Written by Kelem Cabral
Tuesday, 29 November 2011 13:33
On December 11th a referendum will be held with the population of the state of Pará’s on whether to divide the state in three new ones or not – breaking it into Pará, Tapajós and Carajás. If the division is approved, three new possibilities of economic autonomy will be made available and the new geography created will emerge as a serious threat to the integrity of the region’s protected areas and to its biodiversity.
Pará is the second largest state of Brazil. More than 74 million hectares, about 60% of its 1.247.689,515 km², are protected areas, classified as Conservation Units (UCs), integral protection areas (that can not be inhabited by man) and of sustainable use (that allows the sustainable use of the area by local residents). Thanks to these numbers, Pará is the state with the largest area of UCs in the Brazilian Amazon, although the advance of deforestation. Changing this scenario could be a cause for concern.
| Conservation Units by state |
| State |
% territory |
% Conservation Units |
| Tapajós |
59% |
76% |
| Carajás* |
24% |
7,5% |
| Pará* |
17% |
3,5% |
| *The Environmental Protection Area (APA) of Marajó, which is considered a low level protection Conservation Unit, was not included. |
Besides the geographical rearrangements, the autonomy as to the legislation of each state in relation to the regional UCs that, alone, occupy 10.71% of Pará as it stands now, needs to be taken into account. Once divided in three, these regions would be at the mercy of new legislators.
The concern surrounding the decrease or even disintegration of the UCs is not mere speculation, states the lawyer Girolamo Treccani, former chief adviser of the Institute of Lands in Pará (Iterpa). "Under the legislation, all UCs could be modified as long as the regional and federal bills are submitted and approved by the concerning bodies."
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Far beyond the legal sphere, there is a development model that historically has been carried out in the region and under that, says Treccani, threats to PAs may be intensified due to the new state’s needs of extending the occupation and agricultural frontiers. The APA Triunfo do Xingú, for instance, would be split between Tapajós and Carajás. It would be one of the first targets among the newborn states, due to the advance of deforestation and to the lack of significant legal protection.
The red alert would as well extend to two regional forests, the Flotas Faro and Trombetas. "These two areas are close to the lands of the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra), which are intended for agriculture, and due to its geophysical characteristics, are favourable to agribusiness. The [state of] Tapajós could claim lack of areas for its development", predicts Treccani.
The giant Tapajós
If the division takes place, the new state Tapajós would come to concentrate 76% of all UCs. Of these, 95% would be of Integral Protection and 67% of Sustainable Use, and also 89% federal, not to mention most of the Indian Lands (TIs). If there is the threat of destruction or reduction of UCs, there is also the dream of seeing one of the newborn states developing an environmental policy based in conservation and in the economic viability of preserving the forest. This optimistic view of introducing the “new” model of economic development in the Amazon is backed by Jackson Fernando Rego Matos, PhD in sustainable development, forestry engineer and professor at the Federal University of Wes Pará (UFOPA), located in the city of Santarém, which is being considered as capital of the possible future state of Tapajós.
He believes Tapajós has the potential to replicate the model implemented in Costa Rica, which uses its natural resources in a sustainable fashion. "I have absolute conviction that if there is a place in Brazil capable of making the utopia of a green and sustainable state, this is Tapajós. We would be the 3rd state of in Brazil in extension, with the greatest amount of Conservation Units, not to mention that this is the most preserved region of current Pará, although having historically been misused and plundered by the regional and federal governments", he says.
Professor Dr. Gilberto Rocha, general director of the Centre for the Environment of the Federal University of Pará (Numa/UFPA) states that, despite having a large number of UCs, Tapajós would come to life with a political autonomy of less than 30% of its entire territory, since it is made of many federal areas that belong to the Incra. He says that this coupled with the current development model that serves the agribusiness, energy production and mining can lead to social and political pressures, resulting in the break up of the preserved areas. |
