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Original Posting: http://pagina20.uol.com.br/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21557&Itemid=37  

(Transl ation by M.A.Kidd - Links have been ins erted i nto the origi nal article for background on IIRSA, Yoreka Ãtame

and photographs of this Ashananika school project)

Sustainability without Borders By *Malu Ochoa

April 24, 2011

Regional Integration to protect the Indi genous Peoples and to Conserve Biodi versity on the Frontier of Acre/Brazil -

Ucayali/Peru

The border region of Acre (Brazil ) and Ucayali (Peru) is one of the areas formed by Indi genous Lands (Terras

Indigenas), Units of Conservation, Native Communities and Reserve Lands (Terras Reservadas), where i ndigenous

and traditiona l populations live.

In Acre the Indigenous Lands and Units of Conservation form a large mosai c with approximately 4,280,197

hectares or 30% of the length of the state. It i s here that, i n recent years, innovative socia l and so cio-

environmental sus tainability have been developed by i ndigenous peoples, communities of the extractive reserves,

ripa rian (traditional river peoples) and their representative organizations . These actors have been organized for

recognition and monitoring of their coll ective territories and for sus tainable use and conservation of their forests.

But on both sides of the border there are threats to the integrity of these territories and to the ways of life of the

indi genous peoples and traditiona l populations, includi ng the peoples i n voluntary isolation. These threats that are

being leveraged by major infrastructure projects set the agenda of governments of the two countries that seek

economic development and regional integration, such as roads and prospec ting for oil and gas dril ling, and il licit

and il legal ac tivities, such as clandestine exploitation of timber, predatory extraction of mineral s and drugtrafficking.

In Peru, as of 2000, the new Forest Law [Lei Florestal] and Wil dlife [Fauna Sil vestre] (Law 2738) permitted the

creation of the "Bosques de produccion permanent", domain areas of the State dedicated exclusi vely to forest

management. Within these, are defined Units of Exploitation, large areas of forest for the removal of wood, by

contract bidding, were delivered to bus iness es and legal entities/persons in the form of 40 year concessi ons.

According to the Instituto Del Bien Comum - IBC, there are concess ions that amount to 50,000 hectares. It so

happens however, that this legali ty contributes largely to the ill egal l ogging in the region, becoming a true chaos

for the indigenous populations.

The great probl em with this "shredding/retail ing" of the Peruvian Amazon in the form of forest concess ions was

generated by the common practice of governments of the Amazon countri es, to create poli cies for the region with

purely economic goal s. The intention is to remove the non-renewable natural resources and to construct l arge

sca le infrastructure projects (IIRSA), without consi dering the negative impacts and, worse, without knowing the

loca l demands and/or reali ties. In the Peruvian case, without the "knowledge" of the existence of native

communities and of populations of isol ated indi genous peoples.

It i s out of the s ocio-environmental impacts that are already occurri ng, with the start of some of the cons truction

and fruition of their i ntent, that s erious confli cts begin to take shape in the Acre/Ucayali border strip. One of the

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most shocki ng is when these i nvasions cross the border in this frontier region, forging into Brazil ian terri tory, more

specifi cally in the offici al Terra Indigena Kampa (Indigenous Terri tory of Kampa) of the Amônea River and the Serra

do Divi sor National Park, and occasions the ill egal extraction of timber.

Equally or even more s hocking than the i ll egal extraction of timber i s the legalized predatory extraction, and this ,

with forest certification. This appl ies to the case of the logging company Forestal Venao S.R.L. created in 1996 to

work in the Ucayal i region. It began i ts work with five indi genous communities : Sawawo Hito 40, Nueva Sahuayo,

Santa Rosa, Nueva Victoria and El Dorado, supported the titli ng of these territories in exchange for the removal of 

timber and us ed the labor avai lable in the community.

Sawawo Hito 40 was the firs t [vill age] to work in the logging, in 2005, i nitia ting the process of certification by the

SmartWood / Rainforest All iance, and in less than two years, the community of Sawawo found itself in serious

difficulty. One example of how companies with i nterests that are exclusi vely economic assume the rol e of the

Peruvian State that faci litates the procedures without monitoring the impacts caused in the region.

