On October 18th, in Brazil, a court made a decision about a Canadian company called Brazil Potash Corp. They wanted to build the biggest fertilizer mine in Latin America, right in the Amazon rainforest.
There was a problem because someone had stopped them from getting the permission they needed. But now, another court said that the people who take care of the environment in that part of the Amazon can give them the permission. This is because there isn’t any officially recognized land that belongs to Indigenous people in the place where they want to build the mine.
So, the Canadian company can go ahead and build their $2.5 billion mine in the Amazon rainforest.
Last month, a federal judge named Jaiza Fraxe in Manaus confirmed her 2016 ruling, which basically means she repeated her decision from 2016. What she decided was that a certain project couldn’t go forward until the Mura, who are local Indigenous people, had a chance to share their thoughts on it. She also said that the permission to proceed had to come from a national environmental agency called IBAMA, not a state agency called IPAAM.
But, now, the appeals court, which is like a higher-level court, has said that there’s no proof that the land where they want to build a mine is actually on Indigenous territory. So, they’re saying that the Indigenous people might not have a say in this after all, according to the decision reported by Reuters.
“If the mineral deposit we’re talking about was inside land that legally belongs to Indigenous communities, there would be no question about the government’s authority to approve mining permits. Even if the land was in the process of being officially designated as Indigenous territory, it would be clear. But that’s not the situation here,” they explained.
Brazil Potash chose not to provide a response to the decision made, which was the result of an appeal filed by the state’s environmental agency IPAAM.
The Mura people, totaling around 15,000 individuals, have differing opinions on whether they should agree to allow the mining operation on their land.”
A bunch of folks who really like the project gathered in Brasilia on a Wednesday to chat with the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira. During their talk, Silveira stressed how vital the mine is for the country. He basically said that Brazil is like the world’s kitchen, serving up lots of food to everyone, and they absolutely can’t afford to run out of potash, which is like a super important ingredient for farming. According to the ministry’s statement, this mine could give Brazil 20% of the potash they need for the next 23 years, making sure they have a steady supply for their farming and food-making.
There’s a plan to build a new mine in Autazes, which is about 75 miles (120 km) southeast of Manaus, the biggest city in the Amazonas state of Brazil. This mine is supposed to help Brazil become less dependent on other countries for 95% of the special fertilizer they use for their crops. They want to produce around 2.4 million tons of this fertilizer each year.
However, there’s a bit of a problem. There’s a group of people from a local Mura community in a place called Soares, not far from the mine site. They say that the mine area is also where their ancestors used to live, and they think it should be considered a special protected area for them. They want the government to officially recognize this land as theirs. But, the process to decide who should really own the land is just beginning. The government agency in charge of these things, called Funai, is still studying the situation, so it’s not officially decided yet.
