 |
::01 |
 |
There are various challenges to sustainabile development
in the Indigenous Park of the Xingu. Several of these
have their roots in the history of the formation of
an internally very diversified Indigenous Area – both
from the sociocultural and the ecological points of
view. From the ecological point of view, the process
of occupation has been taking place in an extremely
disorderly way. On the other hand, there are the challenges
that arise from the very fact that these indigenous
societies today have to adapt to a situation of geographical
confinement.
|
::02 |
 |
To this situation, we can even add a significant change in the administration policy of the Park. The model of mediator,
provider, paternalist State which has worked in the Xingu Park ever since its beginning, in 1961, is continuously letting go of
many of its historical responsibilities. Thus, the Indians are obliged to act on something which never concerned them: organize
themselves politically to deal with the questions that arise from their inevitable articulation with the world outside the Park.
|
::03 |
 |
If processes that occur outside the Park directly affect what happens inside the Park, the sustainability of the Park does
not only depend on the attitudes of the Indians and non-Indians, which, like the staff of the ISA, work within it. That is to say,
it is necessary to develop ways of doing politrics outside the Park , identifying possible allies and seeking to sensitize
the relevant public agencies and the public in general to what is happening in the region of the Xingu, keeping in mind that the
problems do not exclusively affect the Indians, but also have to do with defending the biodiversity of the Amazon.
With this objective in mind, the simple process of denouncing the predatory process in the region is insufficient, if
it is not accompanied by data that investigate and show more precisely what is happening and what can be expected from the situation.
Towards this end, a Socio-environmental Diagnosis of the Region of the Feeder Rivers of the Xingu was initiated by the
ISA, the objective of which is to open a broad and qualified discussion with regard to public policies for the development model
of the region of the Xingu. How to regulate this model? How to make it, in the first place, comply with the existing legislation
and then, go beyond this legislation which doesn’t always comply with the demands of socio-environmental sustainability?
|
::04 |
 |
Despite several positive changes in this direction- such as the creation of the ecological ICMS in Mato Grosso and certain
state and federal government programs -, the region of the Xingu is still marked by the mentality that development is synonymous
with cutting down the forest, monoculture, cattle-raising etc. The time for beginning an effective discussion with regard to the
regional development model is already running out.
Besides the external articulations, it is necessary to keep in mind the challenges posed from inside the Park. Its population,
which is around four thousand inhabitants, which has a growth rate of around 3% per year, has nowhere to expand. Consequently,
life in the villages follows a progressively sedentary pattern, in contrast to traditional semi-nomadism. The predatory surroundings,
which prevents the flow of sources of animal protein into the Park (game, animals etc.), completes the picture where the reproduction
of natural resources comes to be a problem, with a tendency to worsen.
Inajá straw, for example, used in the construction of indigenous dwellings, is already scarce in several villages. Under
the present conditions, the traditional management of chelonians has become difficult. The uncontrolled use of fire is also exhausting
the natural resources. The same holds true for the external commerce of artwork, which stimulates the use of certain species on
a scale greater than that when the production of objects of material culture was focused exclusively on internal use and trades.
This whole situation means that the dialogue that our society has delayed in initiating with the Indians of the Park can
no longer be put off. How much time did it take for us to realize that there are limits to the reproduction of certain natural
resources? How many of these resources have not already become extinct before consciousness arose of the necessity of taking action
so that others would not become extinct? It is clear that the entry of the Indians into this discussion has important implications.
In Western society, the relation of man to nature and the natural resources has so many levels of mediation that the notion of
the origin of these levels is lost. In this sense, the position of the Indians, who depend on nature more directly and control
this relation with greater facility, is comparatively favorable. On the other hand, given their own traditional patterns of existence,
many Indians – principally those of the older generations- have difficulty in working with the notion of finite limits, that is,
in adhering to the idea that if they don’t change their strategy of managing natural resources, several of these could simply
cease to exist.
|