Articulation and exchange: political strategies of the indigenous peoples and traditional populations 

The Comis são Pró-Índio do Acre (Pro-Indian Commiss ion of Acre), by means of its most recent program of Publi cPoli cies and Regional Articulation, has been working, in recent years, for the strengthening of the poli cies of 

protection for the is olated indigenous peoples, for indigenous peoples and movements for the protection and

conservation of biodiversity of the Acre-Ucayal i border and for their quali fied participation in public spaces. Also,

the strengthening of the network of ar ticulation between the organizati ons of indigenous and traditional peoples

for exchange of information and, with this, for subsi diary strategies and actions that in conjunction influence in

publi c policy, are the focuses of this work.

We organize, produce and make public, documents with information and data about the border between Brazil

and Peru that in addition to vis ibility, show the area of i nstitutional activity. The gatherings and meetings that take

are held with representatives of soci al movements in Brazil and Peru, by means of the Trans -Border Working

Group (GTT- Grupo de Trabalho Trans fronteir iço), since 2005, have contributed to the exchange and update of 

information about publi c policies, negotiations on the Peruvian and Brazil ian government infrastructure projects

and about legal and i ll egal economic activities taking place in the border region. Als o, we have provided

information from the reports from local communities about the negative impacts of these processes.

Because of my partici pation in the Seminar on Research Experiences, Records and Cultural Management by the

Indigenous and Traditional Community of Alto Juruá, held i n the Yorenka Ãtame Center in the municipal ity of 

Marechal Thaumaturgo, on March 29 and 31, I heard important project experiences, records and research on the

knowledge that the populations of Juruá have in relation to the use and management of natural resources.

Experiences and knowledge that, at the same time, guarantee their survi val and provide important environmental

services to humanity.

The Seminar, which reunited rubber tappers and indi genous peoples, was , like so many other meetings, animportant and effici ent exchange of i deas and dreams: establi shment of partnerships for col lective consideration,

reaffirmation of the i mportance of the relations hip with the environment by those who live in the forest, of their

spi ritual and economic way of li fe, and ongoing work that enhances the forest with a vi ew toward sus tenance and

permanence for future generations.

In this meeting, once again meeting my friend Edwin Chota, Ashaninka leader of the Saweto community of Alto

Tamaya, a tributary of the Ucayal i River, able always to vis it the Apiwtxa community, which accordi ng to him is a

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way to achi eve internal s trength. Who from the Peruvian si de of the border, has been i n my view, a symbol of 

resistance against an entire economic pol icy of timber extraction, in sol itary form, has been gradual ly expanding its

network of al lies for the titling of their land.

There have a ls o been conversations with Is aac and Benk Piyanko, Ashaninka l eaders who play an important role in

the joi nt defense of a soci al and environmental poli cy for the region. The Ashaninka of the Amônea, si nce 2004,

have been utili zing various strategies to protect their territory. It was they who, experiencing the di rect impacts

from invas ions by loggers i n various parts of their Land, cal led the world's attention to the border problems.

In a conversation we had during the Seminar Edwin, I saac and Benk recounted their views for me on the events on

the Acre and Ucayal i border. I am pleased to present some of these.

Edwin Chota:

The community of Saweto represents a history we have been studying since 2002, when we began to organize

agai nst the timber exploi tation. In that year, when we organized in li ght of the Forestry Law (Lei Florestal ), which

granted concessi ons in nearly the entire Amazon forest of Peru, we initia ted coordination at the regional l evel in

the province of Coronel Portil lo. Prior to this, there was no knowledge that there were Ashaninka in the Tamaya

region, we were dis mayed when we fi led appli cation for recognition, our very existence being i n doubt.

After many questions from the poli ce about who I am, where I came from, what I do, we came to understand that,

behind this , poli tically, we were coming face-to-face with an activi ty of the State. Only after great i nsi stence did we

have the first meeting with representatives of the Minis try of Agriculture. Since then, we i nitia ted the

articula tion/coordination and we started to work with the government. At this point we had the recognition and

began to denounce the i ll egal and indiscriminate spl intering of timber s tands in our region. It was a total disaster,

there was plundering of cedar and mahogany.

We began to denounce thi s with ever more people a rri ving, the authoriti es did not beli eve them. Onl y after many

denunciations , the Defensoria del Pueblo (Office of the Publi c Defender), i nstal led its office in the city of Puca ll pa.

It was then that we saw a li ght. Although the National Ins titute of Natural Resources (INRENA) say that they could

not do anything because the whole region had been granted concess ions, the Public Defender spoke of our right to

land. But i t was only in 2005 that the resolution came to recognize the Alto Tamaya. With regard to the title, we

had no further response. Saweto has been recognized si nce 2003, but we are among the 180 communities in the

Amazon that s til l require [land] titles.

