Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/08/31. Recently harvested cotton field. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Sapezal, 2022/09/01. Farm workers load a cargo of cattle on trucks. Photograph by Andre Vieira Sapezal Brazil
Brazil, Sapezal, 2022/09/01. Farm workers load a cargo of cattle on trucks. Photograph by Andre Vieira Sapezal Brazil
Brazil, Sapezal, 2022/09/01. Farm workers load a cargo of cattle on trucks. Photograph by Andre Vieira Sapezal Brazil
Brazil, Sapezal, 2022/09/01. Farm workers return from the fiield after a day of work. Photograph by Andre Vieira Sapezal Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/09/06. Sign at the entrance to a cattle ranch along the road the connects Campo Novo dos Parecis to Sapezal, one of the most productive agricultural regions in Brazil. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/08/31. Rider carries the Brazilian flag during the opening ceremony of the Parecis Rodeio Bulls.rodeo. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/08/31. Competitor rides a bull at the Parecis Rodeio Bulls rodeo. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/08/31. A bull waits to be riden at the Parecis Rodeio Bulls rodeo.. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/09/05. Construction of new soy beans storage silo at Dual, a large processor of agricultural products. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/09/05. Workers process cotton at Dual, a large processor of agricultural products. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/09/05. Workers process cotton at Dual, a large processor of agricultural products. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/09/05. Workers process cotton at Dual, a large processor of agricultural products. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/09/05. Sugar cane harvest at Coprodia ethanol distilery. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/09/05. Sugar cane harvest at Coprodia ethanol distilery. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/09/05. Eladio Antonio Both, responsible for security at Coprodia ethanol distilery, supervises workers during sugar cane harvest.. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/09/05. Sugar cane harvest at Coprodia ethanol distilery. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/09/05. Workers process cotton at Dual, a large processor of agricultural products. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/09/05. Soy beans are unloaded from a truck at Dual, a large processor of agricultural products. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/09/05. Soy beans are unloaded from a truck at Dual, a large processor of agricultural products. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Sapezal, 2022/09/04. Bales of cotton in recently harvested cotton field. Sapezal is the largest producer of cotton in Brazil. Photograph by Andre Vieira Sapezal Brazil
Brazil, Tangará da Serra 2022/09/07. Vanderlei Reck Júnior, a young leadership of the agribusiness in the state of MAto Grosso and an aspiring politician, at the garden of his home during a day of political campaigning. Photograph by Andre Vieira Tangará da Serra Brazil
Brazil, Campo Novo dos Parecis, 2022/09/01. Richard Smith, coordinator for the state of Mato Grosso for the NGO IPAM, stands at the entrance to a farm in the Chapadão dos Parecis, a region where he is supervising the implementation of IPAM’s CONSERV project. With funding mostly coming from Norway and Germany, the project pays farmers in the region to preserve forest areas in their properties that Brazil’s forest code would allow them to legally clear to make space for crops. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Sapezal, 2022/09/01. A forest area in a farm in the Chapadão dos Parecis that is preserved with the help of the NGO IPAM as part of its CONSERV project. With funding mostly coming from Norway and Germany, the project pays farmers in the region to preserve forest areas in their properties that Brazil’s forest code would allow them to legally clear to make space for crops.. Photograph by Andre Vieira Sapezal Brazil
Brazil, Sapezal, 2022/09/01. Leonardo Moura, an agronomist with the NGO IPAM, discusses with Carlos Simonetti (left), who is accompanied by a friend and an employee, the quality of the soil in a preserved area of forest in one of the farms in the Chapadão dos Parecis that are part of IPAM’s CONSERV project. With funding mostly coming from Norway and Germany, the project pays farmers in the region to preserve forest areas in their properties that Brazil’s forest code would allow them to legally clear to make space for crops. Simonetti is one of the first farmers to settle in the region and an enthusiastic supporter of the CONSERV. Photograph by Andre Vieira Sapezal Brazil
