Indigenous Perceptions on mining in the Médio Rio Negro

Abstract

From both a national and international focus, the Rio Negro has attracted interest from a diverse field of industries, especially from mining companies, which compete for space and resources with other miners, lumberjacks and illegal fishermen. This competition and resulting disputes, often means that indigenous lands are encroached, which in turn creates substantial and dire socioeconomic issues affecting those indigenous people. The objective of this study was to examine, following the precepts of Latin American Political Ecology, the perceptions of a sampling of local indigenous individuals about the social and environmental impacts caused by mining activity on the indigenous population living on the banks of the Médio Rio Negro, an area belonging to the Municipality of Santa Isabel do Rio Negro, Amazonas. As a working methodology, research was carried out in the municipality of Santa Isabel do Rio Negro with the intention of identifying how the local indigenous population and leaders, dealt with the mining activity in the region. Interviews were conducted and semi-structured questionnaires were completed by our sampling. Once the results were reviewed and discussed, we concluded that our sampling of indigenous individuals possessed a sophisticated understanding of the “ecological inequality” that the Latin American Political Ecology has referenced. To elaborate, the sampling articulated an awareness of the asymmetrical power relations in decision-making, the access to environmental resources and services, the consequences of environmental degradations, and the determination to fight for the recognition of their rights especially the right to free, prior and informed consultation.