We i nitia ted this s truggle with 36 famil ies and, at present, we a re 20 famili es enduring the entire negative force of 

the timber interests agains t us. Many communities have been i ll uded and convinced to leave their homes to work

for them. Unfortunately, a bar of soap, a cartridge and sal t and deceive the famili es and, as there are no

alternatives, people accept the j ob, take their chi ldren and leave their homes. These famil ies are found scattered

throughout the Tamaya river basin.

Their community organi zations are very fragil e; the maj ority of leaders are in favor of the loggers. It i s unfortunate but we are not

able to prevent i t without presenting another a lternative.

Therefore we are seeking s upport, to capaci tate our rais ing the

awareness of our people and to continue to confront the

indi scr iminate removal of timber i n our region.

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It was at the beginning of the binational coordination of Peru and Brazil that we approached from Apiwtxa and, in

the meetings of the Grupo de Trabal ho Trans fronteir iço, all these questions were di scus sed. It was from there that

recommendations went to governments as did the demands of the indigenous peoples. I would hope, from these,

that continuity be given to the work we started and that they respect our ideas. We need to understand what the

knowledge i s that governments have about i ndigenous peoples, especial ly those li ving on the border. It would

appear that our work is not valued, nor is the thinking of the people who, from within their culture are able toconceive of a lternatives that are not jus t a timber economy.

We are strengthening to resis t timber l abor, it is for this reas on we here i n Apiwtxa and in Yoreka Ãtame, because

it gives us strength to see their experiences.

We s eek a solution for our territory, our culture is in danger, seeing the chi ldren today, not fi nding a better future

for themselves, this i s why we want to establ is h a plan for li ving. This pla n does not yet exist in the minds of my

relatives. But, if there exists any project that we facil itate as much as we see from the Brazi li an si de, if there is an

ins titution exerting the effort and desi re to help us find a way out, we will not di sappear with time, our s truggle is

to prevent the destruction of our forest.

Isa ac Pianka:

The experience of working with forest management from within a vi ll age, does not fit. In the ca se of Sawawo, the

company had promised to provide ass is tance to the community and did not do s o. It stayed within the indi genous

land, with a management plan developed for i t and used the community. An indigenous community has a totally

different conception of the world and this way of seeing the world was thrown off for a mill ion errors . This left a

deep impact on Sawawo, on both the forest and on the people. We noticed the difference when we, as cous ins,

brothers, of the same people, were received like strangers. We realized they were being manipulated.

When Sawawo began the work, the company soon planned another community for continuing the timber

exploitation across the Amônea river. The famil ies of Sawawo tried to live, but the company reali zed it would be

problem because of our interference. Then, i t brought in Ashaninka from other regions of Peru and createdanother Native Community, which is "Shawaya."

The ‘green seal ’, because of Sawawo, can become a l ie. People who buy their product do not know that it i s kil ling

a population that possess es important knowledge for humanity. This does not deal with just a mahogany tree. The

cultural destructuring of a people i s the end of a mill ennial knowledge; no pri ce can be pl aced on this .

Benk Ashaninka:

The families have created a great dependency with the company. Now that it has left, they have become

dis oriented, thinking that you ca n only survive with the i ll usion of the outsi de world. Abandoning their territory,

they will foll ow the company or go to the municipa lity. Seven famil ies have migrated to our community and are

under the impressi on that they will not survive in their own region. But, they are wrong, I observed that nature has

been abl e to recuperate and, despi te not having any more cedar and mahogany, there is s till great wealth in

Sawawo.

In 2010, Forestal Venao left the region to avoid discredit to its image. But Edwin reports that the company is

returning to the Alto Juruá, right next to the Ashaninka/Kaxinawá Indigenous Land of the Breu River, at the request

of some communities. In fact, it is more a marketing strategy and someone viewing from a dis tance may think this

a matter of a "community demand."

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As to governmental actions , there is a great contradic tion. Whil e governments participate in the great gl obal

debates related to cl imate change, global warming, etc.., the economic pol ici es adopted by Latin American states

in the Amazon completely dis regard the rich biodiversity and the partic ipation of local populations in

implementing their enterprises for economic development.

To i ncorporate some of the s pir it of indi genous peoples and of the tradi tional populations helps us, non-indians,

to change our way of understanding the development in the diverse points of view and interests, from whom and

for whom. In times of so many natural dis asters such as floods, droughts, storms, caused by the impacts of the

indi scr iminate use of natural resources, it would be s al utary to buil d a positive relationship with the forest.

*Executive Coordinator of the  CPI/AC