In Marajó, fishers fight for their way of life amid the threat of the dismantling of environmental licensing

Texto: Leandra Gonçalves

Foto: Lara Sartorio

In the small fishing village of Jubim, in the Marajó Archipelago, daily life follows the rhythm of the tides, the rains, and the rising and setting of the sun. Depending on the day and the season, fishers choose what nature has to offer—be it fruits like açaí, mangrove crabs, or fish caught with their boats.**

This deep connection with nature is not only a matter of survival. In Jubim, nature and social life are interwoven in a complex network of knowledge, traditions, and everyday practices. Located where the Amazon rainforest meets the Atlantic Ocean, in the Marajó Bay, Jubim reveals itself as a *“maretory”*—a space where territory blends between the sea and the land.

However, this way of life is under threat. External pressures such as the construction of large ports, oil exploration, major navigation routes, and the fencing off of extractive areas put the community's historical relationship with land, sea, and nature at risk.

To assess the threats posed by the development model implemented in the coastal region of Pará to the socio-biodiversity of Jubim’s traditional fishing maretory, we launched the Amazonian Maretories Project. It is funded by the Amazônia+10 call, with support from Fapesp, Fapespa, Fundação Araucária, and CNPq.

This assessment is being conducted through the production of transdisciplinary knowledge, based on a dialogue between scientific knowledge and the traditional wisdom of Jubim.

Ecosystem Services: Limits and New Approaches

When studying the relationship between communities and nature, many researchers use the concept of ecosystem services. This idea gained prominence after the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a global program assessing the impacts of ecosystem changes on human well-being. Ecosystem services describe benefits like food, clean water, climate regulation, and recreation.

However, this view has limitations. It tends to treat nature as a provider of “services” to humans, potentially reducing the complexity of these relationships to a mere exchange of resources.

To overcome this, the concept of Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) was introduced. It also values traditional knowledge, emotional connections, and the cultural meanings of nature.

The NCP framework, developed by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), aims to broaden the understanding of human-environment relationships. It highlights not just the material benefits ecosystems provide but also the cultural, spiritual, and social ties that communities establish with nature.

Nature’s Contributions to People

In Jubim, the relationship with the environment goes far beyond what the concept of ecosystem services can explain. Nature is seen as part of community identity, family history, and ways of life.

To understand how the villagers perceive nature and its resources, researchers from the Amazonian Maretories Project used participatory methodologies—such as community mapping, observation of daily routines, interviews, workshops, and even photographs taken by the residents themselves—to capture how nature contributes to the community.

In Jubim, these contributions extend far beyond food. Nature also provides medicine, materials to build homes and boats, spaces for leisure, and cultural elements. Fruits like açaí, bacaba, and bacuri ensure income and nutrition. Plants like andiroba and pau da verônica are used to heal ailments and relieve pain.

Moreover, the forests and mangroves of Jubim offer space for cultural, sports, and spiritual practices. Places like beaches and creeks are not only fishing areas but also sites of gathering, celebration, and memory.

Mapping Knowledge, Conflicts, and Resistance

Over two years of the project, we noticed that despite the community’s natural richness, it faces a series of challenges:

Fishing decline: In recent decades, residents have observed a decrease in fish or growing conflicts over fishing areas. Many must travel for days to reach distant waters. This is linked to factors like the passage of large ships, industrial fishing impacts, fine-mesh net use, and climate change effects.

Climate change: Locals note changes in tidal cycles, crab behavior, and riverbank erosion.

Real estate speculation: Traditional fruit gathering and extractive areas are increasingly enclosed by real estate developments, restricting community access to natural resources.

Large infrastructure projects: Ports, railways, and oil exploration are being planned for Pará’s coastal zone, increasing risks to biodiversity and local autonomy.

These conflicts form a web of threats that, if not addressed, may dismantle the village’s traditional way of life.

Five Principles for Fairer Coastal Management

Based on our experience in Jubim, we propose five principles to support more just coastal governance:

1. Community Empowerment: Support local initiatives, ensuring community autonomy and leadership.

2. Co-production of Knowledge: Combine traditional and scientific knowledge to plan an inclusive future.

3. Advocacy and Negotiation: Ensure that the community has an active voice and power in decisions affecting their territory.

4. Cultural Valorization: Encourage traditional practices such as artisanal fishing and sustainable extractivism.

5. Environmental Care: Promote responsible resource use while respecting natural cycles.

The Importance of Listening and Learning from Jubim

The use of participatory methodologies goes beyond data collection. It seeks to make residents protagonists in the production of knowledge about their territories.

However, it is important to remember that maps can also be instruments of power. For participatory mapping to truly empower the community, it must be connected to processes that ensure autonomy and respect for local knowledge.

Guided by these principles, the project sought to construct a mapping of Jubim’s *maretory* that is not confined to paper. It is part of a broader goal: to value local ways of life and fight for socio-environmental justice.

Jubim’s story shows that protecting the environment also means preserving cultures, ways of life, and histories deeply intertwined with nature. The threats are many, but the community’s potential is even greater. Investing in local empowerment and traditional biodiversity-related practices is key to ensuring that the rhythm of tides and rains continues to guide future generations in Jubim and other coastal territories of the Amazon.

At a time when the Amazon and its traditional populations are under immense pressure, experiences like Jubim’s reveal alternative paths for human-nature relationships.

A striking example of this alternative approach is seen in community fishing practices, which respect reproductive periods and ensure the sustainability of local fish stocks. Additionally, through Jubim’s public school, community gatherings are held to strengthen cultural identity and the sense of belonging among the younger generations—demonstrating that the relationship with nature can be built with respect and reciprocity.

Instead of treating the environment as a resource to be exploited, the community of Jubim teaches us to see nature as part of life, culture, and memory. Protecting these ways of life is essential not only to ensure the existence of these communities but also to inspire new ways of thinking about our shared future.