalize the land-grabbing. A judicial order subsequently overruled that law, but the invasion and deforestation have not stopped. Last February, the river’s tea-colored water turned muddy red, scaring Oro Waram. “I had never seen it in my lifetime,” said the 48-year-old, who blames the episode on rampant illegal deforestation. The councilman says that due to pollution from cattle farms and soybean crops, his village no longer drinks water directly from the river, as their ancestors did. Instead, they rely on artesian wells. Sometimes the threat is very direct. On June 6, about 60 armed men invaded Linha 26 village, expelling its inhabitants. They only returned after the Federal Police went to the locale and retook it, according to the Wari’ umbrella organization. “The loggers entered and divided up the Indigenous land,” Gilmar Oro Nao, vice president of the Oro Wari’ association, told the AP. “They threaten food security. Our relatives have nowhere to fish, the Brazil nut trees were cut down. Today, they have nowhere to draw their survival from.” Oro Nao said that the Wari’ don’t trust the National Indian Foundation’s local employees. He said there is widespread suspicion that they collaborate with illegal loggers and land-robbers. The AP sent emails to the Indian Foundation, but received no response. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office, whose responsibility includes overseeing Indigenous rights, said it has opened an investigation on the invasions and has been monitoring the situation. The Wari’ hope that the new law giving the river personhood status can help address what they see as inaction of Funai and the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. Its main provision creates a committee to monitor the river with a board that would include Indigenous and non-Indigenous members, including a representative of the Rondonia Federal University. The committee will produce an annual report about the river’s status and propose actions to ensure the rights secured by the new law. In an Amazon region where agribusiness has become the economic powerhouse, it came as a surprise for many that the law had the unanimous approval of the city council of Guajara-Mirim, a city of 40,000 people with more than 90% of its territory inside protected areas. “We are very happy with the law. It brought visibility to our municipality and sets an example to other cities and Indigenous territories,” said the mayor Raissa Paes Bento, who signed the law. Protection of the Komi Memem River is also important for non-Indigenous inhabitants, Bento said, because fishing is a major economic activity and a source of food. “It is very good to have it preserved and clean.” Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser! we can't find the page that you are looking for Don't let that stop you from visiting some of our other great related content protected by reCAPTCHA.css-trhdh3::after{background-color:#fa9000;}EXPLORE MOREblinking-dotLive updatesLive updates, ‘Blackmail tool’: Hamas rejects Israeli plan to bypass Gaza aid agenciesUN and humanitarian aid groups say Israel proposed ‘dangerous’ ration ‘scheme’ after nine-week siege Francis-era reforms that saw a diverse group of cardinals join the mix make his successor nearly impossible to call The attack comes as Moscow prepares to welcome foreign leaders from China and Brazil the California federal penitentiary has been shut for more than six decades Reports say Israel now eyeing occupation of entire enclave control of aid and possible expulsion of Palestinians A study gives clues to cosmic origin of gold and heavy elements and they were created earlier than we thought Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe says the ‘ongoing’ discussions are ‘still in the early stages’ US president makes claim after Mexican leader says her country’s sovereignty ‘not for sale.’ Attack claimed by Houthis temporarily halts air traffic at Israel’s busiest airport and triggers air raid sirens The Komi Memem River has been crucial to the livelihood of the Oro Waram people in the Western Amazon for generations land-robbers and pesticide pollution from expanding nearby farms threatens the very survival of the river That’s why the Amazon city of Guajara-Mirim passed a new law designating the river, also known as Laje, “as a living entity and subject to rights,” The Associated Press reported makes the Komi Memem the first river in the Amazon rainforest to be granted legal personhood the endangered river and its tributaries are considered “living entities with rights ranging from maintaining their natural flow to having the forest around them protected,” according to The Associated Press The law also provides for a committee of Indigenous and non-Indigenous members to monitor and give annual reports on the river the Indigenous councilman who proposed the legislation sees it as a new approach to protecting the river from land-robbers who have illegally deforested and farmed the surrounding land “We are further organizing ourselves to fend off invaders,” Oro Waram told The Associated Press “We can’t fight with arrows; we have to use the laws.” The Komi Memem River is not the first river to be granted personhood status the new legislation is part of a growing movement led by Indigenous groups to protect rivers by giving them legal personhood In 2017, New Zealand set a legal precedent when it granted personhood status to the Whanganui River in an $80 million settlement with a Māori nation Bangladesh followed suit by