Between the valleys where the Preto and Riachão rivers flow, in western Bahia, an exuberant region that is home to native cerrado forest began to be cleared to make way for the planting of soy, corn and cotton.
The company Delfin Rio S/A, which is part of the Cachoeira do Estrondo Condominium —a group of farms in the city of Formosa do Rio Preto— started clearing cerrado areas in the second half of 2021. The company was authorized to remove 24.7 thousand hectares, an area equivalent to half of Salvador.
The authorization was granted by the government of Bahia in May 2019, beginning of the second term of governor Rui Costa (PT). Since then, the endorsement has been questioned by environmentalists and associations representing small farmers who have lived in the region for nearly 200 years.
The company, in turn, says it is complying with the conditions of the environmental license issued by Inema, Bahia’s environmental agency, and emphasizes that it must deforest only 2.5 thousand hectares, about 10% of the authorized area.
In addition to environmental impacts and impacts on traditional communities, the area that is beginning to be deforested is part of a litigation that involves the state of Bahia itself. The government of Bahia files a lawsuit in court in which it claims ownership of areas occupied by the mega-farm.
The Cachoeira do Estrondo Condominium is appointed by Incra (National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform) as the largest illegally owned area in Bahia and one of the largest in Brazil.
In addition, areas that are identified by companies as legal reserves are the target of a possessory action filed by traditional communities. In June, the Superior Court of Justice recognized the ownership of 43,000 hectares for the geraizeiros, the name given to the region’s traditional communities.
“Condomínio Estrondo is carrying out a ‘green land grabbing’. They register the areas closest to the rivers, which belong to the communities, as a legal reserve to release flat areas for deforestation. The legal reserve is superimposed on the traditional territory, which is illegal” , argues Juliana Borges, from the Association of Rural Workers’ Lawyers of Bahia.
The removal of native forest began in July, the month in which the deforestation of 1,200 hectares was recorded, according to data from the Planet satellite provided by Greenpeace. In November, deforestation continued to advance, reaching 3,000 hectares.
In recent weeks, local communities caught deforestation with the use of a chain. This technique consists of using a chain with thick links whose ends are attached to tractors. The equipment advances in parallel, clearing the vegetation, which can cause the death and mutilation of animals.
The approximately one hundred families of geraizeiros in the region are apprehensive about the possibility of losing native forest. The Cachoeira community, for example, is located three kilometers from the devastated area.
“It is one of the few areas in the region where there is still cerrado. It is between the valleys of two very important rivers, the Preto River and the Riachão. The devastation will have a huge impact on the water issue”, says farmer Jassone Lopes Leite, 41, of the Associação Comunitária Geraizeira de Cachoeira.
He claims that the communities are negotiating with the municipality of Formosa do Rio Preto the creation of a 5,000-hectare conservation unit to protect cerrado areas, but there has been no progress. The report was unable to contact the city hall.
In addition to its environmental importance, the suppression of the cerrado in the region also has an economic impact on the geraizeiros, who live off subsistence agriculture with the planting of beans, rice and cassava.
In addition to preserving animals and water courses, the standing forest serves as an additional source of income for families who collect and sell fruits of native species, such as buriti, pequi, mangaba and araçá, as well as golden grass, used in pieces of craftsmanship.
A resident of the Cachoeira community since he was born, Adão Batista Gomes, 60, claims that the deforested areas were used for grazing cattle, which are raised in the wild. And he says he regrets the loss of one of the few areas close to the community that are still preserved: “The only standing cerrado corridor that we have near, they are deforesting.”
In an open letter sent to Governor Rui Costa (PT), 56 civil society organizations demanded the suspension of deforestation of the native forest in the region.
The entities claim that the region has high rainfall and natural vegetation cover essential for recharging the Urucuia aquifer, one of the largest in the country, which is currently the focus of authorities’ attention given the risk of impacts on the São Francisco River.
The advance of production should also deepen the isolation of the geraizeiros, whose communities are surrounded by large farms.
Since 2014, Condomínio Estrondo started to adopt restrictive measures against residents of the surroundings, where around one hundred families live, almost all of them black, spread over eight communities.
The main access routes were blocked by gates and watchtowers, with the permanent presence of armed private guards. In some areas, access is prohibited. In others, it is only possible upon presentation of a document.
“We became the target of a series of pressures. They began to build fences, open ditches within the communities’ areas, build watchtowers with armed men and security cameras”, says Jassone Lopes Leite.
He was even the target of violence in January 2019, when he was shot in the left leg while demanding that security guards release his cattle. In video recorded by Jassone himself, three security guards who shoot into the air before hitting him. The Civil Police registered the case as a personal injury.
A sheet Since September, it has sent a series of questions to Inema and the Bahia Communication Secretariat about the authorization to suppress native forest, but has received no response.
The Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality reported that it has issued certifications for 41 communities of pasture and pasture in western Bahia and that it is part of a task force working on a report to support the mediation of the conflict between traditional communities and the Condominium Crashing Waterfall.
In a statement, Delfin Rio S/A informed that deforestation is being carried out in an area equivalent to 10% of the 24.7 thousand hectares released for suppression and that there are no river sources in that location.
He also said that deforestation is monitored by biologists, veterinarians and forestry engineers, with escape routes to ensure the safe movement of animals to the original native vegetation reserve area maintained by the company.
The company also informed that in the Inema license there is no restriction on the use of the chain and that the method is considered more efficient for the vegetation of small shrubs.
Regarding conflicts in the region, Delfin Rio claimed to be the victim of destruction of facilities and intimidation of employees. And he informed that the farms are private properties and have patrimonial surveillance: “Private roads, within the property, are for the exclusive use of the company’s operation”.
Finally, the company says that its lands were wrongly included in Incra’s Land Grabbing White Book and that all company properties are fully documented before the competent bodies.
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