The Pile River flows into the northern end of Lake Iliamna. The lake and its tributaries are the headwaters of the Bristol Bay region, one of the richest salmon fisheries in the world. Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wrote a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers last week to say that it would not oppose or put a stop to a huge copper and gold mine near the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery, as The Washington Post reported.
<p>The Pebble Mine, a vast copper and gold deposit, is worth an estimated $500 billion in natural resources. However, it is in the Bristol Bay region of southwest <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/alaska">Alaska</a>, a resource that brings in $1.5 billion annually and provides a vital food source for thousands of Alaska Native residents who live there, according to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/alaska-pebble-mine-bristol-bay/" target="_blank">PBS</a>. An effort to build the mine at the heart of the Bristol Bay watershed has been an ongoing fight in Alaska.</p><p>The project was seemingly dead in 2012, but it got a new lease on life with the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> administration when the Pebble Partnership filed for a permit with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in late 2017. The EPA has raised many concerns about the project, saying that it may result in substantial and unacceptable impacts to "aquatic resources of national importance," as <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/05/28/in-showdown-over-pebble-mine-epa-blinks/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a> reported.</p>
<p>In response, the Army Corps of Engineers announced what that the least damaging way to bring the ore out of the mine would be to take it out around the north side of Lake Iliamna, according to <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/05/28/in-showdown-over-pebble-mine-epa-blinks/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a>.</p><p>Christopher Hladick, the EPA's regional administrator for Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, wrote to the Alaska district engineer, Col. David Hibner, that the agency's serious concerns about the plan continued. He noted that the concerns include the fact that dredging for the open pit mine "may well contribute to the permanent loss of 2,292 acres of wetlands and ... 105.4 miles of streams," as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/05/29/epa-opts-not-delay-controversial-alaska-mine-now/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>The EPA will still have the authority to veto the project, but the latest letter makes it unlikely to do so.</p>
<p>Mark Ryan, a lawyer in private practice who served as regional counsel in EPA Region 10 between 1990 and 2014, told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/05/29/epa-opts-not-delay-controversial-alaska-mine-now/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> that the EPA's letter appears contradictory.</p><p>"It's a very odd letter," Ryan said. "It points out the mine's very serious environmental damage but then does not invoke EPA's powers to elevate the issue for further discussion."</p><p>"Today's decision ... gives us more reason to believe that there will be no veto," Pebble CEO Tom Collier said in a written statement, as <a href="https://www.alaskapublic.org/2020/05/28/in-showdown-over-pebble-mine-epa-blinks/" target="_blank">Alaska Public Media</a> reported. "This is consistent with our observation that (the Corps) and EPA, and the other cooperating agencies, have been working well together to resolve all outstanding issues."</p>
<p>Opponents of the project argue that the mine will damage the salmon, which are critical for the economy, for sustenance and for the region's cultural heritage.</p><p>"There are still many substantive issues with the project proposal that have yet to be resolved," said Daniel Cheyette, the vice president of Bristol Bay Native Corp., whose Alaska Native corporation opposes the mine, which would be the largest in North America, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/05/29/epa-opts-not-delay-controversial-alaska-mine-now/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p>
<p>While the Army Corps of Engineers has said the mine will have minimal impact on the salmon, environmental groups strongly disagree.</p><p>"It's about four times larger than the largest mine the EPA said that it was willing to consider for permitting," said Joel Reynolds of the Natural Resources Defense Council, to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/alaska-pebble-mine-bristol-bay/" target="_blank">PBS</a>. "The notion that the contaminants can be contained in any reliable fashion in that kind of environment has never been proven, never been tested, and in the judgment of virtually any independent scientist, simply can't be done."</p>
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Juukan 1 and 2 in June, 2013. Puutu Kunti Kurrama And Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation
By Samantha Hepburn
In the expansion of its iron ore mine in Western Pilbara, Rio Tinto blasted the Juukan Gorge 1 and 2 — Aboriginal rock shelters dating back 46,000 years. These sites had deep historical and cultural significance.
<p>
The shelters are the only inland site in Australia showing human occupation continuing through the last Ice Age.
</p>
<p>
<em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/rio-tinto-just-blasted-away-an-ancient-aboriginal-site-heres-why-that-was-allowed-139466" target="_blank">The Conversation</a></em><em>.</em>
</p><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139466/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<p>The mining blast caused significant distress to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama traditional land owners. It's an <a href="https://skugal.org/blast-destroys-one-of-countrys-oldest-known-aboriginal-heritage-sites/" target="_blank">irretrievable loss</a> for future generations.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1265472431772188672" id="twitter-embed-1265472431772188672" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1265472431772188672&created_ts=1590547113.0&screen_name=ngaarda&text=Ancient+rock+shelters+destroyed+in+Pilbara+mining+blast+on+Sunday.+PKKP+Aboriginal+Corporation+devastated+at+loss+o%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FVfpJUGTH1g&id=1265472431772188672&name=Ngaarda+Media+Pilbara" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="2b97bf3b4746640cc311e88e8ea7d900"></iframe><p>Aboriginal cultural heritage is a fundamental part of Aboriginal community life and cultural identity. It has global significance, and forms an important component of the heritage of all Australians.</p><p>But the destruction of a culturally significant Aboriginal site is not an isolated incident. Rio Tinto was acting within the law.</p><p>In 2013, Rio Tinto was given ministerial consent to damage the Juukan Gorge caves. One year later, an archaeological dig unearthed incredible artefacts, such as a 4,000-year-old plait of human hair, and evidence that the site was much older than originally thought.</p><p>But state laws let Rio Tinto charge ahead nevertheless. This failure to put timely and adequate regulatory safeguards in place reveals a disregard and a disrespect for sacred Aboriginal sites.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM2MjIxNS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMDQzNjk4MX0.artQnLjdRbrMrOaOJ0amy6qSRSbDEOH0Nnr512471Lg/img.png?width=980" id="ca677" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fdaddc06e2494a4c2dd8ae34fc0dfa1a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The destruction of a significant Aboriginal site is not an isolated incident. Puutu Kunti Kurrama And Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation
Not an Isolated Incident
<p>The history of large developments destroying Indigenous heritage sites is, tragically, long.</p><p>A $2.1 billion light rail line in Sydney, completed last year, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/this-is-a-tragic-loss-sydney-light-rail-construction-destroyed-heritage-site-20190322-p516qk.html" target="_blank">destroyed a site</a> of considerable significance.</p><p>More than 2,400 stone artifacts were unearthed in a small excavated area. It indicated Aboriginal people had used the area between 1788 and 1830 to manufacture tools and implements from flint brought over to Australia on British ships.</p><p>Similarly, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/27/the-rocks-remember-the-fight-to-protect-burrup-peninsulas-rock-art" target="_blank">ancient rock art</a> on the Burrup Peninsula in north-western Australia is under increasing threat from a gas project. The site contains more than one million rock carvings (petroglyphs) across 36,857 hectares.</p><p>This area is under the custodianship of Ngarluma people and four other traditional owners groups: the Mardudhunera, the Yaburara, the Yindjibarndi and the Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo.</p><p>But a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Environment_and_Communications/BurrupPeninusla/Report" target="_blank">Senate inquiry</a> revealed emissions from adjacent industrial activity may significantly damage it.</p><p><span></span>The West Australian government is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jan/29/australia-lodges-world-heritage-submission-for-50000-year-old-burrup-peninsula-rock-art" target="_blank">seeking world heritage listing</a> to try to increase protection, as the regulatory frameworks at the national and state level aren't strong enough. Let's explore why.</p>What Do the Laws Say?
