“A maré não tá pra peixe, nem pra pescador”: cartografia decolonial dos conflitos ambientais na área proposta para criação da reserva extrativista Tauá-Mirim em São Luís - MA

Abstract

This doctoral research is a continuation of studies on environmental conflicts in the proposed area of the Tauá-Mirim Extractive Reserve in the Greater Island of Maranhão, also known as the Island of São Luís. It originates from research and extension projects conducted by the Study Group: Development, Modernity, and Environment (GEDMMA) – affiliated with the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Graduate Program in Social Sciences at the Federal University of Maranhão. Born from various ways of seeing and being in the world, this project materializes after an intense experience and dialogue between researchers from different fields of knowledge in a territory that constitutes a space of culture and a way of life through activities such as artisanal fishing, family farming, and the raising of small livestock. The residents live off what they produce and fight to maintain their way of life, which is threatened by local, national, and international enterprises. In recent years, specifically since 2014, these conflicts have intensified, and the 12 communities that make up the territory have been fighting since 2003 for the creation of the Tauá-Mirim Extractive Reserve (Resex), a type of environmental conservation unit provided for by the National System of Conservation Units (Snuc), established by Law 9.985/2000. This system allows for the presence of human populations and economic activities with low environmental impact that ensure the conservation of natural resources. The territory in question is located to the southwest of the Greater Island of Maranhão, in the capital of the state of Maranhão, and houses a set of ecosystems that result in a unique landscape, including mangroves, dunes, coastal vegetation, wetlands, and babassu groves. It is thus a relevant area for the conservation of wildlife. It is in this setting that traditional communities have been interacting with their ecosystems, seeking the resources necessary to maintain their community organization and to continue their culture and way of life based on fishing and agro-extractive activities. Amid this scenario of environmental conflicts, racism, and environmental injustice, the present study aims to analyze the environmental conflicts between artisanal fishers and public and private enterprises in the proposed area for the creation of the Tauá-Mirim Extractive Reserve and its surroundings, using decolonial cartography. The research will be conducted through an ethnographic study, following these stages: i) literature and documentary review; ii) on-site field research; iii) conducting decolonial cartography workshops with the fishers; iv) producing maps with artisanal fishers using decolonial cartography; v) collective development with artisanal fishers of an integrated management proposal for the community territories and strategies to improve the productivity of environmental systems using decolonial cartography. It should be noted that artisanal fishers identify environmental problems as the main cause of the decline in local fish production, due to changes in the coastal environment caused by dredging activities carried out by companies established since the 1970s. They also identify that there were fishing communities in the area that were forcibly displaced.