declaring that every river in the country would have the same legal rights as humans, per Reuters In 2021, the Magpie River — also known as Mutuhekau Shipu to the Innu First Nation — in Quebec, Canada, gained legal personhood, giving the river several rights, including the right to sue (through its appointed guardians), National Geographic reported The search has begun for a contractor to work on the design and construction of a bridge linking Brazil and Bolivia The Rio Mamoré International Bridge will connect Guajará-Mirim states that the successful contractor is expected to be announced on 28 December The 1.22km structure will be built on the Mamoré River It will have a cable-stayed central span and access lanes on both sides The project also involves the construction of a border complex and another 3.7km of access lanes on the Brazilian side Similar structures and infrastructure will be built on the Bolivian side Work is expected to take around three years and will create up to 4,300 direct and indirect jobs The project has been approved by the Brazil-Bolivia Binational Commission Brazil's National Department of Transport Infrastructure (DNIT) will be responsible for supervising its preparation and delivery The Brazilian government may adopt modifications presented by Bolivia during the project preparation phase and both parties must participate in the supervision of the work until completion the bridge will strengthen South American integration offering a new route for the transport of cargo and passengers in the region in addition to an export corridor for Brazilian production Brazil minister of transport Renan Filho said: “This is a construction that will facilitate the export of production from the north and central regions of Brazil to Bolivia Chile and the entire world through the Pacific Ocean which only highlights the importance of this bridge.” services and housing Edgar Montaño Rojas added: “Since the Treaty of Petrópolis [diplomatic agreement signed between Brazil and Bolivia in 1903] we have dreamed of greater integration with Brazil We are very grateful to finally be able to move this project forward.” Like what you've read? To receive New Civil Engineer's daily and weekly newsletters click here. Tagged with: Cop30 has denied recent felling of trees in the Amazon rainforest to… The footbridge at Theale station near Reading built under Network Rail’s Access… Network Rail has been criticised by users and the local MP for… Network Rail’s Access for All (AfA) programme to provide step-free access at… Looks more like an extradose than a cable-stayed bridge…. medicinal tonics with natural ingredients from the rainforest that claim to cure it all and freshwater fish served fried with a side of thick tap on tambourines and bang drums to the rhythm of Samba And the impromptu dancing fueled by plenty of Brazil's cachaca sugarcane liquor - some in bottles filled with jambú electric shock-like sensation to the tongue crowded and always colorful Ver-o-Peso riverside market in the Brazilian port city of Belem The open-air market is the icon of a city once known for the rubber trade but that is now best known as the culinary capital of the Amazon It's also at the epicenter for the trade of the oily purple berry of the acai palm tree that is a staple of native Amazon cuisine and a hot item in global foodie world It's the best fruit that we have on this Earth," said Walter Pinheiro Ribeiro who has been selling the fruit for 25 years in the port Some of the acai's fans say it is as an anti-aging elixir combats cholesterol and even acts as an aphrodisiac port workers carry woven baskets packed with the dark berries to wooden-hulled river boats acai is best known in its frozen pulp form for juice and smoothies It is often sprinkled with toasted manioc flour and served alongside fried Amazonian river fish like dourada or the giant piracucu which can grow as long as 10 feet (three meters) and weigh more than 400 pounds (180 kilograms) "The secret here is love - that's the best seasoning," said Osvaldina da Silva Ferreira who has been cooking at her "Dona Osvaldina" fish stand at the market for 48 years she served a meal of large shrimp with garlic and a fried fillet of piracucu with a side of beans and acai "The Amazon is richness," she said proudly about the river and the rainforest The stands at the Ver-O-Peso sell maracas with feathers made by the indigenous peoples of the Amazon ceramics and handcrafts made with coconut shells parrots sing and ducks quack non-stop in their cages and vultures circle around trying to pick on leftover fish at the docks Replicas of soccer jerseys from popular European and South American clubs hang from railings along hammocks Other vendors break the outer shells from Brazil nuts with sharp machetes or offer salted codfish straw hats and fresh fruits like the bright red pupunha and the delicious cupuacu that comes from the cacao plant family Ver-O-Peso (or See the Weight) at the Guajara Bay riverside was originally a tax collection center for goods from the Amazon paid to the Portuguese crown It was later turned into the market that today includes docks a meat market and a fish market made from imported iron plates "This market is the eighth wonder (of the world)," Roberto Da Silva Souza who has been selling fish at the market for 50 years you'll see that this old structure was done with a lot of wisdom and intelligence He said he often leaves home at around 1 a.m so he get to the dock when the first boats come and take a close look at their catch to pick the best-quality fish for his stand "This job at Ver-O-Peso is a therapy for me Kolkata Court relied on scientific evidence including the discovery of Sajay Roy's DNA on the victim's body AAP says Arvind Kejriwal attacked by Parvesh Verma’s supporters; BJP hits back ICC Champions Trophy India squad: Jasprit Bumrah, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shami included; Sanju Samson misses out Saif Ali Khan stabbed: Actor recovering, likely to be discharged in three days, says doctors Who are the 33 Israeli hostages being released by Hamas in first phase of Gaza ceasefire? 