<p>The recently renamed federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is responsible for listing new national heritage places, and regulating development actions in these areas.</p><p>At the federal level, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (<a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/cth/consol_act/epabca1999588/" target="_blank">EPBC Act</a>) provides a legal framework for their management and protection. It is an offence to impact an area that has national heritage listing.</p><p>But many ancient Aboriginal sites have no national heritage listing. For the recently destroyed Juurkan gorge, the true archaeological significance was uncovered <em>after</em> consent had been issued and there were no provisions to reverse or amend the decision once this new information was discovered.</p><p>Where a site has no national heritage listing, and federal legislation has no application, state laws apply.</p><p>For the rock shelters in the Western Pilbara, Rio Tinto was abiding by Western Australia's <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/wa/consol_act/aha1972164/" target="_blank">Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972</a> — which is now nearly 50 years old.</p><iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1265226523167977472" id="twitter-embed-1265226523167977472" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1265226523167977472&created_ts=1590488484.0&screen_name=Sophiemcneill&text=What+a+story+on+%23SorryDay+%40RioTinto+blows+up+one+of+country%27s+oldest+known+Aboriginal+heritage+sites.+And+the+worst%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F1iU4zdGaGr&id=1265226523167977472&name=Sophie+McNeill" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="b152f672b8b0fa6c7000ca7503bc4c2b"></iframe><p>Section 17 of that act makes it an offence to excavate, destroy, damage, conceal or in any way alter any Aboriginal site without the ministerial consent.</p><p>But, Section 18 allows an owner of the land — and this includes the holder of a mining licence — to apply to the <a href="https://www.dplh.wa.gov.au/acmc" target="_blank">Aboriginal Cultural Material Committee</a> for consent to proceed with a development action likely to breach section 17.</p><p>The committee then evaluates the importance and significance of the site, and makes a recommendation to the minister. In this case, the minister allowed Rio Tinto to proceed with the destruction of the site.</p>
No Consultation With Traditional Owners
<p>The biggest concern with this act is there's no statutory requirement ensuring traditional owners be consulted.</p><p>This means traditional owners are left out of vital decisions regarding the management and protection of their cultural heritage. And it confers authority upon a committee that, in the words of a <a href="https://www.dplh.wa.gov.au/getmedia/11dd5b41-fcf9-4216-a1ac-06ece672c087/AH-Review-Position-Comparison-for-Aboriginal-People" target="_blank">discussion paper</a>, "lacks cultural authority."</p><p>There is no statutory requirement for an Indigenous person to be on the committee, nor is there a requirement that at least one anthropologist be on the committee. Worse still, there's no right of appeal for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/nov/20/traditional-owners-rally-against-changes-to-wa-aboriginal-heritage-act" target="_blank">traditional owners</a> from a committee decision.</p><p>So, while the committee must adhere to procedural fairness and ensure traditional owners are given sufficient information about decisions, this doesn't guarantee they have a right to consultation nor any right to provide feedback.</p>
Weak in Other Jurisdictions
<p>The WA Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 is <a href="https://www.dplh.wa.gov.au/aha-review" target="_blank">under review</a>. The proposed reforms seek to abolish the committee, ensuring future decisions on Aboriginal cultural heritage give appropriate regard to the views of the traditional Aboriginal owners.</p><p><span></span>NSW is the only state with no stand-alone Aboriginal heritage legislation. However, a <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/researchpapers/Documents/aborigines-land-and-national-parks-in-nsw/02-97.pdf" target="_blank">similar regulatory framework</a> to WA applies in NSW under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.</p><p>There, if a developer is likely to impact cultural heritage, they must apply for an Aboriginal Heritage Impact Permit. The law requires "regard" to be given to the interests of Aboriginal owners of the land, but this vague provision does not mandate consultation.</p><p>What's more, the burden of proving the significance of an Aboriginal object depends upon external statements of significance. But Aboriginal people, not others, should be responsible for determining the cultural significance of an object or area.</p><p>As in WA, the NSW regulatory framework is weak, opening up the risk for economic interests to be prioritized over damage to cultural heritage.</p>Outdated Laws
<p>The federal minister has discretion to assess whether state or territory laws are already effective.</p><p>If they decide state and territory laws are ineffective and a cultural place or object is under threat, then the federal <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/cth/consol_act/aatsihpa1984549/" target="_blank">Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984</a> can be used.</p><p>But this act is also weak. It was first implemented as an interim measure, intended to operate for two years. It has now been in operation for 36 years.</p><p>In fact, <a href="http://ymac.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Extracts-from-Evatt-Review-of-the-Aboriginal-and-Torres-Strait-Islander-Heritage-Protection-Act-1984.pdf" target="_blank">a 1995 report</a> assessed the shortcomings of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act.</p><p>It recommended minimum standards be put in place. This included ensuring any assessment of Aboriginal cultural significance be made by a properly qualified body, with relevant experience.</p><p>It said the role of Aboriginal people should be appropriately recognized and statutorily endorsed. Whether an area or site had particular significance according to Aboriginal tradition should be regarded as a subjective issue, determined by an assessment of the degree of intensity of belief and feeling of Aboriginal people.</p><p><span></span>Twenty-five years later, this is yet to happen.</p>Related Articles Around the Web
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Aerial view of the Esperanca IV informal gold mining camp, near the Menkragnoti indigenous territory, in Altamira, Para state, Brazil, in the Amazon basin, on August 28, 2019. Joao LAET / AFP / Getty Images
By Peter Yeung
From the skies above Creporizao, a remote town in the south of the Brazilian Amazon, the surrounding area looks like a vast blanket of dark green rainforest. But along the dirt roads and rivers that run through it like arteries are telling patches of muddy brown: illegal gold mines.
<p>Wildcat miners come to the area seeking their fortune. Every day, hundreds of laborers embark on long journeys up and down the Crepori river to reach the gold pits, while others fly in on small planes that land on makeshift airstrips. Such scenes have become common across the world's largest rainforest, and are being held up as the cause of widespread destruction.<br></p><p>Jose Maria, a miner from the state of Maranhao, some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) to the east — who does not reveal his full name — is waiting on the river banks for a ride. "We're here to do honest work and earn a living," he said. "I don't see what the problem is."</p>
<p>But the pits where Jose Maria and fellow miners work are located on the more than two million-hectare territory of the Munduruku, one of the largest indigenous tribes in the Amazon, whose mineral-rich lands are protected under Brazil's 1988 Constitution.</p><p>A 2019 survey by polling institute Datafolha showed 86% of Brazilians oppose mining on indigenous territory, yet it has been encouraged by Brazilian president <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/brazils-bolsonaro-proposes-bill-allowing-mining-on-indigenous-land/a-52273665" target="_blank">Jair Bolsonaro's controversial bill, which calls for the legalization of commercial mining on indigenous land.</a></p><p>Submitted to Brazil's Congress in early February, the bill has yet to be put to a vote. A planned ballot was pushed back with the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia, telling Congress it was "not the right moment." But he also stressed that the bill was "not unconstitutional."</p>
<p>Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy told DW it was planning to "regulate activities" on indigenous land, adding that the process would require "consultation with the indigenous communities," which would be able to participate in mining activity.</p><p>While some in the Munduruku have been won over by the allure of riches, and allow gold extraction on their land in exchange for money, the majority remain opposed to illegal mining.</p>
'Full-scale gold rush'
<p>About 13% of Brazil's territory is classified as indigenous land, spread across more than 400 reserves. But <a href="https://www.amazoniasocioambiental.org/en/" target="_blank">according to the Amazon Geo-Referenced Socio-Environmental Information Network</a>, there are more than 450 illegal mining sites in the Brazilian Amazon, where most of those reserves are located.</p><p>The proposed law would likely lead to a dramatic rise in the level of mining activity.</p><p>"Once you open the door, it will become a flood," Glenn Shepard, an American anthropologist who works with indigenous populations affected by illegal mining, told DW. "The law will create a precedent for miners to go in. It's already a full-scale gold rush going on, and these indigenous groups are losing control."</p><p>Greenpeace's journalism team, Unearthed, has reported that <a href="https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2020/04/03/coronavirus-brazil-amazon-gold-rush-indigenous-groups-deforestation/" target="_blank">gold miners planned to continue working through the coronavirus pandemic</a>, increasing fears of spreading the disease to indigenous groups. </p><p>In advance of the vote on the bill, the Ministry of Mines and Energy told DW it had received more than 4,000 applications for mining-related activities on indigenous land.</p><p><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/brazilian-indigenous-tribesmen-shot-in-hit-and-run-attack/a-51574624" target="_blank">Tensions between miners and local communities are already high.</a> In June last year, Brazil's indigenous rights agency, Funai, reported dozens of miners dressed in military uniform invading the Wajapi community, in the Brazilian Amazon, stabbing and killing one of its leaders.</p><p><a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/spotlight-criminalisation-land-and-environmental-defenders/" target="_blank">According to research by international NGO, Global Witness</a>, 20 land and environmental defenders were killed in Brazil in 2018 alone. Globally, the nonprofit cited mining as the deadliest sector, with 46 reported murders in the same year.</p>
The deforestation issue
<p>Environmentally, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/amazon-sees-alarming-rise-in-deforestation/a-51668498" target="_blank">one of the biggest impacts of mining is logging.</a> A 2017 report published in the journal Nature Communications found that mining accounted for 9% of all forest loss in the Amazon between 2005 and 2015.</p><p>Satellite <a href="https://maaproject.org/2020/gold_brazil/" target="_blank">analysis </a>published by the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project revealed that 2,000 hectares of gold mining-related deforestation occurred in 2019 across the Munduruku indigenous reserve, more than double the amount recorded the year before.</p><p>Last November dozens of tribal leaders from the Amazon met with officials in Brasilia to file claims and report serious threats to their territories.</p><p>Alessandra Korap Munduruku, a leader from Para state who attended the meeting, says the legalization of mining would "be the death of our people."</p><p>Besides bringing "disease and prostitution to our people, drug addiction to our children, and violent conflict to the Munduruku men," she said gold mining activity is also killing fish through mercury poisoning.</p><p>Released across the region's major Tapajos River during the mining process, mercury is seeping into the tributaries like those that snake past the mining town of Creporizao. Local communities rely on these rivers for many of their water needs.</p><p>Late last year, in the first study of its kind, Erik Jennings, a neurologist based in the city of Santarem, took blood and hair samples from 112 tribespeople to assess mercury levels.</p><p>"It's a slow genocide," Jennings told DW. "The mercury can cause serious cognitive and visual impairment, and deform fetuses."</p>
Problematic legal trade
<p>Even the legal gold trade in Brazil is largely unregulated, which facilitates illegal business and plays a significant role in the destruction of the Amazon. Prosecutors in Para state say the lack of regulation in the legal trade and the fact that receipts are paper-based carbon copies make it easy for criminals to thrive and illegal gold to enter the legal system.</p><p>"The practice of fraud in the sector is quite easy, and the investigation of illegalities becomes an almost insurmountable obstacle," Luis de Camoes Lima Boaventura, public prosecutor in the Amazonian city of Santarem said.</p><p>"Until a computerized system is installed, the authorities cannot check, in real time, the legality of the transactions. To make a transaction of illegal gold, all you currently need is a pen and paper."</p><p>According to National Mining Agency estimates, around 30 tons of gold worth some 4.5 billion reals ($1.1 billion, €900 million) are illegally traded in the state of Para annually. That is around six times more than the amount legally declared.</p><p>When miners like Jose Maria return to Creporizao at the end of what can be days away, they come to one of a dozen gold shops that line the main drag to melt what they have mined into standardized bars. Once that is done, illegally-mined gold, which is responsible for widespread deforestation, pollution and violence in the Amazon, has entered the system and can no longer be traced.</p>From Your Site Articles
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The moon sets over the border fence between the U.S. and Mexico on March 14, 2017 in Hidalgo, Texas. John Moore / Getty Images
In the midst of a global pandemic, President Donald Trump found time earlier this week to sign an executive order for U.S. companies to mine the moon's mineral resources, according to Newsweek.
