Foz do Amazonas: Indigenous people celebrate denial by Ibama – 02/06/2023 – Environment

Ibama’s (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) denial of oil exploration at Foz do Amazonas was received with celebration by indigenous entities from Amapá and Pará, as well as by international nature conservation NGOs that work in the area. region.

APOINP (Articulation of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Amapá and Northern Pará), CCPIO (Council of Chiefs of Indigenous Peoples of Oiapoque), Greenpeace, WWF and the Climate Observatory have expressed concern, since before the denial, regarding the lack of information for the communities that may be affected by the basin drilling project.

For Apoinp and CCPIO, Petrobras did not present an adequate study of social impacts in view of the inevitable population growth that would occur in Oiapoque (AP), a municipality located in the extreme north, on the border of Brazil with French Guiana, where the largest concentration of part of the indigenous population of Amapá.

The entities launched a joint note “against exploration projects that disrespect the right to free, prior and informed consultation, guaranteed by Convention 169 of the ILO (International Labor Organization) on indigenous and tribal peoples”.

In a note, Petrobras stated that the oil research activity, requested from Ibama, is temporary, low risk, with an approximate duration of five months. If the production potential is confirmed, the company will create, he says, a new environmental licensing procedure with the preparation of more detailed environmental studies and projects.

The state-owned company also said that the emergency response structure is the largest ever presented in the country, comprising 12 vessels, five aircraft, 100 professionals and oil containment and well blocking systems.

Amapá has an estimated indigenous population of 5,802 inhabitants in Oiapoque, 3,043 in the Tumucumaque park (a conservation unit between AP and PA) and 1,220 in Pedra Branca do Amapari, totaling 10,065, according to data from the Extraordinary Secretariat for Indigenous Peoples, of the state government .

Apoinp spokesperson, Luene Karipuna, says that she tried to contact Petrobras for prior consultation, but did not receive a response. For this reason, the organization rejected invitations to public hearings.

The entity is composed of the Apalai, Akuriyó, Galibi-Marworno, Galibi Kali’na, Karipuna, Katxuyana, Palikur-Arukwayene, Sikyiana, Wajãpi, Wayana, Tiriyó and Txikuyana ethnic groups.

“We understand that they [da Petrobras] could use our presence at general public hearings as justification for prior consultation. Since, in fact, the previous consultation follows another model of criteria and meets a different protocol, according to our needs”, said Karipuna.

The CCPIO brings together the Karipuna, Galibi-Marworno, Galibi Kali’na and Palikur ethnic groups, which are divided into five regions, including those close to the Curipi, Uaçá, Urucauá, Oiapoque and BR-156 rivers.

The main economic and subsistence activities of these peoples are agriculture, hunting and fishing. For the Council of Caciques, exploitation in the region poses several risks to the indigenous people.

For one of the chiefs heard by the report, who requested anonymity, when the study said that the indigenous land was out of danger, the information would not be reality, because the indigenous land is already being impacted in some way.

According to him, the indigenous people have reported problems caused by aircraft passing over villages and chasing away animals, in addition to the greater flow of people in Oiapoque caused by activities in preparation for exploring for oil in the Foz do Amazonas basin.

In May, the Legislative Assembly of Amapá organized a public hearing to bring together politicians, associations and civil society to discuss possible oil exploration in the Oiapoque region.

The spokesman for the oceans of Greenpeace Brazil, Enrico Marone, reports that the disputed region between Petrobras and Ibama is very sensitive, as it is home to a continuous strip of mangroves that runs from Amapá to Maranhão.

The activist explains that the biome plays a fundamental role in the planet’s climate balance, as it offsets the emission of greenhouse gases, retaining carbon. Another point is the presence of coral reefs at the mouth of the Amazon, discovered in 2016 and still little studied by science.

“In 2017, Greenpeace made an expedition aboard the ship Esperanza for several surveys. We mapped the presence of the great system of coral reefs ‘of the Amazon’. and sediment from the Amazon River there,” says Marone.

Based on a UN report (United Nations Organizations), the WWF, in a note, says it is “urgent to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as those resulting from the burning of fossil fuels”. “It would therefore be a mistake if Brazil went against the grain of science and bet on new exploratory frontiers for oil and gas, which are among the most polluting”.

The Climate Observatory, a network of more than 90 socio-environmental organizations, highlighted that international treaties, such as the Paris Agreement, target mitigation, adaptation and financing for a clean energy transition by 2030.

“The time is right to establish a timetable for the elimination of fossil fuels and accelerate the fair transition for oil-exporting countries”, says Suely Araújo, senior specialist in public policies at the Climate Observatory and former president of Ibama.

“Those who sleep today dreaming of oil wealth tend to wake up tomorrow with a stranded asset, or an ecological disaster, or both.”

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}