Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Paranà (Agenzia Fides) - The Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) has announced the imminent publication of the Report on conflicts over water with data related to the year 2014. According to some data already disclosed, last year the highest number of conflicts was registered over water and families involved in the last ten years: there were more than 42 000 families affected, counting only those who live in rural areas.
According to the note sent to Fides by the Episcopal Conference of Brazil, since 2005, 322 508 families have been involved in conflicts over water. In the year 2014 the cases were 127 with 42 815 families. Parà area counts 69,302 families linked to the conflict, which puts it at the top of the list. As highlighted during the meeting for the creation of the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network (REPAM), held in September 2014, the region suffers from the lack of "big macro-economic projects" while "national governments do not present proposals in the field of Integral Initiative of the regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA) and for the impacts of climate change in the Amazon" as outlined by the document released on that occasion.
As for the so-called "water crisis", affecting the states of southeastern Brazil, the analysis estimates that over 37 million people were involved in the conflicts. Despite the lack of specific data, the report shows how the preservation of the Amazon and Cerrado (the southern area of the Brazilian forest) are the essential factors that provide water to the center-south of Brazil. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 18/03/2015)