Brazil, Sapezal, 2022/09/01. Carlos Simonetti bathes in a river that crosses the remaining forest in one of his farms in the Chapadão dos Parecis, which he preserves with the help of the NGO IPAM as part of its CONSERV project. With funding mostly coming from Norway and Germany, the project pays farmers in the region to preserve forest areas in their properties that Brazil’s forest code would allow them to legally clear to make space for crops. Simonetti is one of the first farmers to settle in the region and an enthusiastic supporter of the CONSERV. Photograph by Andre Vieira Sapezal Brazil
Brazil, Sapezal, 2022/09/01. A macaw flies over a forest area in a farm in the Chapadão dos Parecis that is preserved with the help of the NGO IPAM as part of its CONSERV project. With funding mostly coming from Norway and Germany, the project pays farmers in the region to preserve forest areas in their properties that Brazil’s forest code would allow them to legally clear to make space for crops. Photograph by Andre Vieira Sapezal Brazil
Brazil, Sapezal, 2022/09/01. A forest area in a farm in the Chapadão dos Parecis that is preserved with the help of the NGO IPAM as part of its CONSERV project. With funding mostly coming from Norway and Germany, the project pays farmers in the region to preserve forest areas in their properties that Brazil’s forest code would allow them to legally clear to make space for crops.. Photograph by Andre Vieira Sapezal Brazil
Brazil, Sapezal, 2022/09/01. A forest area in a farm in the Chapadão dos Parecis that is preserved with the help of the NGO IPAM as part of its CONSERV project. With funding mostly coming from Norway and Germany, the project pays farmers in the region to preserve forest areas in their properties that Brazil’s forest code would allow them to legally clear to make space for crops.. Photograph by Andre Vieira Sapezal Brazil
Brazil, Utiariti Indigenous Land, 2022/09/06. Cachoeira da Mulher waterfall, one of the main touristic attractions of the Pareci ancestral territory. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Utiariti Indigenous Land, 2022/09/06. Residents of the Rio Sagre community use traditional methods to build a shelter in a visitors center near one of the many waterfalls that are the main touristic attractions of the Pareci ancestral land. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Utiariti Indigenous Land, 2022/09/06. Ivo André Zokenazokemae, a leader of the Pareci Indians in charge of developing tourism in one part of their territory, dresses up in traditional garb to host visitors. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Utiariti Indigenous Land, 2022/09/06. Ivo André Zokenazokemae, a leader of the Pareci Indians in charge of developing tourism in one part of their territory, dressed up in traditional garb to host visitors, stands by one of the waterfalls that are the main touristic attraction of their ancestral territory. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Utiariti Indigenous Land, 2022/09/06. Kevelen Zonuemazokae, son of the chief of the Haliti Pareci Indians, Ronaldo Zokezomaiake, and director of one of the cooperatives the Parecis created to grow and commercialise soybeans in their territory, stands by the foundations for the compound his cooperative is building to store and process the grains. The compound will also house an agronomy school. The Parecis hope the income from the soybean production will provide a good quality of life for their community and make them economically independent, no longer depending on funds from the Federal Government to maintain their territory. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Utiariti Indigenous Land, 2022/09/06. Ronaldo Zokezomaiake, the chief of the Haliti Pareci Indians, and Arnaldo Bacaval, the mastermind of their plan to grow soybeans in their territory, stand by one of their agricultural machines near one of their soybean farms inside their ancestral territory. The Pareci hope the income from the soybean production will provide a good quality of life for their community and make them economically independent, no longer depending on funds from the Federal Government to maintain their territory. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Brazil, Utiariti Indigenous Land, 2022/09/06. A field prepared by the Pareci Indians for another soybean crop in one of the farms in their ancestral territory. The Pareci hope the income from the soybean production will provide a good quality of life for their community and make them economically independent, no longer depending on funds from the Federal Government to maintain their territory. Photograph by Andre Vieira Campo Novo dos Parecis Brazil
Story published in February’s edition of
@brand_eins magazine, part of a project done together with writer Tobias Asmuth and a grant from the Pulitzer Center International Rainforest Journalism Fund.