<p>The executive order makes it clear that the administration does not view space and celestial bodies as global commons, allowing for mining operations without any international treaties, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/07/trump-mining-moon-executive-order" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> reported.</p><p>"Outer space is a legally and physically unique domain of human activity, and the United States does not view space as a global commons," the order, called Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources, states.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.mining-technology.com/features/trump-wants-us-companies-to-mine-the-moon/" target="_blank">Mining Technology</a>, the order states that commercial partners participate in an "innovative and sustainable program" headed by the U.S. to "lead the return of humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization, followed by human missions to Mars and other destinations." The document adds that successful long-term exploration of space will require commercial entities to recover and use resources, including certain minerals, in outer space.</p><p><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-encouraging-international-support-recovery-use-space-resources/" target="_blank">While the order specifically noted that a return to the moon</a> would allow the country to explore and exploit lunar minerals, it implied a future commercialization of the solar system would apply to "the Moon, Mars, and other celestial bodies," as <a href="https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2020/04/09/trump-calls-american-businesses-mine-moon/5123361002/" target="_blank">The Palm Springs Desert Sun</a> reported.</p>
<p>The U.S. never signed the 1979 moon treaty, which states that non-scientific use of space resources must be governed by international regulations. Then in 2015, Congress passed a law to allow American companies and citizens to use resources from the moon and asteroids, as <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-signs-order-encouraging-us-mine-moon-minerals-1496823" target="_blank">Newsweek</a> reported.</p><p>As <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/07/trump-mining-moon-executive-order" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> points out, the willingness to plunder natural resources is part and parcel with the administration's policies on Earth. The Trump administration has opened up wide swaths of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-lands" target="_self">public land</a> to mining and rolled back environmental regulations in an attempt to prop up the coal industry.</p>
<p>The federal government has routinely ignored requests to update the main law governing hardrock mining, even as the planet careens towards a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate crisis</a>. The law has been effectively untouched since its inception in 1872, according to <a href="https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2020/04/09/trump-calls-american-businesses-mine-moon/5123361002/" target="_blank">The Palm Springs Desert Sun</a>.</p><p>The U.S. interests in the moon seem to revolve around building a sustainable settlement. In 2024, the Artemis 3 mission will touch down at the moon's South Pole, brining one female and one male astronaut who will become the first moonwalkers of the 21st century, as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2020/04/09/trump-wants-to-mine-the-moon-this-is-how-nasa-will-do-it-using-roomba-sized-rovers/#838b31840d61" target="_blank">Forbes</a> reported. While that will be a brief visit, NASA has plans for future Artemis missions to create "a sustained lunar presence" in 2028.</p><p>The Artemis program is seen as a program to create a waystation for an eventual U.S. voyage to Mars, though it's not clear how these long-term plans will work nor what role private companies like SpaceX will play, as <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a32082958/trump-moon-mining-asteroids/" target="_blank">Popular Mechanics</a> reported.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a32082958/trump-moon-mining-asteroids/" target="_blank">Popular Mechanics</a>, "Scientists and researchers are investing a lot of time and resources in ways astronauts will be able to gather what's around them on the moon or on Mars in order to make building materials, life-sustaining shelter, and even renewable fuel for people staying on these celestial bodies."</p>
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International Monetary Fund / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Sir David Attenborough wants a ban on deep-sea mining.
<p>The 93-year-old conservationist spoke out <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/sir-david-attenborough-hopes-coronavirus-crisis-will-not-hinder-uk-climate-change-summit-11955590" target="_blank">in an interview with Sky News Thursday</a> in conjunction with a new report that warns of the potentially devastating consequences of extracting metals and minerals from the deep places of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a>. The practice could harm <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/biodiversity" target="_self">biodiversity</a>, limit the ocean's ability to support life and even disrupt its ability to store carbon, worsening the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. </p>
<p>"We should not go in and trash an area of the globe about which we know hardly anything until we've done the proper research - in short we want a moratorium against action of industrialising the deep-sea," Attenborough told Sky.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1237983319540850688" id="twitter-embed-1237983319540850688" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1237983319540850688&created_ts=1583993198.0&screen_name=FaunaFloraInt&text=Please+join+our+call+%E2%80%93+alongside+Sir+David+Attenborough+%E2%80%93+for+governments+to+declare+a+moratorium+on+%23DeepSeaMining%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FtMmLLIess6&id=1237983319540850688&name=Fauna+%26+Flora+Int." frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="FJWZ3I1584105773"></iframe><p>The <a href="https://cms.fauna-flora.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/FFI_2020_The-risks-impacts-deep-seabed-mining_Report.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> Attenborough backed was published by <a href="https://www.fauna-flora.org/" target="_blank">Flora and Fauna International</a> (FFI) Thursday, a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> group of which Attenborough serves as vice president. It comes as there is growing interest in deep-sea mining, defined by FFI as mining below 200 meters (approximately 656 feet), as deposits of minerals used in batteries and mobile phones are discovered, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/12/david-attenborough-calls-for-ban-on-devastating-deep-sea-mining?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco&fbclid=IwAR17aGXn2dgIWqgKYQvM7jASuEYcjV69PoNUj5Fmr8r2YETn7T-ryH7illI" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. The international rules governing the new practice will be decided at a meeting of the UN International Seabed Authority in July.</p><p>While the impact of mining above 200 meters is well understood, science has yet to learn much about the deep ocean, making it difficult to assess mining's impacts there. The FFI report is the <a href="https://www.fauna-flora.org/news/sir-david-attenborough-urges-halt-deep-sea-mining-plans-wake-alarming-new-scientific-report" target="_blank">first</a> to seriously consider the risks of the practice, and it drew some troubling conclusions.</p><p>Deep-sea mining could:</p><ol><li>Disturb pristine ecosystems</li><li>Create far-reaching plumes of sediment that could kill <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life" target="_self">marine life</a> far from the mining site</li><li>Kill microbes in sediments and hydrothermal vents that reduce methane and carbon</li><li>Disrupt the ocean's "Biological Pump" that distributes nutrients and sucks carbon out of the atmosphere</li><li>Expose deep-sea life to toxic metals</li><li>Worsen <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ocean-acidification" target="_self">ocean acidification</a> through the mining of sulphide deposits on the seafloor</li></ol>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1238052679395442695" id="twitter-embed-1238052679395442695" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1238052679395442695&created_ts=1584009735.0&screen_name=Marine_CoLAB&text=%F0%9F%93%A2%F0%9F%93%B0Today%27s+report+from+%40FaunaFloraInt+warns+of+the+impacts+of+%23DeepSeaMining+on+the+health+of+the+ocean%2C+our+planet%27%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FmtTdyTNpZj&id=1238052679395442695&name=Marine+CoLABoration" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="UW1SE51584105774"></iframe><p>The risk of such impacts in a little-understood ecosystem is why Attenborough is joining FFI in calling for a ban on the practice.</p><p>"Whatever you do please do the science before you go in and destroy - because that's what it is - mining is a polite word, mining also means destruction. Destruction of an ecosystem of which we know pathetically little," he told Sky.</p><p>FFI acknowledged that deep-sea mining is sometimes portrayed as part of the solution to the climate crisis, because it is a potential source of many metals needed for lithium-ion batteries. However, Director Pippa Howard wrote that the risks associated with the practice made it necessary to search for other solutions, such as developing less-metal dependent technologies like hydrogen fuel cells or batteries from materials extracted from sea water.</p><p>"We need to shatter the myth that deep-seabed mining is the solution to the climate crisis!" Howard <a href="https://www.fauna-flora.org/news/depth-deep-seabed-mining-not-answer-climate-crisis" target="_blank">wrote</a>. "It is nonsense that this form of mining is a 'light' alternative to terrestrial mining and that all the cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese lying 'for the taking' on the bottom of the oceans are some kind of silver bullet."</p>
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Salt River Project-Navajo Generating Station in the red desert of Page, Arizona seen above before it shut down in November 2019.
