By Regina Vasquez
Simple changes in the way of life of Indian hunters in Brazil's Mato Grosso not only help to guarantee their future, but also serve to protect a rich source of biodiversity from more damaging human activity.
Brasilia, Brazil: The Xavante Indians of Brazil were once a fierce nomadic people, but they are now in settled communities. About 850 Xavantes, grouped in four isolated villages, share an area of 329,000 hectares in the Indian Reservation of Rio das Mortes in the state of Mato Grosso. Only a handful of them speak Portuguese and are able to communicate with outsiders.
The Xavantes still pass on the traditions of their elders orally, but since the reservation was created, they have given up some ancient practices such as moving round the territory in their quest for game. So while they still hunt in the traditional way, they do so in an area limited to just 15 or 20 kilometres from their villages.
The home of the Xavantes is the Brazilian savannah, the Cerrado, covering more than two million square kilometres and accounting for 22 per cent of the country's total land area. It is a tropical savannah of low-growing vegetation and sparsely distributed trees and shrubs. The abundance of flora, bird species and mammals is in sharp contrast to the low fertility of the Cerrado soil.
This is one reason why hunting has always been the main activity for the Xavantes. Towards the end of the 1980s, however, in the Rio das Mortes Reservation, the Indians found less and less game with deer, peccaries, ant-eaters, tapirs, and armadillos all disappearing. The day came when they returned to the village with no food at all.
The Xavantes realized something was wrong with the wildlife, but they did not know what had happened. They contacted the international conservation organization, WWF, for help in discovering why the game they depended on for food was no longer to be found.
A WWF research project investigated the shortage of wild animals and found a simple answer. As the Xavantes were now hunting round their settlements rather than moving from place to place, they were putting pressure on their limited hunting area, and species had become threatened.
WWF's proposal called for a game management plan in the Xavante reservation, stressing the need for commitment from all four villages for the scheme to be successful. This was difficult, because the Indians did not trust each other, but an agreement was eventually signed by all four chiefs last May, and the plan is now being put into effect.
The first part of the management plan consists of protecting one third of the reservation for a period varying from three to five years, depending on the game species, with fauna being monitored in three selected areas.
The Xavante culture provided the second part of the plan: the revival of the traditional hunting calendar which allows for rotation of game areas. During the drought period, they will also increase fishing activities, further reducing pressure on mammals.
In addition, the Xavantes have learned how to keep orchards and they have been introduced to agriculture by the Brazilian Indian Foundation. And finally, the Xavantes will patrol the area to prevent other hunters from coming into the reservation in search of game.
So while working towards sustainability, this game management plan provides an important tool in the preservation of both the Xavante culture and of the Cerrado. There are between 4,000 and 10,000 species of vascular plants and 429 tree and shrub species in the Cerrado. More than 400 bird species, 67 non-flying mammals and 30 bat species have also been identified solely in the Federal District area, covering 5,822 square kilometres.
Settlement of the Cerrado began in the 18th century, when miners came to the region looking for gold and precious stones. They were followed by cattle ranchers and later by farmers. But it was the construction of Brazil's new capital city, Brasilia, in the late 1950s, that increased pressure on nature in the area. Today, almost half the Cerrado has been cleared.
Although the Cerrado is among the richest savannahs in the world in biodiversity, less than 2 per cent of the area is under the protection of the government. Rio das Mortes is not officially a conservation unit, but being an Indian Reservation provides some degree of protection against further human occupation and activities, such as cattle ranching and agriculture, which are the main threats to the area.
Today, as in the past, Xavante men go hunting in the savannah as a group. They do not ride, but just walk to their the selected hunting area, then they encircle it and set it on fire, waiting to hunt the fleeing animals with arrows and shotguns. They then collect the game for the day's food, and take it back to the village where the women prepare the meat. Some is cooked and all the Xavante eat, while the leftovers are smoked for another day. They now hope there will still be that other day.
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*Regina Vasquez is a Press Officer with WWF Brazil