ONGOING ECOCIDE AND ETHNOCIDE
Deep in the rainforest of Nicaragua’s Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, the indigenous Rama and afro-descendant Kriol people are fighting resolutely for their culture and traditions, which are increasingly threatened by the brazen destruction of the forest by land-grabbing cattle ranchers and land traffickers.
“Here it’s the El Dorado of the new settlers! They come to the Indio Maiz Biological Reserve, they deforest either by burning or with a chainsaw, then plant corn, beans or cattle feed and they resell. In one year they make a big profit and the following settlers do the same, they settle, expand the land and it continues. Day after day the reserve is disappearing,” said Santo, an Indian Rama living along the Indio River.
70% of the Indio Maiz Biological reserve forms part of the Rama and Kriol territory. Government protection of this territory — normally only accessible to Rama and Kriol people and managed by the Rama and Kriol territory government based in Bluefields — ceased in 2015. However, major changes really took place in 2018, after a criminal fire which destroyed 5,000 hectares of forest, perpetrated by one of these “new settlers”, typically poor inhabitants from the rest of the country. Local NGOs that were trying to bring attention to this situation were dissolved, forbidden to speak and their members forced into exile, including Amaru Ruiz, president of the Fundación Del Río.
Today we observe a daily flow of boats navigating the Indio River that only the Rama Indians and the Kriol people are authorized to use. Both of these groups bear witness to the violence of land grabbing. “As soon as we try to speak with them, they pull out guns. They know they are here illegally, but they also know they are protected by the government. Before, there was a checkpoint at the entrance of the river and also two boats that patrolled regularly to fight against illegal land occupation and poaching. Now poaching has become the norm and several species of animals such as jaguars, tapirs, green macaws and peccaries are increasingly difficult to encounter. And above all, there are fewer and fewer fish even though it’s our basic diet”.
The four Rama rangers, like Pablo Solano, have been equipped by the Rama and Kriol government with GPS systems. They report violations and share the localization of new settlers to the authorities. “We send the reports but nothing happens” said an irritated Pablo.
These reports provide accurate information on the situation in the area. More than 1000 illegal farms are now located within the Indio Maiz Biological Reserve, with the largest covering over 3000 hectares. It’s more difficult to accurately assess the number of cattle - in part because it is constantly increasing. “Some farms exceed 800 heads,” affirms the ranger.
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