Rio Pajeú Caravan makes its fourth stop in Serra Talhada

Rivaneide Ligia Almeida Matias
Technical team of the Centro Sabiá in the Sertão

The Caravana do Pajeú is a territorial movement that happened for the first time in 2010, as a strategy to denounce the threats suffered by the Pajeú watershed, such as deforestation, burning, and the discharge of urban sewage and garbage into the Pajeú river and its tributaries. That year,Vanete Almeida, a family farmer and one of the founders of the Movement of Women Rural Workers of Pernambuco (MMTR-PE) was a strong articulator, together with civil society organizations, unions, and churches.

Now in 2023, the Caravan was resumed, considering the significance and potential of the movement for the fight in defense of Rio. Articulated by the Pajeú Watershed Committee and the Pajeú Agroecology Network, this time the Caravan happened in four moments, where stops were made in different regions of the territory, making denouncements and announcements. The first happened in Brejinho and Itapetim, the second in Carnaíba and Afogados da Ingazeira, the third was in Floresta in the campaign “I Turn Carranca to Defend the Velho Chico” and the fourth stop, happened last Friday (9), in Serra Talhada. Rivaneide Almeida is part of the Centro Sabiá’s technical team and was present in the caravan.

At this time, a very expressive group was gathered, with representatives of the public powers of the Pajeú and state municipalities, civil society and water user collectives, who visited two dams and an outfall that discharges sewage directly into the river. In light of these visits, the threats to the health of the river and the population that depends on its waters, whether for consumption or production, were discussed, highlighting cyanotoxin pollution, a substance that can be lethal to humans. The results of this debate will be part of a document to be presented in a People’s Audience that will take place in July, where the Caravan of the Pajeú River will culminate.