A judge has ordered Brazil’s largest mining company to suspend plans to double a controversial railway track, which would have put the livelihoods of Earth’s most threatened tribe in jeopardy.
In a major setback for mining giant Vale, the ruling demands an immediate freeze on expansion work along the Carajás Railway, and sets a daily penalty of US $ 25,000 for any breach.
The forest home of Brazil’s Awá Tribe lies next to the existing railway, along which 2 km-long trains run to the world’s largest iron ore mine, owned by Brazilian company Vale, which wants to expand this stretch of railway line to allow some of the longest trains in the world to run simultaneously in both directions, to increase capacity.
Although Vale does not have a license to double the whole length of the Carajás railway line, which is currently single track, construction has already begun in parts.
The Indians have vocally contested the mining giant’s plans, which they say threaten their livelihoods and those of their uncontacted relatives.
One Awá man said, “We don’t accept the expansion of the train line which passes right in front of our territory. It is really bad! It makes a lot of noise! The hunters can’t find any game; the animals are scared off.”
Speaking to Survival International, Vale insisted it would “listen to all the Awá’s concerns [and] not obtain the license without doing so”.
However, the judge’s damning verdict of Vale’s social and environment impact studies, labeled its efforts ‘insufficient’. It also called the company’s public hearings ‘inefficient’, and warned the company it risked causing ‘extremely serious environmental degradation’.
Exactly 100 days ago, Survival International launched a major campaign to save Earth’s most threatened tribe, whose land is being destroyed by illegal loggers, ranchers and settlers. The work of these illegal loggers and ranchers has already reached crisis point: some 30% of one legally-protected Awá Reserve has been cut down. The Awá’s forests are disappearing faster than any other indigenous area in Brazil.
So far, more than 30,000 people (300 people per day) have written to Brazil’s Justice Minister calling for him to do more to protect the tribe, who number just 460. The extent of the peril facing Awá was revealed when on May 17 Brazilian authorities admitted that the Awá tribe are now outnumbered 10:1 inside just one of their reserves.
Brazil’s indigenous affairs department FUNAI has agreed to make the Awá its top priority, and MPs in the UK have also raised the issue.
Survival International’s Director Stephen Corry said on August 2, “Assuming the judge’s ruling is respected, this is good news for the Awá. But the railway isn’t the only threat to the tribe’s survival. Loggers, ranchers and settlers are still brazenly flouting Brazilian law. Despite assurances from Brazil’s authorities, the Awá’s way of life still hangs in the balance – we need action.”
Source: Survival International.
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