February 5, 2022

09:02

Bruno Pacheco – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Threats against traditional peoples, invasions in settlements and illegal logging in BR-319, in an area bordering indigenous land, are being investigated by the Federal Public Ministry of Amazonas (MPF-AM). The ministerial body established a civil investigation to investigate measures taken by public agencies in relation to the case, whose illegal activities are intensifying, generating fear and apprehension in communities, according to a document published in the edition of Thursday, 3, in the Electronic Journal of the MPF.

The ordinance, signed by the Prosecutor Fernando Merloto Soave, points out that the invasions and illegal activities are in the Project of Agroextractive Settlement Lago do Acará, in Manicoré (331 kilometers from Manaus), from the access of BR-319, the road linking Manaus to Porto Velho, in Rondônia. The threats are against the traditional peoples who live in the region, on the border with the Capanã indigenous land.

In the publication, the prosecutor gave a deadline of ten days for the president of the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) and INCRA in Amazonas to inform the steps taken regarding the cases and to report on the implementation of articulation for inspection in the settlement project.

The MPF also gave a ten-day deadline for agencies such as the Brazilian Environmental Institute (Ibama), the Directorate of Territorial Protection of the National Indian Foundation (DPT/Funai), Funai CR Manaus, the Institute of Environmental Protection of Amazonas (Ipaam) the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) and the Federal Police in Amazonas to inform them of the coordination, inspection, and support measures adopted to contain the threats, invasions, and deforestation in the Manicoré settlement project, as well as the timeline for action in the area of illicit activities.

The threats

According to the ordinance, when instituting the civil investigation, the prosecutor Fernando Soave considered a representation made by traditional communities of the settlement in the city that reports the invasion of their territories and threats against them, with illegal logging.

“The Letter No. 004/2021/ RETA, November 26, 2021, through which communities living in the Lago do Acará, municipality of Manicoré, request effective and urgent measures of control to curb the action of invaders in the areas of collective use of traditional populations, in and around the Extractive Settlement Project Lago do Acará, including illegal logging”, says an excerpt from the document.

According to the MPF, illegal actions have also been occurring systematically on the border of the Capanã indigenous land, affecting the areas of chestnut groves used by the indigenous people. “The illegal actions and conflicts occur in the areas of settlements with access by BR-319, indicating the access by the highway without any control or inspection by public agencies as a factor for the expansion of illegalities and violation of the rights of traditional peoples in the region”, reports the prosecutor, in another excerpt from the ordinance.

Also in the publication, the Public Ministry gave a period of ten days for the Special Secretariat of the Investment Partnership Program of the federal government to report any measures of articulation adopted to support the fight against the illegalities mentioned in the settlement project and region, in the municipality of Manicoré.

See the civil inquiry in full: