Protected Areas Corridor of the Xingu River Basin the Natural and Social
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Downloaded from rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org on April 22, 2013 The natural and social history of the indigenous lands and protected areas corridor of the Xingu River basin Stephan Schwartzman, André Villas Boas, Katia Yukari Ono, Marisa Gesteira Fonseca, Juan Doblas, Barbara Zimmerman, Paulo Junqueira, Adriano Jerozolimski, Marcelo Salazar, Rodrigo Prates Junqueira and Maurício Torres Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 2013 368, 20120164, published 22 April 2013 Supplementary data "Data Supplement" http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/suppl/2013/04/17/rstb.2012.0164.DC1.ht ml References This article cites 25 articles, 6 of which can be accessed free http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/368/1619/20120164.full.html#ref-list-1 Article cited in: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/368/1619/20120164.full.html#related-urls Subject collections Articles on similar topics can be found in the following collections environmental science (207 articles) Receive free email alerts when new articles cite this article - sign up in the box at the top Email alerting service right-hand corner of the article or click here To subscribe to Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B go to: http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/subscriptions Downloaded from rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org on April 22, 2013 The natural and social history of the indigenous lands and protected areas corridor of the Xingu River basin Stephan Schwartzman1, Andre´ Villas Boas2, Katia Yukari Ono2, Marisa rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org Gesteira Fonseca2, Juan Doblas2, Barbara Zimmerman1, Paulo Junqueira2, Adriano Jerozolimski3, Marcelo Salazar2, Rodrigo Prates Junqueira2 and Maurı´cio Torres2 1Environmental Defense Fund, 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20009, USA Review 2Instituto Socioambiental, Av. Higieno´polis, 901, Higieno´polis, Sa˜o Paulo 01238-001, Brazil 3Associac¸a˜o Floresta Protegida, Rua do Mogno, 240, Tucuma˜, PA 68385-000, Brazil Cite this article: Schwartzman S et al. 2013 The natural and social history of the indigen- The 280 000 km2 Xingu indigenous lands and protected areas (ILPAs) corri- ous lands and protected areas corridor of the dor, inhabited by 24 indigenous peoples and about 215 riverine (ribeirinho) Xingu River basin. Phil Trans R Soc B 368: families, lies across active agriculture frontiers in some of the histori- 20120164. cally highest-deforestation regions of the Amazon. Much of the Xingu is anthropogenic landscape, densely inhabited and managed by indigenous http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0164 populations over the past millennium. Indigenous and riverine peoples’ historical management and use of these landscapes have enabled their One contribution of 18 to a Theme Issue long-term occupation and ultimately their protection. The corridor vividly ‘Ecology, economy and management of an demonstrates how ILPAs halt deforestation and why they may account for agroindustrial frontier landscape in the a large part of the 70 per cent reduction in Amazon deforestation below the 1996–2005 average since 2005. However, ongoing and planned dams, southeast Amazon’. road paving, logging and mining, together with increasing demand for agri- cultural commodities, continued degradation of upper headwaters outside Subject Areas: ILPA borders and climate change impacts may render these gains ephem- environmental science eral. Local peoples will need new, bottom-up, forms of governance to gain recognition for the high social and biological diversity of these territories in development policy and planning, and finance commensurate with the Keywords: value of their ecosystem services. Indigenous groups’ reports of changing Amazon, indigenous lands, protected areas, fire and rainfall regimes may themselves evidence climate change impacts, Xingu a new and serious threat. Author for correspondence: Stephan Schwartzman e-mail: [email protected] 1. Introduction: indigenous lands, protected areas and Amazon deforestation The 280 000 km2 of indigenous lands and protected areas (ILPAs) of the Xingu River basin form a continuous forest corridor larger than the UK, inhabited by 25 indigenous peoples and about 215 riverine (ribeirinho) families. Directly adja- cent to the arc of deforestation in Para´ and Mato Grosso, the Xingu ILPAs are a clear example of how Brazilian government policy has worked to reduce Amazon deforestation rates over 70 per cent below the historic average since 2005 (http://www.obt.inpe.br/prodes/index.php accessed 21 February 2013) ([1]; figure 1). However, ongoing and planned infrastructure works (the Belo Monte dam, possible upstream dams on the Xingu, paving of the 163 highway), current and projected logging and mining, and emerging climate change impacts [5] suggest that these gains may prove ephemeral unless ILPAs and their socio-environmental value are recognized and incorporated into develop- Electronic supplementary material is available ment strategies. In this study, we examine the history of the Xingu ILPAs in the at http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0164 or context of modern Brazilian indigenous policy, contrasted to other tropical via http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org. forest regions. We explore the conditions that enable and threaten the corridor’s continued effectiveness against deforestation, and identify strategies to protect & 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. Downloaded from rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org on April 22, 2013 project areas 2 extractive reserves in Terra do Meio rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org Phil Trans R Soc B 368: 20120164 Kayapô territory of Xingu Indigenous Park protected areas and indigenous territories within the Xingu socioenvironmental corridor indigenous territory state conservation area federal conservation area river main road Xingu River basin state boundary national boundary deforestation within Xingu River basin until 2010 protected areas and indigenous territories outside the Xingu socioenvironmental corridor indigenous territories 1. Pequizal do Naruvôtu 2. Batovi 3. Xingu Indigenous Park 4. Wawi 5. Capoto/Jarina 6. Terena Gleba Iriri 7. Panará 8. Menkragnoti 9. Badjônkôre 10. Kayapô 11. Baú 12. Kuruáya 13. Xipaya 14. Apyterewa 15. Araweté/Igarapé Ipixuna 16. Trincheira/Bacajá 17. Koatinemo 18. Kararaô 19. Arara 20. Cachoeira Seca do Iriri federal conservation areas 21. Nascentes da Serra do Cachimbo Biological Reserve 22. Serra do Pardo National Park 23. Rio Xingu Extractive Reserve 24. Terra do Meio Ecological Station 25. Rio Iriri Extractive Reserve 26. Riozinho do Anfrisio Extractive Reserve 27. Altamira National Forest state conservation areas 28. Xingu State Park 29. Triunfo do Xingu Environmenttal Protection Area 30. Iriri State Forest Figure 1. Xingu Basin indigenous lands and protected areas corridor. Data sources: rivers, state boundaries and national boundary [2]; Xingu River basin, indigenous territories and protected areas [3]; deforestation within the Amazonia biome [4]; deforestation within the cerrado biome [3]. and extend gains. We review the historical–ecological evi- management tool, and report Upper Xingu indigenous people’s dence that the territory of the corridor and present-day observations on changing fire and rainfall regimes. Because both land uses are products of long term—in much of its extent, use of fire and celestial timing of agricultural cycles are ancient millennial—and dense occupation by ancient indigenous practices, observed changes may themselves be indicators of peoples. We show that present-day populations to a large climate change. extent inhabit anthropogenic landscapes, and that their his- We find that NGO projects and government support torical management and use of the resources of these for indigenous and traditional communities have, in some landscapes has enabled their long-term occupation of the instances, launched innovative public policy (bilingual edu- territory and ultimately its protection. cation in the Xingu Indigenous Park (PIX), and developed Climate change impacts and degradation of upper head- scalable resource management and income-generation projects waters appear to be increasing threats. We review ethnographic within the ILPAs and in surrounding areas. They have, in some and archaeological descriptions of indigenous use of fire as a cases, materially improved small isolated populations’ access to Downloaded from rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org on April 22, 2013 healthcare, education and markets. NGOs have enabled local Foundation (FUNAI) believed that they were dealing with a 3 communities to organize their own institutions—critical to very small and diminishing population that could easily be rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org Phil Trans R Soc B 368: 20120164 building capacity to manage their territories. However, larger- accommodated on limited lands a until such time as they scale sustainable sources of finance will be needed to address became integrated into the national society. However, indigen- current threats. Payment for ecosystem services, including ous groups and anthropologists found that the land rights reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation guaranteed in the 1973 Indian Statute applied to many more (REDDþ), potentially including both public and private peoples than its framers anticipated. Fifteen years of public sources, could attain the scale needed. conflicts ensued between military leaders of FUNAI and Indigenous and traditional leaders call for better access to anthropologists, indigenous rights activists and indigenous healthcare, education