A public civil action was filed by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) against the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) with the aim of protecting a prehistoric cavity, found in the Minas Gerais municipality of Caeté, in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte.
The action seeks for the Federal Court to order the Brazilian cultural heritage protection agency to initiate, within 10 days, an administrative procedure to assess the natural, historical and cultural value of the paleoburrow (burrows dug by extinct animals that lived in underground shelters).
The paleoburrow is at risk of deterioration or complete disappearance due to the Apolo project, run by the mining company Vale, which is being licensed by the Minas Gerais State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainable Development (Semad). The risk of potentially irreversible damage arises from the proximity of the AP-38 cavity to the project’s excavations, which also include the use of explosives to deal with rocks and terrain that are difficult to handle with excavators.
Federal prosecutor Carlos Bruno Ferreira da Silva, who filed the lawsuit, points out that the project will be implemented in the Serra do Gandarela region, where, in addition to the large water reservoirs that are essential for supplying Belo Horizonte and other municipalities in the metropolitan region, it is home to biological diversity and archaeological and speleological heritage. Therefore, “it was to be expected that the agencies responsible for environmental and cultural protection would be acting carefully to avoid the destruction of this wealth,” he states.
At 340 meters long, the prehistoric cavity is considered the largest in Minas Gerais and is the only one to show signs that it may have been dug by megafauna animals, such as the giant two-toed sloth, an animal that could measure up to six meters in length.
The lawsuit explains that the study of paleoburrows “is an inexhaustible source of information about extinct megafauna, containing fossils, claw marks, shell impressions, and other marks called ‘ichnofossils,’ which are specimens and events that may date back 12 million years. The AP-38 cavity is defined as a rare occurrence, being the only one of its kind known in Minas Gerais to date. The site has immeasurable scientific and historical value.”
Recommendation
According to the prosecutor, last June, the MPF recommended that Iphan adopt procedures to reassess the listing of the paleontological burrow, but the request was denied by the agency, justifying the denial based on its ordinance no. 375/2018. According to Iphan, the listing of paleontological sites should only occur if, and when, the occurrence of “human appropriation” is identified.
For the MPF, such restriction is “clearly unconstitutional and illegal”, because it unduly restricts the protection given to this heritage by article 216 of the Federal Constitution, as well as by article 1 of Decree-Law nº 25/1937.
“Paleontological heritage is indeed a cultural asset, even if only the action of nature in its formation is identified. The recognition of the natural, historical and scientific value of a paleontological formation, such as a paleontological burrow (in the present case, the largest in Minas Gerais) expresses the culture of a country, its concern in preserving something ancient and rich in knowledge for all generations. On the other hand, the aforementioned ‘human appropriation’, when it comes to paleontological assets, should be understood as the research, study and discovery that such objects provide to humanity. And this knowledge, obviously, becomes part of the culture of a people, being another item of their identity and belonging. It can be said that the ‘fossil’ is a natural fact that becomes cultural to the extent that society declares its historical value and with it learns about its past”, argues the MPF.
The action also demonstrates that, contrary to what Iphan claims, other paleontological and historical sites, strictly natural, that is, without any sign of “human appropriation”, have already been subject to federal heritage protection by the agency itself. Among them are the Poti River Fossil Forest (PI), the archaeological and landscape site of Campeche Island (SC) and the archaeological site of Serra da Capivara National Park (PI).
For the MPF, the understanding is that, as of 2008, Iphan began to adopt the current position through the publication of an internal act that, in addition to violating constitutional and legal provisions, appears to have the purpose of restricting cultural protection to assets located in areas – as is the case – where there is an interest in economic exploitation.
Therefore, the MPF requests the declaration of unconstitutionality and illegality of articles 81 and 82 of Iphan Ordinance No. 375/2018, so that the federal agency is obliged to institute, within ten days after the judicial decision, an administrative procedure to assess the natural, historical and cultural value of the AP-28 paleoburrow, with the presentation of the result of this assessment – for listing or for the adoption of other protective measures – within 180 days.
THE Brazil Agency contacted Iphan and awaits a response.
