Estratégias de resiliência de comunidades tradicionais do Ceará ao desastre do derramamento de óleo (2019/2020)

Abstract

The oil spill that hit the Northeast region of Brazil in 2019 was the most extensive environmental disaster of its kind in the country, negatively affecting more than 1,000 locations, as well as their ecosystems, traditional communities and economy. Among the places affected is the state of Ceará, along with its municipalities of Beberibe, Fortim and Aracati, especially the regions of the Prainha do Canto Verde Extractive Reserve, in Beberibe, and the mouth of the Jaguaribe River, where different traditional fishing and quilombola communities live. Thus, this study sought, through bibliographic surveys and field activities, to understand the events surrounding the 2019 oil spill from the perspective of members of traditional communities in the area surrounding the mouth of the Jaguaribe River and the Prainha do Canto Verde Extractive Reserve, as well as to investigate the resilience strategies of these fishing communities in coping with the negative impacts. As a result, we were able to see the various actions and mobilizations carried out by the community members, both inside and outside their localities, in the fight for individual subsistence, for their families and for the community; one example being the activity of collecting basic food baskets. Other strategies also aimed to preserve ecosystems and raise awareness of their importance, with beach clean-up efforts, collections of food parcels and demands to the relevant government bodies, in a process of resilience, characterized by coping with and overcoming the difficulties caused by the disaster. These communities have suffered various consequences of the spill, such as health risks from contact with the oil, the impossibility of working with fishing and shellfish gathering, which are their main sources of income, food insecurity and psychological problems. In addition, instruments were discussed that can be adopted by local and federal governments to prevent further similar environmental disasters from happening and causing serious socio-environmental and economic damage to coastal communities.