Sting reunites with Raoni, twenty years later
Twenty years ago, Sting went into the Xingu region of Brazil for the first time. He observed the deforestation of the Amazon first-hand, seeing vast stretches of barren land that had once been forest.He had the intuition then that the forest was important, and that those who lived there would best protect it.Today, scientists are recognizing that intuition as true, especially in the context of global warming.Twenty years ago, Sting took Raoni, a Kayapo leader in the Xingu, on stage with him to give him a platform from which to speak and an audience to listen.Today, he is doing the same thing.
Sunday morning, Sting and Raoni met again for the first time in ten years.RFUS Program Director Christine Halvorson was there, to provide support and to help translate. Sting and Raoni reviewed maps of the Xingu River Basin, recalling the international campaign they spearheaded together 20 years ago. With support from the Rainforest Foundation that campaign resulted in the demarcation of the Mengkragnoti Indigenous Area - a 19,000 square mile area and home to the Mengragnoti,a sub-group of the Kayapo. The maps today clearly show the indigenous areas in the region as islands of green, with a wave of deforestation advancing all around them.
It was an emotional reunion, and bittersweet: while Mengkragnoti was demarcated, and is well-protected, deforestation in the area has grown tremendously.The maps show that although indigenous lands are virtual islands of green, all around them ranchers, loggers, and now soy farmers, have deforested vast stretches.Their actions have had an impact not only on the forest, but on the people who live in the forest and depend on it for their survival.Looking at a map of the Xingu, then,one can see how successful the model of demarcating indigenous areas has been – and that immense challenges remain.
One of these challenges is the Belo Monte Dam. Twenty years ago, Sting and Raoni joined forces to block the construction of the Kararaô Dam, which would have flooded an immense area of the Xingu. The government shelved the project, but has recently decided to build a dam there again. While the government claims that the impact of the dam would be minimized due to a new design, there are strong technical arguments to the dam’s viability. Very little information on the dam’s impacts has been disseminated and there has been inadequate consultation with the people who would be most affected. The Kayapo and other indigenous groups in the region are opposed to the dam, and demand to be heard. And Sting has offered Raoni the stage again.
About the Belo Monte Dam
Background:The proposed dam would affect the land and livelihoods of nearly 40,000 people in the Xingu basin, including 10,000 indigenous people from 18 ethnic groups. There are solid technical arguments to the dam’s viability but the negative effects of this dam have not been fully disclosed to the public and the public hearings have been biased and insufficient for real discourse.
In 2010 The Rainforest Foundation plans to begin supporting the Women’s Movement to provide communities that would be impacted by the dam with scientific information on the dam’s impacts and the mechanisms available to assert their rights. The Women’s Movement is part of the Xingu River Alive Forever Coalition that is bringing together a wide variety of stakeholders, including indigenous groups, river dwellers, urban populations and environmentalists.We will also support the development of joint strategies regarding the dam amongst indigenous peoples and constructive dialogue between community leaders and government agencies.