Mudanças geoecológicas na terra indígena Paquiçamba com exploração hidroelétrica do rio Xingu - Amazônia Centro-Oriental

Abstract

Human action, guided by the logic of "progress", has intensely altered the natural landscape, exploiting the environment without considering its capacity for regeneration. In this way, understanding nature's capacity to regenerate is fundamental to developing strategies that can mitigate the various environmental impacts, or even be able to remedy such interventions, especially in areas of socio-environmental vulnerability, such as indigenous lands. Therefore, the study area is the Paquiçamba Indigenous Land located in the Greater Xingu, which has been experiencing an intense process of occupation and environmental impacts. From the 1970s onwards, public policies boosted the occupation of the Amazon, with projects to open roads and create settlements in the region. More recently, the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant has created new challenges for the TI. In this context, the problem of changes to the environment of the Paquiçamba Indigenous Land has arisen, which has significantly altered the lives of the Juruna indigenous people of the Volta Grande do Xingu. The research analyzed the change in water and land within the boundaries of the Paquiçamba Indigenous Land, from a Geoecological perspective, which was guided by Bertrand (2004), Rodriguez, Silva and Cavalcanti (2013), Rodrigues and Silva (2013; 2019), Souza (2010), Paula (2017). The geoecological compartmentalization and analysis of changes in the Paquiçamba Indigenous Land between 2011 and 2023 showed intense changes. The main one is the decrease in the flooded area, which went from 4,911.27 hectares in 2011 to 2,854.03 hectares in 2023, a reduction of 41.88%. This reduction, attributed to the construction of the Pimental dam in 2016, caused significant changes in the area. Beach areas decreased, while rocky areas increased from 1,477.80 hectares in 2011 to 1,889.80 hectares in 2023. Navigable areas have also been reduced, directly impacting the lives of the Juruna indigenous people who depend on the rivers for fishing, transportation and access to resources.