https://www.brandeins.de/magazine/brand-eins-wirtschaftsmagazin/2023/marketing/volk-der-paresi-die-eigensinnigenhttps://rainforestjournalismfund.org/es/node/28922
An excerpt from Pulitzer’s introduction to our story in their website:
“The Paresí people from the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, want to cultivate soy. However, the government forbids them, referring to the law that prohibits the commercial cultivation of crops in Indigenous territories.
For decades, the Paresí have witnessed the transformation of the verdant Mato Grosso landscape into fields, roads, and cities for the benefit of others. In the 1970s, the military dictatorship decided that profit was more important than the forest. The state promised land to every settler who wanted to try their luck. People came, cleared forests, raised cattle, and planted soybeans. Everyone made money, except for the Indigenous people.
"They gave us the (ancestral) land, felt good about it, but forbade us to use it," says Kevelen Zokezomaiake of the Paresí people. A few years ago, the Paresí obtained a special permit from the state of Mato Grosso to grow soy. They do not know for how long it will be valid. So, they are racing against time to make their land a modern, efficient, and profitable farm. However, they cannot get construction loans from banks because it is not possible to put up state-owned ancestral land as collateral. "Why are we treated worse than our neighbors?” asks Zokezomaiake.”
***
Mato Grosso is a part of Brazil that doesn’t conform to the view most foreigners have of the country. In fact, not even that of many Brazilians. While the majority in the country lived through a series of economic crises since the 1990s, in Mato Grosso life has been defined by almost uninterrupted prosperity.
The state, the size of France and Germany combined, is the heart of Brazil’s agribusiness, the only sector of the country’s economy that has consistently thrived in the past decades, creating several fortunes in the process. Cities that in the 1980s were not bigger than a dusty gas station lost on the margins of a recently opened dirt road, now lead the country’s quality of life indexes, their low unemployment and booming businesses attracting migrants from all over the country.
A lot of this success came at the expense of the Amazon Forest, which covered a big part of the state and has been razed at a fast pace since the 1970s to make space for farms.
Mato Grosso was settled mostly by the descendants of the European immigrants who colonized the Brazilian south at the turn of the XX century, where they built a prosperous agrarian society built around small cities with close-knit ethnic communities. As succession made the properties increasingly smaller for each passing generation, their sons and grandsons were attracted to the Amazon by the favourable weather and incentives from the Brazilian government, which promised support and large extensions of free land as long as they were willing to put the effort to clear the forest to raise cattle or plant commodities, as their elders did in the south.
It wasn’t an easy process, but many of those who persevered became successful farmers. The culture they created is very distinct from that of Brazil's big cities near the coast. It’s more Texas than Ipanema. A pioneer's spirit dominates their identity. They’re conservative, attached to their roots in the south, religious, entrepreneurial, and independent-minded. They are also suspicious and resentful of a Federal Government that, in their vision, didn’t keep its initial promise of support and never did much for them beyond putting obstacles to their progress.
It’s a social universe that enthusiastically supports Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and the values that his political movement champions.
The Chapadão dos Parecis lies in the middle of Mato Grosso. It’s the most productive agricultural area in Brazil, a plateau with almost 4 million hectares that doesn’t conform neatly with the image generally held about the political fissures in Brazilian society. It’s a place where indigenous communities want to become large soybean producers and big farmers are proud of the forests they preserve on their properties. It’s the kind of place that sits at the center of the debate about the preservation of the Amazon. It can pose the biggest obstacle to its success, or become an important ally.
This project was partly funded with a Global Audience Rainforest Journalism Fund Grant 2022, from the Pulitzer Center.