'India should not see IMEC as a counter to China's Belt and Road Initiative': UAE think-tank chief RG Kar doctor rape-murder: 'Probe half-done', allege victim's parents even as Kolkata court is set to deliver verdict Saif Ali Khan stabbing: Is Mumbai underworld involved? Around 30 police teams on the hunt for attacker human beings are equally to blame for disasters such as forest fires and earthquakes Ratan Tata | Interview with Dr Thomas Mathew, author of the biography 'Ratan Tata: A Life' Gukesh beats Ding to become youngest world chess champion! India-Australia Test: Should Rohit open? ISRAEL plans law to dissolve campus groups backing armed struggle against the state | Israel news The British rock group, Coldplay, has three shows scheduled at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on January 18, 19 and 21 In the next 25 years, Sabyasachi Mukherjee wants to take his brand global Manmohan Singh had a long list of economic and diplomatic achievements in his decade-long tenure as PM Unless they were economists, visitors filled him with panic, writes Daman about her father Manmohan Singh Montek Singh Ahluwalia was the former deputy chairman, Planning Commission The Chinese haven’t attempted any adventures in the east till date Directed by Abhishek Kapoor and starring Aaman Devgan, Ajay Devgn and Rasha Thadani in the lead, Azaad is a film that manages to keep you hooked till the end has overflowed affecting more than 6,000 families in four municipalities Civil Defence officials have been monitoring the situation since heavy rainfall in early January However levels of the river recently increased dramatically and a state of emergency has been declared in the municipalities of Guajará the Juruá river in Guajará reached 16.68 metres where the flood level is 12.64 metres Amazonas Civil Defence have started to distribute food and other emergency supplies including medicine sleeping equipment and water purification kits Elsewhere in the state increasing levels of the Juruá have placed on alert communities in the municipalities of Juruá causing concern in the municipalities of Tabatinga No flooding has been reported but Civil Defence officials say the areas are under a “situation of attention” Yesterday Brazil’s Ministry of National Integration announced that emergencies had also been declared in other parts of the country after several incidents of flooding In Amapá state the Araguari river overflowed and affected families living in the town of Bailique Heavy rain and flooding affected Bauru and Bofete in São Paulo Emergencies were also declared after recent flooding in Água Doce do Norte A state of emergency was declared due to the flash floods in Trairão (Pará state) The state of emergency declaration allows the municipalities to request material and financial support from the National Secretariat for Civil Protection and Defense (SEDEC) Hospitality & Catering News the sky of the Teide National Park is recognised as a ‘Starlight Destination’ in the ‘Tourist Destination’ category; a title awarded by the Starlight Foundation certifying that stargazing in the Teide National Park meets the requirements and procedures for the protection of the sky and its natural and associated cultural values The island is also home to the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands Visitors can make the most of Tenerife’s clear skies by joining one of the stargazing tours on offer summer visitors to Tenerife can also witness the galaxies beyond the Milky Way and ‘the summer triangle’ an amalgamation of stars from three separate constellations (Vega visitors must first walk along the Degollada path and reach the Peak of Guajara The first part of the walk takes about an hour and the final part can be done in an hour and a half The impressive panoramic views of Mount Teide The mountain of Guajara is the third highest point within the Teide National Park is the Parador de Las Cañadas and its surroundings which can serve as a base camp for stargazing tours The Parador also has a large car park and is conveniently located close to great places for stargazing such as La Ruleta and Roques de García The large plain that gives it its name makes it an ideal place to stop and enjoy the vastness around you The Tabonal Negro viewpoint is especially popular during the day when the red tajinastes (an endemic plant species growing in Teide National Park) are in bloom Sunset is the best time to observe the night sky The Tabonal Negro viewpoint is also next to the TF-21 road and has a small car park Located right next to the Roques de García La Ruleta viewpoint offers plenty of space to set up a telescope and observe both Mount Teide and the rock formation of La Fortaleza and its surroundings specialists advise observing the stars with binoculars or a telescope An app that includes a map of the night sky will help to locate the stars and constellations Bearing in mind