Members of the Navajo and Hopi tribes are struggling to adjust to a new way of life following the closure of the coal-powered Navajo Generating Station late last year, as leaders look for new sources of revenue and energy.
<p>Both the AP and the Arizona Republic reported last month that Navajo and Hopi tribe members, who had access to coal from the mine to heat their homes, are struggling in their first winter without the mine. Some of the <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/c/*MWkRkl1JtxzW6Tdj633VPkym0/*N6-JGdpQkj1mW8blG797j97s30/5/f18dQhb0Sjvg8XJ9fqN834vY8HyjJqVQK2VH8rl9YqN3hHh9SXL0jYVp3s9r7s5LskW8T37sB8-y10rW8-hQnL1VbT0mVqCHYq7qHJy0W8ZPPCP4dL9wSW4bJ02h4b_rKwW7MbC3c8T3zSVVtDzXp55WFbkW3-8Sdh55nSC9W1VJH714c2Rr9W7MtYb849z-4PN2MV0XLbG0m9W8W1JLS2KSp1NW2jt1653NnV4FW1nJpwv26pdfjW35ybh16SN4n9Mc2TMZNBYs8VgN1lW8q0rNGN96Lf0sc351ZVb2YJ17fn6g9VQKgdH4TKl7KN2Dx8FNWhVr7VQZsFp396NMkMTpZzVdxL6tW7ddCj_3Ppn9PW5y7nXs36MwH0MVQKwrMMdrFW7q7-Qc6jZ_YvN45Ly2MkwRPgW8j1Bvz7v563yW1BML017xRd-4W2JDMBl3hSFjWW1ny5pj6w0QV4VcxpdW6YnztmW3ygdk128GqNNW3RN-fl6PYS6cN5y8gdmdSQk9V1_P-w5LcShW111" target="_blank">15,000</a> families without electricity are traveling for hours to cut wood from forests miles away or rely on local wood delivery service, while others have resorted to burning clothes or furniture to keep warm. </p><p>The tribes are also looking to renewables: Earther reports that the Navajo Nation is working with the city of Los Angeles, a partial owner of the former plant, to create a renewable energy hub on the plant's site to help power the city and bring electricity to more tribe members. </p><h4>For a deeper dive:</h4><p><a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/c/*MWkRkl1JtxzW6Tdj633VPkym0/*W714yx98h-HBfN1q4xjtFjTbr0/5/f18dQhb0SbTH8YHtvCN834vY8HyjJqVQK2VH8rl9YqW3hHh8k2P7_nXVcnTGj98kDmwW6cc-5H7nwMJHW1wYvYF6bMHT5N2JbBBCdnLWPW1q25QC654qzPW7dKZmM8qSGdvW90G7th8S3yR5VbY02S4s7X0SW1nk4sT4D5QSsW1c08qM7JCxGlW81bhDK7N_KqMW12CJpd3VKVtLW6mGYn87G222cW6pzHWB79p919W2tk5vH2z_scnW6x2RKS5-lMJcW5sSvPr4w-xtpW5TML7D2nMPhBW6rYB8_5PnbhCW5S8R3r5TfZ6SW4Jjw2v6VKVR6W47ShFK3dp4-tW5qCdpW5kgd2gW3zGwjS62g9yPW2-w3v-5h8hCZW4yDvPf4lfJh3W6NZDfB3KszDsW6vDrRf3ySs-TW82G-VB8yRlRqMrPpMvrJh2DW4kxR6D5DjW8tW4sg6JZ7nwRx9W1nyXgW2lpPhKW5mRgWy3dx7dkW4NkG663sccKWW6sb2FB5LWn3_W1Xn_92841l_QW2MC3Cp4Q-5SVW4HzlYM1BkT2h111" target="_blank">AP</a>, <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/c/*MWkRkl1JtxzW6Tdj633VPkym0/*W2zm_pH78LkYLVNPsjB6_SQQ10/5/f18dQhb0S65M2jVHPSW12hcpX4-t2_mV2xZHz2llXVwW7Zn2Rs33rx3zW8sGzf-1pSM4dW5wbk6c6KlcTrW43QXrC80MH2kW8P3dBG1xYK82N3hwVnK9N9z8W1hlfVb4DF3cQW31fT6x99LkScW6YCH612X8VcMVTXx2m5GkzBFV-kf2B7lpNrTW7_NDw33mHJVhW2LzMbk2mXtLjW7WTWk76t_KmBW2qTF1P1SnD53W5BkZ6S1K3vZSW7694pP5lP7vxW4TSlgY2Z5gvYN2lnD46k-L-jM9rSVXd6JG6W39Yb2s5CDWz3W2Gq-kB42rL7CW3kMg0M1xMxhjW81PsNf21S6CcW4nvZKx5ZZvFCW7sPDJV5dKCsCW6N6vcN6dB9ynW4RxQf46zkWNmW2QzBHX5Js1f4W1vFCKS60_k6rW27fBR84qqC0bW53BLsH65-_8DN4Z87R7wwPvFW1W0--M4P-XjZW6knztq3-PMz_W7LtYC35QyCYsW2zM0bw7csm-mW2xp4qL86YMg-W1h2vfg8sX3VTN4p2tTHvY_GgW8Nqmpz4GkFK0W3jMV4Y4gTBz6W2NYj9h8tpzw7W4ZfHkX5L0PbNW9j-YKf2QPzNKW8rDr6-9fWqh6W4jN-bt48Xg4cW7tnGpM8s7Vd5f3xrfCJ02" target="_blank">Arizona Republic</a>, <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/c/*MWkRkl1JtxzW6Tdj633VPkym0/*W40S5P490NNNFW6LpQBb3dqrrN0/5/f18dQhb0S65P2dYTs8W12N-ps1f7-VqW4_m2Fn4_cbVhV8xZ962rw0LQW2rymv11mKSVDW7x70Rf5Gj32YN1rRmSGym_sKW4PX3PM3bxykwW4hKzQB2DsdBLW4vshw28Pz1kjW61fk2J841Yp1W1-lQ1164MMbjW57pqMR2l6KwwW7l0Nnq2GmsV6VK864q5XWJkHW3w_2q42vv9CGN11N7Zf186sfTd01V2wbdB7VxFsns9hkhmdW1fv-DN61vq_JW98RVVB3ZvHYrW2fT3_86h5kBZW1ZHKRf505wMRW2NB_1w6sdznYN1jssqGW0f75W7-707k3mxRtjW9dFKK26MwDf4N7Y9lfn-DbdnW4g29sM7FPd8XN45MmJwq8tCsW8FqMr35YBcD4W8wJy8X1GQwfMW6DgGxH4-3csPW8VzHyC1TBy4YW6SKGCl8FY46GW4jyqdt3H0kTfW3jTZ5388y-bhW2-2DK06FVx-fW5Mb0PL7rlRPJW78FP_G2Hdkk2W422gwM5Y5JgjN32mdw-YxcGhW4qdxB39c8ySyW10lnpD2gPJd3W5yKRWv8Xlx8kW5t90Tv6FWs-8W99hyXN2Djm61102" target="_blank">Earther</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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White gold man-made diamond solitaire engagement ring. Clean Origin
While keeping track of the new trends in the diamond industry can be hard, it is still an essential task of any savvy consumer or industry observer. Whether you are looking to catch a deal on your next diamond purchase or researching the pros and cons of an investment within the diamond industry, keeping up with the trends is imperative.
<p>
Like any industry, the <a href="https://www.econotimes.com/The-Diamond-Industry-in-2020-Where-Does-It-Go-from-Here-1572482" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">diamond industry is always evolving</a>. This year, manufacturers and consumers alike should be prepared for the changes that the industry will undergo, largely because millennials will be taking over the customer base. Not sure what's to come? Here's everything you need to know about diamond industry trends in 2020.
