Contact Information:
Quilombo de Ivaporunduva
Bairro Ivaporunduva
Eldorado - SP Sao Paulo
Brazil 11960-000
Telephone: 55 13 871-1543
Fax: 55 11 256-0839
E-mail: mnab@zaz.com.br

Recommended for a grant by: International Rivers Network (IRN)
Organization Summary:
The Associação Quilombo de Ivaporunduva (Quilombo Association of Ivaporunduva) is a non-profit organization aimed at fighting a series of dams in the Atlantic Coast Rainforest. Quilombo communities throughout Brazil are fighting for the right to manage their own natural resources, and to fully participate in long-term plans for development in their homelands. Their work is concentrated on fighting the development of dams along the Ribeira do Iguape River; Ribeira do Iguape is located in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, which contains the largest remaining continuous stretch of the Atlantic Coast Rainforest, 95% of which has been destroyed.

The Quilombolas were established in the remote valley as long as four hundred years ago by escaped Black slaves, and are now fighting for title to their traditional lands in order to avoid encroachment by outside interests. In Ivaporunduva there is a Church, currently undergoing restoration, which was built by escaped slaves in 1630. If the current plans for the Ribeira do Iguape dams go through, this Church will wind up under water. The Brazilian Constitution guarantees rights to lands for all Quilombo communities in the country, but transforming these constitutional guarantees into regular land title has proved difficult. Using management practices not unlike those of indigenous people, the Quilombolas have succeeded in maintaining the ecological integrity of the region, using agro-forestry systems and crop rotation techniques. Despite this ecological success, economic conditions are poor, and while historically the region has remained outside of regional development plans (so far outside, in fact, that children must risk drowning in the river during the rainy season to reach the nearest school), the construction of a series of hydroelectric dams in the valley now seems an attractive way to boost the economy in the minds of many of the region's politicians and city residents.

The state government and the Brazilian Aluminum Company have plans for a series of large dams in the valley, and there are also plans to divert the river for Sao Paulo's municipal water supply. These dams could destroy the land base, economic subsistence, and culture of the Quilombos. The Ivaporunduva Association has received important support from Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (the nationally organized Movement of Dam-Affected People) and church agencies.

The mission of the Association is to solidify Quilombo communities in the fight against large dams in the valley as well as support the 22 communities in their campaign for recognition of their traditional territories. Global Greengrants Fund, by the recommendation of the International Rivers Network, has awarded the Associação Quilombo de Ivaporunduva a grant to organize and support the Quilombo communities in fighting against large dams in the valley. By bringing together the Quilombo communities, the Association has been able to work toward the common goal of community-based economic alternatives, and promoted the interests of Quilombolas of the Ribeira Valley in regional and national meetings.

The Ivaporunda Association also works to improve Quilombo living conditions and to represent the interests of Quilombolas in discussions with public officials. Goals include a recovery of Black culture through the revitalization of customs, religious practices, dances, and other forms of cultural expression. They also work with youth to create viable economic and educational conditions designed to keep them in the community. Women's work groups have been created, as well as a movement for the preservation of important historic sites, such as the Nossa Senhora do Rosario dos Homens Pretos Chapel.

The Association has led this fight for land title for Quilombo communities, and has also been at the forefront in the fight to stop these development plans for large dams on the Ribeira do Iguape, the last living river-undammed and unpolluted-in Brazil's Sao Paulo state.