Traditional communities in the Brazilian Amazon are facing a critical moment. Big infrastructure projects pushed by the federal government and some of Brazil’s biggest corporations are set to change the way of life of riverside, indigenous and slave-descendant communities.
Whole villages are displaced, cities have to deal with the sudden arrival of thousands of people – and with the consequences of these migrations –, and a very little share of the wealth produced stays on these places. Very few people know the dilemmas caused by the economic model pursued to this rich region. The project Amazonia Publica (Public Amazon), conducted by nonprofit investigative reporting agency Publica, unveiled the impacts of some of these enterprises in depth.
Between July and November, 2012, three reporting teams investigated the situation in three key regions: the Tapajos river, whose pristine beauty and biodiversity is threatened by the planned construction of hydroelectric dams, like the projects of Sao Luiz do Tapajos and Jatoba, and by mining projects; the Madeira river, which has been severely impacted by two already functional hydroelectric plants, Jirau and Santo Antonio; and Brazil’s leading iron ore mining area of Carajas, which will see a new mine exploited by Vale in a national forest reservation.
The series of articles, published initially on Pública’s website (apublica.org), was reorganized and updated for this book, which holds the same objective as the initial project: to make the development of the Amazon a public issue.
Whole villages are displaced, cities have to deal with the sudden arrival of thousands of people – and with the consequences of these migrations –, and a very little share of the wealth produced stays on these places. Very few people know the dilemmas caused by the economic model pursued to this rich region. The project Amazonia Publica (Public Amazon), conducted by nonprofit investigative reporting agency Publica, unveiled the impacts of some of these enterprises in depth.
Between July and November, 2012, three reporting teams investigated the situation in three key regions: the Tapajos river, whose pristine beauty and biodiversity is threatened by the planned construction of hydroelectric dams, like the projects of Sao Luiz do Tapajos and Jatoba, and by mining projects; the Madeira river, which has been severely impacted by two already functional hydroelectric plants, Jirau and Santo Antonio; and Brazil’s leading iron ore mining area of Carajas, which will see a new mine exploited by Vale in a national forest reservation.
The series of articles, published initially on Pública’s website (apublica.org), was reorganized and updated for this book, which holds the same objective as the initial project: to make the development of the Amazon a public issue.
