Brazil's Bolsonaro renews push to allow mining on indigenous lands

Now that two political allies of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (pictured) have been elected as the heads of the upper and lower houses of congress for the next two years, Bolsonaro has returned to one of his stated priorities, authorizing mining activity on indigenous lands.

At the start of last year, Bolsonaro’s administration filed a proposed bill in congress to allow such activity, claiming that legalizing mining in protected areas will boost economic development and help conservation by combating illegal mining. 

However, that effort was a failure due to the effects of the health crisis and also because the then-head of the lower house, Rodrigo Maia, vetoed most of government’s proposals, adopting an antagonistic approach. 

But after lawmaker Arthur Lira of the Progressive Party (PP) became head of the lower house and Rodrigo Pacheco of the centrist DEM party was elected as head of the senate earlier this week, the path could be clearer for the government to make more progress on this issue.

Shortly after the election of the two politicians, Bolsonaro sent a letter to congress highlighting the priorities of the government agenda that are still pending approval from parliament before the end of 2022, when the tenure of the administration ends. 

Mining on indigenous lands is strongly linked with concerns about deforestation. Indigenous lands account for around 12% of Brazil's total territory and combined they equate to an area larger than Colombia, lying mostly in or around the Amazon rainforest. 

While the mining potential in those areas remains unclear, experts suggest there could be major iron ore and gold reserves, among other metals.

CONTRARY VOICES

Although the government claims that legalizing mining in protected areas will help combat illegal mining and generate economic development, many observers have criticized the plan, suggesting that the economic benefits would be limited. 

According to a recent study prepared by an interdisciplinary team of regional development experts led by Carlos Manso, a researcher at the laboratory of poverty studies at the Universidade Federal do Ceará, and published by NGO Instituto Escolhas, there is already gold and diamond production in the Amazon region, mostly on indigenous lands, which produces no significant benefits for those areas. 

"What we saw with the study is that the production of gold and diamonds only generates a temporary effect, since the activity is unable to change important indicators for the municipality," said Larissa Rodrigues, a manager at Instituto Escolhas. 

"Last year, we surpassed the mark of 100 tonnes of gold production, moving around US$5bn. Who receives all that wealth? The resources are taken and there is no development. What is left is a trail of environmental destruction and a sick and uneducated population," she added. 

The plans of the Brazilian government to allow mining activity in indigenous territory attracted criticism from European leaders last year and is likely to escalate this year, as the new US administration, under President Joe Biden, is also likely to press Brazil for a more environmentally-friendly agenda. 

Even the mining companies themselves have shown little interest in mining on indigenous lands. 

Recently, representatives of junior miner association ABPM said that its affiliates are not interested in the plans, while national mining giant Vale has already pledged to never mine on indigenous lands, even if congress does approve it.