Ian Wagenhuis is the founder of project Terra Inc and director of the Terra Nossa Foundation, an environmental initiative which fosters connections between indigenious communities, globally minded businesses and nature preservation. One of the goals which project Terra Inc pursues is to provide communities in the Atlantic Rainforest with renewable energy, namely the Pataxó tribe in South Bahia.

Ian, please tell us more about the Pataxo and the issues which they are facing today.

Around the last preserved areas (Pataxo homeland) in South Bahia, one of the biggest eucalyptus plantations in the world is planted by a multi national company. This plantation is slowly turning this treasure trove of bio diversity called Atlantic Rainforest into a green desert. While the whole world is looking at the Amazone, the real drama took place in the Atlantic Rainforest, a forest with the so far highest recorded number of different tree species per hectare in the whole world.

What was the evolution which led to this scenario?

Over the course of the past 509 years, the Pataxos have seen their ancestral land reduced into two national parks and a handful of deforested Indigenous reserves. Distressed by this evolution and in desperate need for more forest, the tribe started to successfully occupy national park land a few years ago.

Recently, the tribe finally got back a large part of their ancestral land, which contains two of the last pieces of intact Atlantic Rainforest. Only 6% of Atlantic Rainforest remains standing in Brazil of which less than 1% in our project area. Because there are a lot of Pataxo tribe members that are now totally depended on a relatively small nature area, the pressure on the remaining forest is way too big.

Tell us more about the scope and the type of the wind and solar energy projects which your partner communities seek to develop.

Due to the isolated location of some of the Pataxó homelands, not all villages are connected to the electricity grid. In the year 2000, the Pataxo village, of Coroa Vermelha, was given access to the power grid. In the beginning, this was considered to a joyous event and electricity was free, but soon afterwards, the monthly bills were coming in. The village members realized that they forever lost their traditional way of life.

It started with “free” electricity, than water bills, than sanitation cost,… within a couple of years, the so called “development” is putting more and more families into debt, and creating a new form of dependency. Traditionally there was much more a communal solution to the needs of the tribe, nowadays it is almost every family for it’s one as they struggle to pay the bills.

Some Pataxo communities that are not yet connected to the regular electricity grid have become aware of this, and are eager to set up solar and or wind energy projects within their own communities to maintain their independence.

The Pataxo community of Pe do Monte already has some experiences with solar energy and is trying to expand these activities. In total, there are circa 10 Pataxo villages inhabited by a couple hundred families which are interested in setting up solar and wind energy programs

The Terra Nossa Foundation is assisting these communities in finding partners to develop renewable energy programs. For this we are looking for the right contacts or sponsors which can assist us in finding funds for the equipment and materials need to establish these projects.

How did your connection with the Pataxo come about?

In the year 2000 I was studying at the Unicamp University, in Sao Paulo State, Brazil. It was the year of the famous demonstration of Brazil’s Indigenous populations against the celebration of the 500 year ”discovery” of Brazil.This symbolic demonstration moved me so deeply that I decided to travel to the South of the State Bahia to get to know the tribe which was organising the demonstration. During these travels I made several long lasting friendships with the Pataxos, and I was even made tribal member. The Pataxo tribe showed me from up-close the magic of the old growth forest, and introduced me to the way the tribe (used too) sustainably harvest nearly all products necessary for their survival.

In the year 2003 Tui and Thomas Cook decided to operate a holiday charter flight in the proximity of several Pataxo homelands, and this offered me the opportunity to combine my study of the Pataxo tribe with social tourism practice. At the same time, several social programs were founded which supported a Pataxo school, several Pataxo families, and a landless farmers’ camp.

It was during these times that I learned about the deforestation and fragmentation of the Atlantic Rainforest, and the effects of a mega eucalyptus plantation, which is changing the ecology of the region. Furthermore I learned how the Dutch industry is connected to the deforestation of the Atlantic Rainforest in the south of Bahia. This effect was first caused by the cacao trade, than through a Dutch logging company, and nowadays by a Dutch chemical company which is sole supplier of all chemicals needed for eucalyptus growth and cellulose production.

The destruction of the natural landscape and the struggle of local communities against tree plantations inspired me to start the project Terra Inc. After I went back to Brazil,i proposed some of my ideas to tribal leaders and local government agencies, and out of these meetings, project Terra Inc was formed.

What will be the pillars of the sustainable rainforest economy which you are envisioning?

Our mission is to facilitate connections between indigenous communities and globally minded sustainable enterprise and nature preservation. Through such connections, indigenous groups can maintain their traditional culture, environments, and way of life in a self-determined and meaningful way, while confidently becoming part of the global community in the 21st Century.

The Terra Nossa Foundation aims to achieve this through cooperatively and collaboratively working with indigenous groups in order to:

• Organize community based sustainable development programs.
• Organize local, national, and international environmental awareness campaigns.
• Connect local communities and their sustainably harvested/manufactured products with mainstream international commerce.

Besides connections, we are aiming to provide two-way assistance. One of the fundamental tenets of the Terra Nossa Foundation – and of Project Terra Inc – is the commitment to avoid a paternalistic or top-down approach. The specific focus of Project Terra Inc is on preserving and expanding upon what remains of the Atlantic Rainforest in south Bahia, northeast Brazil, through the participation of its inhabitants, the indigenous Pataxo tribe, and it is above all a project of two-way assistance. By working together with the Pataxo and having them take the lead in ensuring the sustainable development and regeneration of both their culture and livelihood and of the Atlantic Rainforest, benefit will also come to those in the West.

Isn’t your contact with the Pataxo also changing their original way of life?

In a perfect world – not the one that we currently live in now – it would be best for the Western world to leave indigenous peoples alone to carry on their own lives, in their own way, and in their own parts of the world.

Alas, that situation has not been the case for several hundred years, during which time many indigenous groups worldwide have been subjected to so-called ‘civilizing’ influences. Very few indigenous groups live in their traditional homelands, or are able to practice their traditional way of life. In fact, part of the Pataxos are descendents of the tribe that made first contact in Brazil, and have had dealings with Westerners for over 500 years,

Our vision of creating a sustainable economy is first of all creating a diverse economy that respects traditional values, customs, and eco systems. The two last pieces of Atlantic Rainforest hold the tribes past, present, and future. If they will disappear… so will the tribe. For a tribe can only be a tribe when there is still rainforest left for the spiritual leader (medicine man/Paje) to do his work

A note from the editor: Donations to the work of Terra Nossa.org can be made directly through the Website. See the donate buttonon the left-hand side. Terra Nossa is recognized as an ANBI charity by the Dutch revenue service, through which donations can be tax deductable.

Businesses seeking to support Terra Nossa through partnerships and donations of equipment can contact Ian Wagenhuis at

ian@terrainc.nl
Terra Nossa Foundation

Tolstraat 135-137

1074 VJAmsterdam
The Netherlands

- Birte Pampel

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