that night-time stargazing usually takes place at high altitudes it is essential to bring a coat or jacket and a hot drink If the stargazing area is protected or belongs to a protected natural environment it is necessary to check in advance whether permits are required From Handley Page to SpaceX, catering for space tourism Copyright © · Hospitality & Catering News The link you clicked may be broken or the page may have been removed Go to homepage Send Opinion articles to - [email protected] For advertisement- [email protected] Copyright © 2025 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab A child who lives in the Vila Barca community retrieves his kite among trash - Catarina Barbosa/Brasil de Fato “Isolation?” The question comes with a tone of denial and may even sound like negligence but it is the reality of more than 7 thousand residents of the Vila Barca community The houses in the area sit upon wooden stilts on the banks of a river The shanty town is near one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city which has apartments worth millions of Reais The community suffers from abandonment by local authorities. Unthinkable scenes such as children walking around in trash, no water in their taps open sewage and no electricity are part of inhabitants’ daily realities Brasil de Fato was in Vila Barca and was welcomed by the leader of the Residents’ Association She denounces the fact that authorities completely ignore the area as well as the conditions to which locals are submitted to everyday She also says that the lack of housing has intensified during the pandemic (…) many homes don’t have water in their taps and while many residents try to remedy the situation These problems have been aggravated during this period of social isolation seeing as many are in need of the bare minimum to survive,” she stated Vila Barca is part of a housing development project by local authorities that seeks to demolish the shanty town and replace it with brick and mortar apartments the construction has been on hold for around 15 years She adds that the abandonment worsens other issues the community faces such as a high concentration of drug addicts and people in a state of homelessness Besides the social disparities between people who live so close to each other Vila Barca’s neighboring luxury apartments were built on land under permanent preservation owned by the Navy the local housing authority (Sehab) said that work in Vila Barca is undergoing and 168 houses have already been delivered in phase 1 78 units from phase 2 still need to be constructed and 120 from phase 3 which are already underway,” said the entity Brasil de Fato’s team visited the location at 11am last Monday (13) and did not see any construction activity Last Wednesday (15th), president Jair Bolsonaro signed into law a new sanitation bill The legislation seeks to increase the private sector’s participation in the water and sewage treatment industry which is currently administered in large part by public done by the Brazilian Institute of Statistics and Geography (IBGE) shows that only 27.4% of households in Brazil’s northern region have access to sewage treatment The state is currently one of the worst hit by the pandemic Data from the National Council of Health Secretaries concludes that there have been over 137,000 confirmed cases and 5,400 deaths as of last Sunday because in the absence of clean water they use the bay details a contradiction in which those living closest to the river “It’s funny because those closest to the river here in Vila Barca are those who suffer most from the lack of potable water Since the stilt houses have no sanitation systems all the sewage from the residences go into the river problems that even laymen can see are serious,” she says Tatiana Beltrão, who is 29-years-old and has lived in the community for 10 years, is a mother of four. She tells us that the municipal governments always change but the problems persist with water access being one of the most difficult to manage Though she has a beautiful view of Guajará Bay and a water pump at home recognizing that not all residents are able to purchase a pump the only alternative being pulling up water with pipes and buckets Tatiana hosted Brasil de Fato’s team in her wooden home apologizing for the amount of dishes in the sink This is because the previous day no water was coming out of her taps the only way is to use water from the tides During the pandemic this was almost always the only way to go about this but also save some water from the high tide and use it as needed,” she summarizes also uses river water for her day to day activities there’s a pipe from which she pulls the water with the aid of bucket of which there a plenty in her laying around She explains that there is a method to drawing the water with the tide: one must wait for the river to fill up and only then get the water we wait for the river to fill up so we can get some water to do the things we need to Though facing so many difficulties and being deprived of so many things Angélica admits that she is not planning on moving away from her riverside home she says that all she wants is for the authorities to recognize that the Residents of Vila Barca have the same rights as those living in the million dollar apartments All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced provided it is not altered and proper credit is given All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced provided it is not altered and proper credit is given.