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Voices Silenced: Brazil's Quilombolas Demand Recognition
1 Dec, 2025
Summary
- Afro-descendant community faces a proposed landfill threatening their ancestral land.
- Quilombolas, descendants of enslaved people, fight for recognition and land rights.
- Despite climate summit focus, their local environmental concerns remain unheard.
A quilombola community, Menino Jesus, located a short boat ride from the recent Cop30 climate summit venue, voices concerns about being ignored. This Afro-descendant community, descended from escaped enslaved people, has lived in harmony with the Amazonian forest for generations. They are now battling a proposed 200-hectare landfill site that threatens their way of life and agricultural products.
Despite scientific evidence showing their lands boast exceptional biodiversity and lower deforestation rates, quilombolas struggle for political recognition and land rights. While Brazil's abolition of chattel slavery occurred in 1888, only a small percentage of quilombola communities possess secure land tenure. This vulnerability makes them susceptible to external threats like the proposed landfill.
The environmental department initially rejected the landfill's license, but a court challenged this, allowing the process to continue. Community members express frustration, calling the global climate summit's discussions contradictory as their own urgent environmental issues are sidelined, emphasizing their role as true forest defenders whose voices are not being heard.
