Is exploration in the Brazilian Amazon the best energy solution? Case study in the Cajuhiri indigenous land crossed

Abstract

The Amazon is one of the last frontiers of untapped natural resources, with enormous cultural and biological diversity. In Brazil, policies for occupying the Amazon followed the developmental model of exploiting natural resources. Oil resources in the Brazilian Amazon, mainly in the Solimões sedimentary basin, converge with the interests of a market centered on fossil fuel, which puts the lives of indigenous peoples and their territories at risk. The present work analyzes the impacts on the socio-ecological systems of the implantation of a gas pipeline in indigenous territories. A case study of the Cajuhiri Atravessado Indigenous Land was carried out, supported by the socio-ecological system approach (SSE) proposed by Ostrom to analyze the impacts on the ecosystem. The study allows concluding that the process of capitalist development in the region has been causing decisive effects in the loss of identity, territory and indigenous culture.