Day 241 - 26 Apr 96 - Page 47
1 "1. Cattle ranching has been the main form of land
2 encroachment and dispossession in Amazonia for Indigenous
3 People. This process is widely documented and are most
4 thoroughly documented in the 18 volume compilation by
5 CEDI". There is a footnote; it says: "CEDI is the Centro
6 Ecumenico de documetacao a Informacao; CEDI carried out a
7 detailed review in 18 volumes of the status of Brazilian
8 Indians entitled Povos Indigenas do Brasil. This is the
9 most complete national analysis of its kind anywhere in the
10 world".
11
12 Carrying back on, I will read that previous sentence again.
13
14 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It refers to the volume produced throughout
15 the 1980s. May I suggest you read on from there?
16
17 MS. STEEL: Yes, OK. "Hundreds of contemporary ethnographers
18 have explored the effect of modern contact on indigenous
19 groups, and provided detailed descriptions of cultural
20 catastrophe, loss and marginalization. Almost 100 million
21 hectares have been set aside for native populations in 523
22 AIs (Indigenous Areas) of which slightly more than 78
23 million hectares are Amazonian on 311 AI. Many of these
24 AIs shelter more than one indigenous group. It is worth
25 noting that 233 of the total areas or 43 per cent are in
26 very preliminary phases (predemarcation) and thus
27 vulnerable to invasion. Of the 90 territories currently
28 without any protection at all, 57 are Amazonian (CEDI
29 1990).
30
31 "The frontline in this process of expropriation in the post
32 war period has been ranching in the southern flank of the
33 Amazon basin.
34
35 "The encroachment of ranches proceeded along two main
36 axes. The first follows the line of the Belem Brasilia,
37 and the second the line of the BR346. These roads pass
38 through landscape from full savannah to high forest. The
39 southern flanks outside of the Amazon are formed of a
40 complex mosaic of tropical woodland formations including
41 savannah, open forest, semi-deciduous forest, liana forests
42 and gallery forests.
43
44 "Since the most productive grasslands in the short term
45 were produced from areas of slightly better soil found
46 under forests, these forest areas which stretch in an arc
47 from Barra de Garcas to Cuiaba were often cleared. The
48 drier tropical forest, and semi-deciduous formations are
49 indeed the most threatened of all Latin American forest
50 types. It is also worth mentioning that the average
51 holding size of the ranches in these areas is the largest
52 anywhere in Amazonia.
53
54 "The post war cattle wave affected numerous tribes base its
55 areas of greatest expansion were areas that had been well
56 beyond the interest and technical capacities of transport
57 since the rubber boom. These ranching forays affected the
58 Kayapo, Xavante" -----
59
60 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do not try to read them, there are a number
