A group of almost 700 Brazilian artists and intellectuals published an open letter in defense of Serra do Curral, in Minas Gerais. The document seeks to reverse the environmental licensing of a mining project in the mountains, which was granted by the state government to the company Taquaril Mineração last Saturday (30).
Among the signatories of the manifesto are the singers Milton Nascimento, Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. Other intellectuals such as the writer Conceição Evaristo, the environmentalist Ailton Krenak, the philosopher Sueli Carneiro, the doctor Drauzio Varela, the Portuguese sociologist Boaventura de Souza Santos and the cartoonist Ziraldo also signed the manifesto.
The letter is addressed to the Governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo), to the Secretary of Environment and Sustainable Development, Marília Melo, to the Secretary of Culture and Tourism, Leônidas Oliveira, and to the President of the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais, Agostinho Patrus (PSD).
The manifesto argues that the mountain is an important landscape and environmental heritage of Belo Horizonte and the region. He also talks about the animal and plant species that live in the area, saying that 40 of them are threatened with extinction.
“The Serra do Curral is a rare asset, which symbolizes not only a place, but the culture that marks the memory of a people as a reference. And a people without a reference is a people without a soul”, says the artists’ letter.
The letter was published by the Tira o Pé da Minha Serra Movement. In recent days, the group has organized several demonstrations on the streets and on social media to bring visibility to the case. On Thursday (5), they protested against the project in a public hearing at the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais.
The document also mentions the actions of tipping the mountain. It is already protected at the municipal level, in Belo Horizonte. The peaks of Serra do Curral are also protected at the national level by Iphan (Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional).
As the mining company’s project is located in the territory of the city of Nova Lima (MG), state heritage protection would be necessary. The registration dossier has already been finalized and approved by Iepha (State Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage), but is awaiting a vote by the State Heritage Council.
“We, artists, intellectuals and writers from different regions of Brazil, see Serra do Curral as a good that goes beyond the borders of Minas Gerais – a common heritage of all Brazilians”, says the manifesto.
Several artists from Minas Gerais also signed the manifesto, such as singers Samuel Rosa, Fernanda Takai and Rogério Flausino, rapper Djonga, journalist Miriam Leitão and actresses Débora Falabella and Bárbara Colen.
Read the letter in full below.
The pandemic has reached and still affects continents, countries, cities and homes, men, women and children in different ways. But there was something in common between us: uncertainty and helplessness. The world stopped and suffocated in crowded ICUs and we were cloistered covered by our fears, sufferings and anxieties while nature, relieved, rested.
There were many signs. And yet we continue to deforest, mistreat, extract, burn, abuse, loot, uproot, torture, massacre and kill. We have been predators of the land until we became hostages to our own greed and ignorance. It’s time to change!
Serra do Curral is the greatest landscape and environmental heritage of Belo Horizonte and region. It is the central element of the coat of arms of the capital of Minas Gerais, since its foundation. From the hill that stands out in the landscape of the region. From the ecosystem that, despite being mistreated in recent decades, concentrates almost 40 species of animals and plants threatened with extinction, it is home to springs, medicinal plants, plant and animal species of the most beautiful and diverse. Serra do Curral is a rare asset, which symbolizes not only a place, but the culture that marks the memory of a people as a reference. And a people without reference is a people without a soul.
A mining megaproject – Mineração Taquaril – is threatening us. More than 30 million tons of iron ore will be extracted through explosions with an emission of carbon dioxide sufficient to interfere even more in the climate of cities in the Metropolitan Region. The project will increase the levels of erosion and landslides in a region with a high slope, bringing risks to the population and the surrounding municipal parks. The structures built by the project will be fatal to the Cubano, Triângulo and da Fazenda streams, as well as headwaters in the region. The water that seeps into the Serra do Curral supplies the Rio das Velhas and the Rio Paraopeba, and changes in this piece of aquifer will affect the lives of these rivers and the communities that live in their surroundings – already so damaged by Vale’s crime. The project also threatens more than 50 speleological cavities, which are home to rare species and have important functions for the water dynamics in the region.
The enterprise does not have cultural impact studies approved by IEPHA and IPHAN. The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Minas Gerais has already filed a lawsuit against the licensing claiming various illegalities. The city of Belo Horizonte also took a stand against the project, and is considering going to court. The meeting of the State Council for Environmental Policy (COPAM) was carried out in a rushed manner: more than 280 people signed up to speak, but most were not heard. It is surprising that the project was approved at COPAM at 3 am on a Saturday. We want explanations.
Serra do Curral, already listed at the municipal and federal levels, has its state heritage protection process in its final stage. The dossier, made with extreme rigor and quality, was approved by IEPHA in early 2021 and should have been sent to CONEP (State Heritage Council). Your Excellency Secretary of Culture Leonidas Oliveira, why hasn’t the project been voted on yet?
Turning into reality, this mining megaproject will generate millionaire financial profits at the expense of great risks and serious impacts to cultural heritage, health, quality of life, the environment and water security of the entire population of Belo Horizonte and region.
We, artists, intellectuals and writers from different regions of Brazil, see Serra do Curral as an asset that goes beyond the borders of Minas Gerais – a common heritage of all Brazilians. Pico Belo Horizonte, listed by IPHAN, is also threatened by this mining project.
Certain of your sensitivity and discernment, we have come to demand the Honorable Governor Romeu Zema and the Excellency Secretary for the Environment Marília Melo to listen to our voice and cancel the Thames operating license, granted with several indications of irregularities in a meeting emptied of dawn. We also demand to the Honorable Governor and to the Excellency Secretary of State for Culture, Leônidas Oliveira, that they immediately put on the agenda the approval of the state tombstone of Serra do Curral. Finally, we ask the president of the Minas Gerais Assembly, Agostinho Patrus, to put on the agenda a Proposal for Amendment to Constitution 67/21, which provides for the tipping of Serra do Curral.
The country’s culture and the future of the next generations thank you!
