Brazil has suspended a decree on dredging and privatizing the Tapajós River, a major tributary of the Amazon, after protests shut down a grain terminal — but Indigenous groups are pressing for its full revocation. Hundreds of Indigenous protesters have since Jan. 22 blockaded the Cargill grain facility in the Amazonian city of Santarém over the threats they say the decree poses to the 14 Indigenous territories and hundreds of riverine communities living along the Tapajós. The decree was a part of an infrastructure project called the Tapajós waterway, which plans to allow private sector actors to expand sections of the Tapajós, Madeira and Tocantins rivers. The project would make the rivers navigable year-round for large barges carrying soy, corn and other grains from Brazil’s agricultural states in the Cerrado and the Amazon to ports on the Atlantic coast. After almost three weeks of protests, the federal government suspended the decree on Feb. 6, but protesters continue to demand that the decree be revoked entirely. “The suspension was announced but for us it is insufficient,” Indigenous leader Alessandra Munduruku told Mongabay in an audio message. “It doesn’t guarantee our rights, our lives or our river. This is what we want.” According to Munduruku, as of Feb. 9 an estimated 800-900 protesters are still blocking access to the Cargill facility. The U.S.-based multinational would be one of the main beneficiaries of the proposed Tapajós waterway expansion, which would allow it to export more grain at a lower cost. Protesters say affected communities…This article was originally published on Mongabay

From Conservation news via This RSS Feed.