Indigenous leader Alessandra Munduruku wins Goldman award – 04/24/2023 – Environment

Indigenous leader Alessandra Korap Munduruku, 38, will receive this Monday (24) the Goldman Environmental Prize, in a ceremony in the city of San Francisco, in the United States. Awarded by the Goldman Foundation, the prize is among the main international recognitions for activists of grassroots environmental movements.

The choice of the name Alessandra recognizes the success of the Munduruku campaign by blocking the plans of the British mining company Anglo American, which already had applications approved by the ANM (National Mining Agency) to research copper in ILs (indigenous lands) in Mato Grosso and Pará.

After seven months of campaign by the Munduruku people, with protests, petitions and meetings with the mining company, in May 2021 the multinational withdrew the 27 requests — 13 of them were aimed at the territory where Alessandra lives: the Sawré Muybu IL, in southwest Pará .

“They say we won a battle against a powerful mining company. But we don’t think it is powerful. What is powerful for us are our rivers, our lands, our spirits”, says Alessandra.

The campaign against Anglo American entering indigenous lands was organized together with Apib (Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil), Coiab (Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon) and the NGO Amazon Watch.

“This was our second victory. In 2016 we had already managed to dam the São Luiz do Tapajós hydroelectric plant”, recalls Alessandra. The federal government project had its environmental licensing blocked by Ibama, after pressure from the Munduruku people, who would have part of their territory flooded by the work.

“We have suffered in the last four years, but we also suffered during the Lula government, with projects such as the Belo Monte and Teles Pires dams, which killed sacred places for the Munduruku”, she quotes. “Today we still suffer from various pressures: land grabbers, miners, loggers, opening huge holes in our territory.”

A fundamental step to increase the protection of the territory is the conclusion of the demarcation of the indigenous land. “The demarcation of our territory was ready for the president’s signature, when the [ex-presidente] Bolsonaro said he wasn’t going to demarcate another centimeter, so the process went backwards. Now we hope that with Joenia [Wapichana, presidente da Funai]follow the demarcation”, says Alessandra.

The absence of new demarcations in the Lula government has frustrated indigenous leaders, who expected new demarcations at the beginning of the administration. The demand for demarcation will be the central theme of Camp Terra Livre, which takes place in Brasília this week.

“The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples does not serve to silence us. Sônia [Guajajara, ministra] it’s one. We still have to be heard. What Lula and Helder Barbalho [MDB, governador do Pará] were to do in China? Defend railroad for agribusiness. They are living for agribusiness”, says Alessandra, who had already been recognized in 2020 with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, also in the USA.

In addition to Alessandra, the Goldman Environmental Prize will also be received by five other activists, from Zambia, Indonesia, Turkey, Finland and the United States.

Created in 1989 by philanthropists Rhoda and Richard Goldman, the award helps give global notoriety to leaders of local and grassroots movements. “Many went on to occupy positions such as government officials, heads of state, leaders of NGOs and even Nobel laureates”, says the organization of the award.

Who are the other 2023 Goldman award winners

Chilekwa Mumba, Zambia

He won a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom against pollution generated in Copperbelt, Zambia, by a mining company controlled by a British company. Punishment for environmental damage in another country set a legal precedent that also holds Shell global responsible for pollution generated in Nigeria.

Zafer Kizilkaya, Türkiye

Expanded Turkey’s network of marine protected areas along 498 km of the Mediterranean coast, creating 350 km² of no-trawl areas and more than 70 km² of no-fish zones.

Tero Mustonen, Finland

Organized the restoration of degraded forests and former mining areas across Finland, in a total of 62 areas that add up to 34,800 hectares and conserve a swampy ecosystem called peatland, which covers a third of the country and is one of the largest reserves of planet carbon.

Delima Silalahi, Indonesia

It recovered the rights of six indigenous communities over territories that had been converted into eucalyptus monocultures for the manufacture of paper and cellulose. Their community activism has led to the restoration of 7,211 hectares of rainforest.

Diane Wilson, United States

He won a historic case in the American court against one of the largest petrochemical companies in the world, Formosa Plastics, condemned to pay US$ 50 million for the illegal dumping of plastic waste on the coast of the Gulf of Texas. The company also committed to paying fines until the eviction ceased and to finance the repair of the damage in the region.

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