</p>
New Trends in the Diamond Industry
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjgzMjk0NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5MTgzNDIyNH0.XD6EqVbZNvkRmcIM4aSv1UNtrmu58HvD71pkHyvBP2c/img.jpg?width=980" id="8c7d9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0bc6479bac5e6e069b4407382db706a3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Rose gold lab-created diamond solitaire engagement ring. Clean Origin
<p>2020 will be a big year for the diamond industry and we've got you covered. Here are the top trends in the diamond industry that you need to know about.</p>Millennials Are Shaping the Industry
<p> Love it or hate it, <a href="https://www.cleanorigin.com/blog/millennials-choosing-lab-grown-diamonds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">millennials are changing the diamond industry</a>. However, while millennials have a reputation for "killing" industries, it would be a mistake to believe that the diamond industry is dying simply because the customer base is changing. </p><p> Millennials are making more financially conscious decisions regarding diamond purchases. Many Millennials regard diamond purchases as an investment into the future just as equally as they look at it as an investment into the relationship. </p><p> That said, millennials are looking for the most cost effective options that fit within their budget and lab-grown diamonds fulfill all of their needs. So, while the industry is changing, it's not dead. In fact, it might experience its highest growth ever in the coming years, so long as manufacturers consider new trends and act accordingly. </p>Non-Traditional Options
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjgzMjk1MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMDM4MzMzM30.S_S3UO7uYloBcZ3LYGfMzgLudZUA0VxabH4qKGPvIBU/img.jpg?width=980" id="95e68" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="82d0b538a79d970200037f0e2e90f831" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />White gold lab-grown diamond classic engagement ring. Clean Origin
<h4>Lab-Grown Diamonds</h4><p> It's already been said, but it's worth repeating — millennials are the future of the diamond industry. As with every demographic before them, in order to survive, the industry must make some changes according to the issues of the day. </p><p> Many millennials regard climate change and eco-friendly practices as a top deciding factor in their purchases. If your company or brand has environmentally unfriendly practices or is simply towards the end of its mining life, it's imperative to consider making some eco-friendly changes. </p><p> <a href="https://www.cleanorigin.com/about-lab-created-diamonds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Lab diamonds have a significantly lower impact</a> on the environment than mined diamonds. Not to mention, lab-grown diamonds don't differ from mined diamonds in the eyes of a consumer. In fact, mined diamonds and lab-grown diamonds differ only in the eyes of an experienced jeweler who is able to read the microscopic inscription on the bottom of the lab diamond. </p><p> Overall, lab-grown diamonds have not only increased in popularity, but they are also on the verge of changing the industry. As a less-expensive option that is on par with even the most expensive diamonds, lab-grown diamonds offer the eco-friendliness and affordability that most consumers are looking for. </p><h4>Other Diamond Alternatives</h4><p> Outside of lab-created diamonds, <a href="https://betches.com/diamond-alternatives-engagement-rings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">other alternatives</a> have popped up as options for couples who'd like to opt out of going with a traditional mined diamond. Although man-made stones are leading the charge in terms of popularity, salt & pepper diamonds, moonstones, and moissanite have also gained traction for being "outside the box" and "non-traditional." </p>Key Takeaways
<p> Whether you're an industry observer or a savvy consumer, it's important to pay attention to the trends in the diamond industry. Following these trends can help you to prepare for anything from stock drops and saving big on your next jewelry purchase. As the purchasing demographic changes, so will the industry. <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/millennials/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Millennials are coming out</a> in a big way and shaking up the industry. The need for new mines, lab-grown diamonds, and other diamond alternatives are all big things to look out for in the diamond industry in 2020. </p>From Your Site Articles
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Aerial view of Parque da Cachoeira, which suffered the January 2019 dam collapse, in Brumadinho, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil — one of the country's worst industrial accidents that left 270 people dead. Millions of tons of toxic mining waste engulfed houses, farms and waterways, devastating the mineral-rich region. DOUGLAS MAGNO / AFP / Getty Images
By Christopher Sergeant, Julian D. Olden
Scars from large mining operations are permanently etched across the landscapes of the world. The environmental damage and human health hazards that these activities create may be both severe and irreversible.
<p>
Many mining operations store enormous quantities of waste, known as tailings, onsite. After miners excavate rock, a processing plant crushes it to recover valuable minerals such as gold or copper. The leftover pulverized rock and liquid slurry become tailings, which often are acidic and contain high concentrations of arsenic, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/mercury" rel="noopener noreferrer">mercury</a> and other toxic substances.<em></em>
</p>
<p class="">
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/mine-waste-dams-threaten-the-environment-even-when-they-dont-fail-130770" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Conversation</a>.</em>
</p><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130770/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<p>Mining companies store tailings forever, frequently behind earth-filled embankment dams. Over the past 100 years, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/4159306" target="_blank">more than 300 mine tailing dams worldwide have failed</a>, mainly due to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/4159306" target="_blank">foundation weakening, seepage, overtopping and earthquake damage</a>.</p><p>We are <a href="https://depts.washington.edu/oldenlab/" target="_blank">research scientists</a> studying <a href="https://flbs.umt.edu/newflbs/about-flbs/people/page-elements/flbs-people/people/chris-sergeant/" target="_blank">how humans affect rivers</a>. In our view, the damage caused by stored mine waste often outweighs the benefits that mining provides to local economies and the technology industry.</p><p>This issue is especially urgent now in a region of the Pacific Northwest where Alaska and British Columbia meet. This zone, known as the <a href="https://www.visualcapitalist.com/story-golden-triangle-british-columbia/" target="_blank">Golden Triangle</a>, is studded with mineral claims and leases. We believe that rivers in this area could be severely damaged if proposed mega-projects are allowed to proceed.</p>
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Catastrophic Failures Renew Old Worries
<p>Tailings dam failures range from the 1966 <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-150d11df-c541-44a9-9332-560a19828c47" target="_blank">Aberfan disaster</a> that buried a Welsh village to multiple spills over the past decade in <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/12/mine-tailings-dam-failures-major-cause-of-environmental-disasters-report/" target="_blank">Canada, China, Chile and the United States</a>. The <a href="https://www.icold-cigb.org/" target="_blank">International Commission on Large Dams</a>, a nongovernmental organization, warned in 2001 that the frequency and severity of tailings dam failures was <a href="http://www.unep.fr/shared/publications/pdf/2891-TailingsDams.pdf" target="_blank">increasing globally</a>.</p><p>Two catastrophic and highly publicized failures at the <a href="https://www.mountpolleyreviewpanel.ca/" target="_blank">Mt. Polley dam in Canada</a> in 2014 and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/dam-collapse-at-brazilian-mine-exposes-grave-safety-problems-110666" target="_blank">Brumadinho dam in Brazil</a> in 2019 finally catalyzed a response. The <a href="https://www.icmm.com/" target="_blank">International Council on Mining and Metals</a>, the <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/" target="_blank">United Nations Environment Programme</a> and the independent organization <a href="https://www.unpri.org/" target="_blank">Principles for Responsible Investment</a> drafted a "global standard for the safe and secure <a href="https://globaltailingsreview.org/" target="_blank">management of mine tailings facilities</a>." The first public review of the standard was completed in December 2019, and its authors plan to finalize their recommendations by the end of March 2020.</p><p>The standard aspires to achieve "zero harm to people and the environment and zero tolerance for human fatality." Reducing the likelihood of future dam failures and minimizing damage if one does break are appropriate goals, but our research suggests that the concept of "zero harm" is false and potentially dangerous.</p><p>Why? Because once in place, tailings dams and their toxic reservoirs require maintenance forever. Even if there is no catastrophic failure, these dams and their surrounding infrastructure can cause ecological harm in multiple ways. They require artificial water diversions and releases, which upset natural flow patterns in surrounding streams and modify water temperature and concentrations of metals. And polluted groundwater seepage from unlined reservoirs or failing liners is often hard to detect and treat.</p><p>These ecosystem modifications directly affect organisms on land and in the water downstream. Every decision to allow a mine to proceed with a tailings storage facility indelibly transforms rivers and their ecosystems for hundreds to thousands of years.</p>
International Rivers at Risk
