The state of Pará in the Brazilian Amazon has authorized Canadian mining company Belo Sun to begin clearing nearly 600 hectares, or almost 1,500 acres, of rainforest for an open-pit gold mine. Legal experts say it’s premature to clear a forest the size of 840 soccer fields while key aspects of the project remain unresolved.  The April 14 decision by Pará’s environment secretariat, SEMAS, is being challenged in court by federal agencies and prosecutors. They say the state lacks authority to approve a mine along the Xingu River, a major tributary of the Amazon, which could impact several Indigenous territories. Management of Brazil’s rivers and Indigenous affairs falls under federal jurisdiction. Indigenous groups, including the Juruna, Xikrin, Xipaia, Arara and Parakanã peoples, protested the Belo Sun mine project for more than a month, saying they weren’t properly consulted, and warning the project could irreversibly harm their way of life. “For the Indigenous, riverine and extractive women of the Middle Xingu, water is not a resource, it is the very condition of existence,” the coalition Indigenous Women Against Belo Sun wrote in an April 22 statement. “The contamination of rivers with mercury and other heavy metals would permanently destroy life in traditional territories.” The public prosecutor’s office told Mongabay by email that Indigenous consultation was conducted by private consultants hired by the company, and that this violates the international treaty governing Indigenous rights. Belo Sun denied the allegation in an email to Mongabay, saying the consultation was conducted with government oversight…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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