The State of Sao
Paulo Government plans to dam the Piracicaba River. The main goal is to open 40
km (25 miles) of waterways to drain the exporting soy harvest from the Goias
and the Mato Grosso States through the Santos seaport in the State of Sao Paulo.
The soy would be unloaded nearby Piracicaba City and freighted by train to the
cost. At first sight, any person would agree with the project. The idea would
be worthwhile, as it could lower the heavy highway truck traffic and benefit
the economy. But shall this infrastructure logistic be achieved at any cost?
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| Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) extracted from the environmental assessment |
That´s the
picture! The dam will flood a paradise on Earth called “Tanquã”, wide known as a
refuge for endangered and migratory species. And the Government does not seem
worried about it.
When the winter
hits the U.S. and Canada, many bird species migrate to the southern hemisphere.
And it is not in vain they pick up Tanquã. Many of these species depend on the
swamp and marsh environment: Tanquã is the perfect habitat. But the water level
will rise if the dam is built and the migratory species will no longer find the
nesting purposes of this beautiful place.
The Government
claims the bird species will naturally find somewhere else to reproduce, or
even the surroundings shall fulfill this task. But specialists disagree. The
Environment Assessments are incomplete and superficial.
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| Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) extracted from the environmental assessment |
Accordingly to
the Centro de Estudos Ornitológicos (Ornithological Studies Center) 171 bird
species have been registered in the Tanquã area, and 24 are threatened of
extinction in the State of Sao Paulo (14%).
The agronomist
engineer Antonio Claudio Sturion Jr. and the environmental lawyer Eneas Xavier
de Oliveira Jr. filled a petition address to the District Attorney this last
week concerning one specific bird – the Yellow-breasted Crake – whose first
appearance ever registered in the State of Sao Paulo was last March 2014, in
the Tanquã area. And of course, this bird is not even mentioned in the Environmental
Assessment.
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| The Yellow-breasted Crake (Porzana flaviventer) Picture taken by Hector Bottai |
“The lack of
labeling the area as the only Yellow-breasted Crake habitat in the whole State
of Sao Paulo demonstrates the unique importance of the region and appoints the
insufficiency of the Environmental Assessment. How many more other species
might be in the same situation? We cannot play the fool with the environment.
This biodiversity shall be protected for the present and future generations”,
they state.
Accordingly to
the Environmental Assessment, a total of 12 bird species from North America
migrates to the Tanquã for meanings of reproduction. We name them right bellow:
- Anas discors – Blue-winged Teal;
- Pandion haliaetus – Osprey;
- Falco peregrines – Peregrine Falcon;
- Pluvialis
dominica – American Golden-Plover;
- Charadrius
semipalmatus – Semipalmated Plover;
- Limosa
haemastica – Hudsonian Godwit;
- Tringa
melanoleuca – Greater Yellowlegs;
- Tringa flavipes
– Lesser Yellowlegs;
- Tringa solitária
– Solitary Sandpiper;
- Calidris
melanotos – Pectoral Sandpiper;
- Calidris
himantopus – Stilt Sandpiper;
- Hirundo rustica
– Barn Swallow.
We conclude there´s no gain with the loss of
many species. This project will only benefit a few politicians and construction
enterprises, leaving the people experiencing the damages left behind. Other
matters of environmental and social impacts are concerned in the concept of
this project. They must be taken into account when it comes to issuing the
environmental license – granting NO authorization, hopefully.
The CETESB – The State of Sao Paulo
Environmental Agency – is analyzing the impacts for the previous license – the
first step to check if there is environmental, social and economical
feasibility. Civil society has already expressed its refusal closely followed
by the main local universities statements claiming the environmental assessment´s
lack of field study support.
We urge everyone to spread this piece of news
to whomever might be concerned.
