For centuries, Indigenous communities in the Tapajós River basin have fostered a spiritual connection to their river.
“The Tapajós River is a precious river. It is a road, a source of life, of drinking and bathing. It is also a provider: There are tracajá, fish, all these animals that are very important to us,” Father Edilberto Sena, founder and leader of the Tapajós Vivo Movement, once explained.
Spanning 1,990 km, the Tapajós Basin includes the states of Mato Grosso, Pará, and Amazon. The region regulates the climate and natural hydrological cycles. It is home to dozens of Indigenous communities who rely on it for sustenance and hundreds of endemic species. For centuries, Indigenous communities have sustainably managed these ecosystems. Today, they are threatened by droughts imposed by climate change, large-scale dams (with dozens more proposed), infrastructure development, mining, and deforestation. For over 15 years, International Rivers has worked with local organizations to defend rivers and community rights in the Tapajós Basin from these encroaching harms.
In May, we brought together representatives from Indigenous organizations, and traditional, riverine and urban communities, from the lower, middle, and upper regions of the Tapajós Basin to assess the preliminary outcomes of a forthcoming legal analysis and discuss the strategies and pathway for securing permanent legal protection for the Tapajós and some of its key tributaries. The leaders shared their experience with some of the latest threats and ongoing socio-environmental impacts of large-scale development, which have directly affected their lives. An interactive digital map was also presented, which served as a reference for participants to inform some of the key areas and functions for protection. The gathering followed up on a similar convening held last year, where communities discussed prospects for permanent protections, including rights-based approaches.
The Need for Legal Protections for the Tapajós River
Throughout the convening, the idea that a river can be defended as a subject of rights resonated with participants. They reaffirmed the need for coordinated, integrated, and specialized legal action that centers their voices in conversations around alternatives for sustainable development. Participants also shared the tangible socio-economic impacts of ill-advised development on their lands.
“With the arrival of the ports in Miritituba, it was possible to observe an increase in the flow of trucks. Estimated in May of this year, the line of trucks reached 3,000 vehicles in a 30 km stretch of traffic jams. This was intensified with the paving of [highway] BR-163. The social impacts are clear. Several damages have been caused to the community, such as increased drug use, violence against women and children, child prostitution, an increase in fatal accidents, extermination of animals, and contamination of streams and creeks with pesticides, used for the production of soy, corn, and even fuel when trucks overturn,” said one participant.
Today, a major challenge affecting the lives of Indigenous peoples, traditional riverside communities, and the cities of Miritituba and Itaituba is the dredging of the Tapajós River to allow large barges transporting grain to navigate it. In addition to causing the death of fish species that live in the riverbed and depend on the rock formations for their reproduction, the dredging has caused the banks to fall, increased turbidity of the waters, and made fishing almost impossible. For the local populations, this means less food security.
Another major threat to rivers, intact forests, and Indigenous peoples is the Ferrogrão railway project. The project is still in the planning and technical and economic feasibility studies phase. However, it is expected to affect six Indigenous lands, 17 conservation units, and three isolated peoples. This means that the Ferrogrão will affect more than 7,300 km² of Indigenous lands and more than 48,000 km² of overlapping conservation units. With a route of almost 2,000 km in length, the Ferrogrão will cross more than 10 rivers, tributaries of the right bank of the Tapajós River. If built, it will be the new gateway for the illegal occupation of public lands and invasion of Indigenous lands and conservation units, which will cause a huge loss of biodiversity in the Tapajós River Basin.
Others shared important insights into the fragility of the prior consultation process. Fisherwomen reported that a document titled “Free, Prior, and Informed Consultation” was signed without their proper understanding of its content, revealing a disregard by entrepreneurs for the local population and a serious failure to guarantee rights, one that could even jeopardize the legitimacy of well-executed protocols.
In addition to threatening food security and their economic livelihoods, participants also mentioned that large infrastructure projects often lack safe access or pedestrian crossings, that private interests sometimes coerce community leaders into agreeing to projects that conflict with community interests, and that vulnerable populations, like women and children, are often left without legal protections.
Community-Centered Solutions
In light of the profound and systemic socio-environmental violations imposed on frontline communities in the Tapajós River Basin, community leaders and representatives affirmed the need for an integrated and specialized, continuous legal engagement firmly committed to honoring the rights of those who inhabit and defend the region. They agreed that for legal frameworks to be strong, legitimate, and effective, they must be discussed and developed jointly and coordinated by the communities most affected. Participants also supported the formation of a Legal Working Group to collaboratively map out existing legal challenges and strengthen the autonomy of grassroots actors, including potential legislation to grant the Tapajós legal rights.
Next Steps for the Tapajós River
The human rights of those who rely on the Tapajós River Basin are inextricably connected to the health of the river itself. Without decisive action, the Tapajós risks becoming another casualty of reckless development, where short-term economic gains are prioritized over long-term ecological, social, and cultural sustainability. With coordinated strategic approaches, genuine community partnership, and innovative legal frameworks, Brazil can transform the Tapajós from a symbol of environmental crisis to one that symbolizes respect for human rights and nature.
Moreover, communities living on the banks of the Tapajós need and want legal protections, and implementing them could establish Brazil as a global leader in innovative environmental safeguards. International Rivers is committed to working with frontline communities in the area to develop and implement policies and legal frameworks that address social and environmental injustice in the region and protect the Tapajós for current and future generations. Stay tuned; in July, we’ll release additional recommendations for realizing that vision.