<p>Today these decisions loom large in the Golden Triangle, home to the Taku, Stikine and Unuk Rivers – three of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1111-9" target="_blank">longest undammed rivers in North America</a>. Salmon from these rivers have supported indigenous communities for millennia, generate <a href="https://www.mcdowellgroup.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/FINAL-Southeast-Alaska-Transboundary-Watershed-Economic-Impacts-10_10red.pdf" target="_blank">tens of millions of dollars in economic activity annually</a> and provide a dependable source of food for organisms ranging from insects to brown bears.</p><p>We calculate that 19% of the total drainage area of these three rivers is staked with mineral mining claims or leases. This includes 59% of the Unuk River watershed, along with the entire Iskut River corridor, the largest tributary to the Stikine River.</p><p>We have identified <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ipseXInQJTFPt1wtac431c9AEmDHJqb05qqRwFTOlNU/edit#gid=0" target="_blank">dozens of mines in exploratory or production phases</a>. Some industry representatives call these statistics irrelevant because only a small portion of the claims will convert to economically viable projects. But from our perspective, the fact that vast areas of these watersheds are included in initial explorations implies that few rivers in this region are safe from potential mining development.</p><p>Most proposed projects in the Golden Triangle will require open pit mining and tailings storage. As one indicator of their potential scale, the <a href="https://earthengine.google.com/timelapse#v=57.72808,-129.82688,10.301,latLng&t=3.43&ps=50&bt=19840101&et=20181231&startDwell=0&endDwell=0" target="_blank">Red Chris Mine</a>, which has operated since 2015 in the headwaters of the Stikine River, maintains a tailings reservoir dam that is permitted to ultimately stand 344 feet (105 meters) high and contain approximately 107 billion cubic feet (305 million cubic meters) of tailings. The heights of the failed dams at Mt. Polley and Brumadinho were 131 feet (40 meters) and 282 feet (86 meters), respectively.</p><p>Those heights pale in comparison to dams proposed for three metal mines in the Stikine and Unuk watersheds, including KSM, Galore Creek, and Schaft Creek. The tallest of four dams <a href="https://www.miningdataonline.com/reports/KSM_PFS_PEA_112016.pdf" target="_blank">planned for KSM</a> would measure 784 feet (239 meters) – one of the highest dams in North America, and the second highest in Canada.</p><p>At KSM, economically viable ore will be transported from open pits to a processing facility and tailings storage reservoir, accessed via twin tunnels built under a glacier. After what the project proponent calls the 53-year "life of mine," Seabridge Gold proposes to treat runoff water from the piled waste rock <a href="https://www.miningdataonline.com/reports/KSM_PFS_PEA_112016.pdf" target="_blank">for at least 200 years</a>.</p><p>Each component of these proposed mines is an incredible engineering feat that will cost billions of dollars to construct and more to clean up later. From the perspective of maintaining an ecologically healthy watershed, the life of the mine is just beginning when operations close.</p><p>In contrast to more conventional water storage dams, which are licensed and built for a finite operating life, tailings dams must hold back their slurry forever. The likelihood of leaks or dam failure compounds over this multigenerational time period as facilities age and projects no longer generate revenue.</p>
Accurately Assessing Risk
<p>Rivers are the arteries of coastal Alaska and northwestern Canada, draining pristine snow and ice-covered mountains and pumping out cold, clean water to support fish, wildlife and people. Here and elsewhere, we believe that regulators should take a measured and cautious view of current and planned tailings facilities.</p><p>Dam failures are <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/environments4040075" target="_blank">increasing in frequency</a>, and often are so large that true cleanup or reclamation is not possible. Before more are built, we see a need for independent science to provide a means of honestly assessing the risk of storing mining waste.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Pope Francis celebrates an opening Mass for the Amazon synod, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019. Massimo Valicchia / NurPhoto / Getty Images
Pope Francis, in an effort to reignite his influence as a global environmental leader, released an impassioned document Feb. 12 entitled Dear Amazon — a response to the historic Vatican meeting last autumn regarding the fate of the Amazon biome and its indigenous people.
<p>In a 94-page "<a href="https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2020/02/12/200212c.html" target="_blank">exhortation</a>," Francis argued for the ecological importance of Amazonia — the world's largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest — describing the ecosystem services the biome provides, the region's greatly beneficial weather, and the climate change mitigation the forest offers via carbon storage. The pope stressed that those best suited to protect the Amazon are the indigenous people who have lived there since time immemorial.<em></em></p>
<p>The document comes as the Amazon faces "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/world/americas/amazon-rainforest.html" target="_blank">deforestation at breakneck rates</a>," driven by illegal logging, mining, ranching and agribusiness in <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/03/record-levels-of-deforestation-in-peruvian-amazon-as-gold-mines-spreads/" target="_blank">Peru</a>, <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/disaster-strikes-in-bolivia-as-fires-devastate-unique-forests/" target="_blank">Bolivia</a>, <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/for-colombia-2019-was-a-year-of-environmental-discontent/" target="_blank">Colombia</a> and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/deforestation-in-brazil-continues-torrid-pace-into-2020/" target="_blank">Brazil</a>, a nation that has also seen a sharp <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/murders-of-indigenous-leaders-in-brazil-amazon-hit-highest-level-in-two-decades/" target="_blank">spike in killings</a> of indigenous activists.</p><p><em>Dear Amazon</em> isn't only addressed to Catholics, but "to all persons of good will." It sums up the findings of a three-week Vatican synod, a formal meeting held last October that brought together for the first-time hundreds of Catholic bishops, indigenous leaders and environmental activists from nine South American countries with territory in the Amazon. Francis' post-synod response is organized into four "dreams:" societal, cultural, ecclesial and ecological.</p><p>His plea in defense of the rainforest is at once scientific, humanistic, political, and spiritual: "If the care of people and the care of ecosystems are inseparable, this becomes especially important in places where the forest is not a resource to be exploited; it is a being, or various beings, with which we have to relate," Francis writes in the ecological section. "When indigenous peoples remain on their land, they themselves care for it best, provided they do not let themselves be taken in by the siren song and self-serving proposals of power groups."</p>
<p>Francis joins with Amazon scientists and activists in their alarm. Rapidly escalating deforestation in the biome is already <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/bolsonaros-brazil-unlikely-to-achieve-paris-agreement-goals-experts/" target="_blank">threatening the key goal</a> of the 2015 Paris Agreement — keeping the world from overshooting a 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) rise since the preindustrial era. The Paris accord specifically cites the carbon-sink-and-sequestration capacity, and vital importance, of large, intact forests as a reliable way to slow global warming.</p><p>Top scientists are already warning that climate change and deforestation could be causing the Amazon to cross a critical rainforest-to-savanna <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/the-tipping-point-is-here-it-is-now-top-amazon-scientists-warn/" target="_blank">tipping point</a>, at which time the biome could begin <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/impending-amazon-tipping-point-puts-biome-and-world-at-risk-scientists-warn/" target="_blank">releasing vast sums of stored carbon</a>, pushing the world toward climate catastrophe.</p><p>That warning comes as Brazil, which includes much of the Amazon basin, has been beset by <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/10/as-2019-amazon-fires-die-down-brazilian-deforestation-roars-ahead/" target="_blank">wildfires</a> and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/bolsonaros-brazil-2019-brings-death-by-1000-cuts-to-amazon-part-one/" target="_blank">aggressive land grabbing</a>. The Brazilian Amazon lost 3,475 square miles of forest — seven times the size of New York City — in 2019, a staggering 85 percent increase over 2018.</p><p><span></span>But as <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/02/12/whats-pope-francis-apostolic-exhortation-amazon-synod" target="_blank">reported</a> in the Jesuit magazine <em>America, </em>"Pope Francis' words will certainly not please Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro who, on the eve of the exhortation's publication, sent a <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/bolsonaro-sends-congress-bill-to-open-indigenous-lands-to-mining-fossil-fuels/" target="_blank">proposed law</a> to the Brazilian Congress that would permit mining activities within the reserves of indigenous peoples, including the Amazon region, without the people's consent."</p>
Defending Nature — Again
<p><em>Dear Amazon</em> stands as an emphatic complement to <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/02/top-vatican-official-climate-change-action-is-a-moral-imperative/" target="_blank"><em>Laudato Si, On Care for Our Common Home</em></a>, a papal encyclical released in June 2015 with the express purpose of spurring a positive outcome to the United Nations negotiations that resulted in the landmark Paris Agreement that December. An encyclical is a Catholic teaching document of the highest order, possessing "moral authority."</p><p><em>Laudato Si</em> established Francis on the world stage as an ecumenical leader and advocate for environmental protection. He bluntly blamed human activity for global warming and castigated rampant consumerism and unbridled capitalism as hastening the destruction of the earth.</p><p>Myriad faith communities around the globe were inspired to organize and act on the pope's urgings. However, the controversial manifesto met with <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/08/popes-environmental-encyclical-arrives-in-peru-to-mixed-reviews/" target="_blank">mixed reviews</a> in Latin America where some see conservation as a hindrance to economic growth and the relief of the poor in developing nations. Vatican officials have since touted climate action as a "<a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/02/top-vatican-official-climate-change-action-is-a-moral-imperative/" target="_blank">moral imperative</a>."</p><p>The message of<em> Dear Amazon</em> seems even more urgent than the 2015 encyclical<em>, </em>coming in response to the rapidly worsening Amazon emergency: "We are water, air, earth and life of the environment created by God," Francis writes. "For this reason, we demand an end to the mistreatment and destruction of mother Earth. The land has blood, and it is bleeding; the multinationals have cut the veins of our mother Earth."</p><p><em>Laudauto Si </em>was released when the progressive pope was at the height of global popularity, and it was heralded and cited for months by international media. But the urgent call of <em>Dear Amazon</em> has so far been largely ignored. Mainstream media accounts in the past week instead focused almost exclusively on Francis' decision to not allow the marriage of priests serving in the Amazon as a way of boosting their dramatically diminished numbers.</p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/world/europe/pope-married-priests.html?searchResultPosition=1" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> — which like other accounts stressed the Catholic church's progressive and conservative political divide — went so far as to report that "his closest advisers have acknowledged that the pope's impact has waned on the global stage, especially on core issues like immigration and the environment."</p>People of Faith Respond
<p>Francis won't likely be standing down without a fight. He calls on Latin American governments to enforce their environmental protection laws, return land rights to indigenous peoples, and recognize that Amazonian rainforests are more than an economic resource to be monetized for "extraction, energy, timber and other industries that destroy and pollute."</p><p>"The equilibrium of our planet depends on the health of the Amazon region," Francis writes. "Together with the biome of the Congo and Borneo, it contains a dazzling diversity of woodlands on which rain cycles, climate balance and a great variety of living beings also depend."</p><p>Faith leaders contacted by Mongabay looked past Vatican politics and cheered the pope's message in <em>Dear Amazon, </em>saying that it is invigorating their conservation work and strategies.</p><p>"Protecting rainforests is fundamentally an ethical issue, where care for creation and the realization of social justice for indigenous peoples and forest communities are part of one moral fabric," said Joe Corcoran, the UN project manager for the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/09/interfaith-leaders-step-up-to-protect-the-worlds-sacred-rainforests/" target="_blank">Interfaith Rainforest Initiative</a> (IRI), an NGO which lobbies for governmental climate action in six rainforest countries.</p><p>"Through IRI, we are seeing that not only is the leadership of Pope Francis rallying Catholics to act, but [it is] also inspiring religious leaders from other faiths to protect rainforests around the world," Corcoran said.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjc3NTY1Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTM4NjI4M30.Y5pTtZz6P7myoTw2aH0NakqmBCrEZKzMsVPXFs7xkG0/img.jpg?width=980" id="fb23d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="762322d8e30b479449d744a68ac6644e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/pope-makes-impassioned-plea-to-save-the-amazon-will-the-world-listen/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>Seeing the Amazon gravely at risk, the Vatican has called on governments and the people of the world to protect the world's largest remaining rainforest. Rhett A. Butler / Mongabay
<p>Laura Vargas leads IRI's <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/cop25-laura-vargas-inspires-with-power-of-faith-in-defense-of-forests/" target="_blank">initiatives in Peru</a>: "I believe <em>Dear Amazon</em> marks a turning point for the whole life of the church in the Amazon and beyond its borders. If we believe everything is interconnected, we realize that what happens to the largest tropical forest in the world affects the entire planet."</p><p>Meanwhile, at London-based Christian Aid, a global environmental activism organization, spokesman Joe Ware said, "The pope remains one of the most popular and loved pope's with significant influence not just over one billion Catholics, but of many others, too."</p><p>Ware stressed that 2020 is a crucial year, the year the Paris Agreement <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/" target="_blank">goes into force</a>. The agreement remains dangerously <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2019/12/cop25-self-serving-g20-spites-youth-humanity-world-at-climate-talks/" target="_blank">incomplete</a> as leaders of the industrialized world continue dragging their feet to establish aggressive carbon emission-reduction policies, even as time runs short to dramatically begin decarbonizing the global economy — the UN itself <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/2018/10/08/summary-for-policymakers-of-ipcc-special-report-on-global-warming-of-1-5c-approved-by-governments/" target="_blank">warned</a> in 2018 that the world's nations have just 12 years to act to avoid climate catastrophe.</p><p>"It's vital," Ware said, "that we have the voice of the Catholic Church and people of faith around the world pushing political leaders this year to make the boldest decisions possible."</p>From Your Site Articles
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Shrinking Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante: Trump’s Monumental Mistake
17 February
Insights + Opinion
Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Bob Wick / BLM / onEarth
Well, he told us he would do it. And now he's actually doing it — or at least trying to. Late last week, President Trump, via the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management, announced that he was formalizing his plan to develop lands that once belonged within the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in southern Utah. The former is a stunningly beautiful, ecologically fragile landscape that has played a crucial role in Native American culture in the Southwest for thousands of years; the latter, just as beautiful, is one of the richest and most important paleontological sites in North America.
<p>The Trump administration would allow drilling, mining, and other highly disruptive forms of development to take place on millions of acres that are of immense and unquestionable scientific, cultural, and religious significance. This significance is what compelled President Bill Clinton to designate Grand Staircase-Escalante a national monument back in 1996, and what led President Barack Obama to bestow the same designation on Bears Ears two decades later.</p>
<p>On the one hand, the new plan comes as no surprise: In December 2017, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/04/us/trump-bears-ears.html" target="_blank">Trump reduced the size</a> of <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-modifying-bears-ears-national-monument/" target="_blank">Bears Ears</a> by roughly 85 percent, and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-modifying-grand-staircase-escalante-national-monument/" target="_blank">Grand Staircase-Escalante</a> by half. On the other hand, it came as a huge surprise, in that a great many legal experts contend that Trump's resizing of the monuments is illegal, and, furthermore, believe that the courts — which are <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/10/01/federal-judge-declines/" target="_blank">still in the midst of determining</a> the move's legality — are likely to agree.</p><p>Normally, when your big plans are tied up in litigation and could come crashing down at any moment with the sweep of a judge's gavel, you err on the side of prudence and resist the urge to forge ahead. Not this president. In a phone call with reporters last week, Casey Hammond, the Interior Department's acting assistant secretary for land and minerals management, revealed the thinking behind his boss's decision. "If we stopped and waited for every piece of litigation to be resolved," he said, "we would never be able to do much of anything around here."</p>
<p>Talk about <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-impolitic-outbursts-20180907-story.html" target="_blank">saying the quiet part out loud</a>. The administration can't possibly know how the courts will rule, which leaves just one explanation: It doesn't care how they will rule. Procedural due process may be fine for others, Trump and his Interior Department have concluded, but it's just not their thing. They're not going to wait around for some judge to tell them what they can or can't do. </p><p>But let's set the legal question aside for a moment, and instead explore the moral question that applies. For the tribes and pueblos of the region, Bears Ears is hallowed ground, and has been for many centuries. In the words of <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/bears-ears-monument-native-americans-photography/" target="_blank">Jim Enote</a>, CEO of the <a href="https://coloradoplateaufoundation.org/" target="_blank">Colorado Plateau Foundation</a>, the land "is a touchstone for the Zuni people. The Zuni people go to the Bears Ears area to pay respect to our ancestors in a way that is not very different from people going to a cemetery and paying respect to their family members." In <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/12/28/proclamation-establishment-bears-ears-national-monument" target="_blank">Obama's proclamation</a> designating Bears Ears a national monument, he spent more than 4,000 words vividly detailing the history and grandeur of the land, linking its sacredness to its pristine natural beauty. Federal protection, he wrote, would "preserve its cultural, prehistoric, and historic legacy and maintain its diverse array of natural and scientific resources, ensuring that the prehistoric, historic, and scientific values of this area remain for the benefit of all Americans."</p><p>Can you imagine the Trump administration — or any administration, for that matter — redrawing, by executive fiat, the boundaries of Arlington National Cemetery or the Lincoln Memorial to accommodate the desires of drilling, mining, and other extractive industries? It's unthinkable. And yet this administration exhibits no compunction about grievously assaulting the lands, culture, and religious practices of Native Americans. "When the monument was reduced, it made us think, again, we have given so much to this nation and we are receiving so little in return," Enote told National Geographic magazine.</p>
<p>The decision goes well beyond disrespect. It's desecration. It's an act openly contemptuous of both the five tribes' heritage and that of all Americans. These lands, and the stories that they tell and the ways of life they sustain, are part of our country's collective story and they deserve protection.</p><p>Trump's plan's also, like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/20/donald-trump-epa-environmental-rollbacks-court-challenges" target="_blank">so many of his other gambits</a>, legally unsound. If President Trump believes that recklessly moving forward on this act of administrative vandalism is going to somehow intimidate the courts or the coalition that has risen up in defense of Bears Ears and Grand-Staircase Escalante, he's in for a surprise.</p>
<p><em>Jeff Turrentine is the Culture & Politics columnist at NRDC's onEarth. A former reporter for The Washington Post, he has also written for Slate, The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times.</em></p><p><em><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/shrinking-bears-ears-and-grand-staircase-escalante-trumps-monumental-mistake" target="_blank">onEarth</a>.</em></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Brazil's Bolsonaro Unveils Bill to Open Indigenous Lands to Mining, Oil and Gas Exploration
10 February
Politics
Uncontacted indigenous group in the Brazilian Amazon. © G. Miranda / FUNAI / Survival / Mongabay
By Jan Rocha
President Jair Bolsonaro pressed forward with a "dream" initiative sending a bill to the Brazilian Congress on Wednesday that would open indigenous reserves in the Amazon and elsewhere to development, including commercial mining, oil and gas exploration, cattle ranching and agribusiness, new hydroelectric dam projects, and tourism — projects that have been legally blocked under the country's 1988 Constitution.
<p>Justifying the legislation, Bolsonaro explained that "The Indian is a human being exactly like us. They have hearts, feelings, a soul, desires, needs and they are just as Brazilian as we are," so they will welcome economic exploitation inside their territories. Bolsonaro and the <em>bancada ruralista</em> agribusiness and mining lobby, which is very strong in Congress, have eyed the off-limits indigenous lands for decades. Indigenous territories have the best record for forest conservation and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/04/indigenous-groups-amazons-best-land-stewards-under-federal-attack/" target="_blank">land stewardship</a> in Brazil.</p>
<p>Marcio Santilli, a former head of FUNAI, Brazil's indigenous affairs agency, sees Bolsonaro's "dream" legislation very differently. It will "not promote the economic development of the Indians, but guarantee the exploitation by third parties of their natural resources. It would encourage Indians to live from royalties while watching the dispossession of their lands."</p><p>While the legislation would allow impacted indigenous populations to be consulted, they would lack the power of veto, except in cases of <em>garimpo</em> or wildcat mining. The right of consultation on development projects is assured under the International Labour Organization <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/indigenous-tribal/lang--en/index.htm" target="_blank">Convention 169</a>, of which Brazil is a signatory.</p><p>Though the <em>bancada ruralista</em> is strong in Congress, it remains to be seen whether the bill will gain passage. House of Deputies leader Rodrigo Maia has <a href="https://www.americasquarterly.org/content/how-weigh-bolsonaros-play-environmental-redemption#.XjwYpIptvq1.facebook" target="_blank">said</a> he will not bring the legislation to a vote.</p><p>Conservationists are convinced that the opening up of indigenous lands to economic exploitation would inevitably lead to extensive deforestation of what are the most densely forested areas of the Amazon, and to the contamination of Amazonian rivers. That sort of wholesale deforestation could lead to far greater Amazon drought and to a rainforest-to-savanna <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/impending-amazon-tipping-point-puts-biome-and-world-at-risk-scientists-warn/" target="_blank">tipping point</a> that would greatly endanger Brazilian agribusiness as a driver of Brazil's economy.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjY2OTU4Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5MzEyNDE2N30.lWxWMeqhJg0jOj-9ZEC1lrHemZNZ6X7M_DpfC4aBaQE/img.jpg?width=980" id="518e2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="056a9ddd168e2d811e3a77524f066e8b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A map showing indigenous reserves and conservation units in the Amazon, as well as deforestation. Mauricio Torres / Mongabay
<p>Onyx Lorenzoni, Bolsonaro's chief of staff, praised the bill, claiming it was a "Lei Aurea" for indigenous people — a reference to the 1888 royal decree which freed the slaves in Brazil. From the government's point of view, the legislation is freeing indigenous people, allowing their lands to be invaded by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/mining" rel="noopener noreferrer">mining</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil-and-gas" rel="noopener noreferrer">oil and gas</a> companies; <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/cattle" rel="noopener noreferrer">cattle</a> ranchers; soy farmers and dam builders, while compensating indigenous communities monetarily.</p><p>Under the Brazilian constitution, demarcated indigenous territories belong to the state, and are for the permanent possession and exclusive use of the indigenous people who have always lived there. Only they can decide what activities are allowed on their lands.</p><p>Bolsonaro's new law is therefore an attempt to override the Constitution, say legal experts. It is almost certain to be greatly modified in Congress, if it passes at all. But, say analysts, the message contained in the bill — that indigenous lands are up for grabs — is what matters.</p><p>Since Bolsonaro's election, conflicts between ruralists and indigenous people have soared. The latest report from CIMI, the Indigenous Missionary Council, shows a steady growth in the number of invasions of indigenous areas, up from 111 in 2018 to 160 in 2019; indigenous leaders say Bolsonaro's speeches and comments have contributed to the increase. <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/five-murdered-in-2020-brazilian-amazon-land-conflicts-adding-to-2019-surge/" target="_blank">Five murders</a> due to indigenous and traditional land conflicts occurred in the first weeks of 2020.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjY2OTY2My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNDMwMTExNn0.1IrXSyZtb-IA5RCAnWa_t43s6qY5YLpacqmSYBIx1hE/img.jpg?width=980" id="4dd59" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="94f65ab1124e110995ec099a565d3919" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Uncontacted indigenous group in the Brazilian state of Acre. Gleilson Miranda / Governo do Acre / Mongabay
Uncontacted Indigenous Groups at Risk
<p>The new bill as written would allow economic projects even in areas where there are known to be uncontacted Indians. The existence of 28 such groups in the Amazon region has been confirmed, out of 115 believed to exist.</p><p>But the bill isn't the only potential threat to uncontacted tribes. The day before Bolsonaro announced his legislation, FUNAI appointed an evangelical preacher and agency outsider to head the Department for Isolated and Recently Contacted Indigenous Peoples (CGIIRC). To accomplish this, FUNAI had to revoke its own long-established rule that only a qualified staff member could be chosen to head such a sensitive bureau.</p><p>The new head, Ricardo Lopes Dias, has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/05/brazil-indigenous-tribes-missionary-agency-ricardo-lopes-dias-christianity-disease" target="_blank">strong views</a> regarding the conversion of indigenous people to Christianity. He is a former missionary for the controversial New Tribes Mission, a Florida-based evangelical organization, and worked from 1997 to 2007 in the Vale do Javari indigenous reserve, in Amazonas state. There, according to Matsés indigenous leaders — who protested his presence — he "manipulated part of the Matsés population to found a new village" where an evangelical church would be built. The New Tribes Mission has been accused of causing death and disease among the tribes it worked with in the 1970s, subjecting them to enforced conversion to evangelical Christianity. Lopes Dias has a degree in anthropology.</p><p>Isolated or uncontacted indigenous peoples are usually survivors of larger groups which were decimated by disease or violence when the military dictatorship (ruling from 1964-1985) forced roads through ancestral lands in the Amazon during the 1960s and 70s. In some cases up to 90 percent of local populations died. This led FUNAIi, in the 1980s, after the dictatorship ended, to introduce a policy of non-contact, designating a "no go" zone protecting the survivors, who became known as "isolated Indians."</p><p>The choice by the Bolsonaro administration of an evangelical missionary to head the department, according to experts, indicates a shift in this policy, and has been greeted with dismay by indigenous organizations, who regard it as a means of opening up uncontacted tribes under the protection of FUNAI, and putting their cosmological and ethical belief systems at risk from religious fundamentalism.</p><p>Well known anthropologist Manuela Cunha said, "the mission of the CGIIRC is to protect these peoples from invasions of loggers, miners, drug traffickers and any others, like missionaries, who do not respect their way of life. To choose a missionary — above all one who has tried to convert indigenous people — to head the CGIIRC is totally contradictory to what the law says."</p><p>However, the choice of Lopes Dias is only the latest example in what seems to be FUNAI's deliberate policy over the last year of replacing experienced, qualified staff with military officers and evangelical preachers. Twenty of FUNAI's 39 regional coordinators have been removed under the new administration — almost all were replaced with serving or retired military officers.</p><p>Bolsonaro, this week decided to enlarge his "dream" world even further, extending it to fishing. Apparently still smarting from the fine he received in 2012 (and which he never paid) for being caught illegally sport fishing in a protected reserve in Rio. Police Colonel Homero Cerqueira, head of ICMBio, the agency in charge of Brazil's 334 conservation units, has just authorized "recreational fishing" in all of them, including the most environmentally sensitive preserves.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjY2OTY2MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzODI1ODg1MX0.ihnZ3S0Kb_5xGOl4b1k8XT92kBLs1JxS2A-OlGUrLlk/img.jpg?width=980" id="cf2d6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4bb9ea8afed9c5b1342e5f674222f72d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/bolsonaro-sends-congress-bill-to-open-indigenous-lands-to-mining-fossil-fuels/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>Evidence photo of Jair Bolsonaro upon his 2012 arrest for illegal fishing in a conservation area; he never paid the fine and after becoming president had the IBAMA employee who arrested him sacked. IBAMA / Mongabay
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