Vanessa Parreira Perin

VANESSA PARREIRA PERIN, an independent scholar, Ribeiroa Preto, Brazil, received an Engaged Research Grant to aid “Mapping Shareholders and Financers in Hydroelectric Projects: Engagement in Protecting the Waters of the Juruena River Basin (Mato Grosso-Brazil).” The activities carried out by the NGO Operação Amazônia Nativa (OPAN) in the Juruena river basin (Mato Grosso-Brazil) have demonstrated that the installation of hydroelectric plants underway in this region has compromised the environmental sustainability and socio-cultural integrity of several local communities, including indigenous peoples. The organization also emphasizes that the licensing processes concerning these projects have been carried out without the adequate participation of the local communities affected by them, violating their right to free and informed consultations before any technical, political, or economic decision regarding their territories. To face this challenging scenario, the Juruena Vivo Network, a collective made up of indigenous people, family farmers, researchers, social movements, and civil society organizations such as OPAN, has been monitoring the implementation of these projects, so that they can find ways to share information that are not clearly available. In the same vein, the purpose of this engaged research was to contribute to this gathering of information, focusing on agents that are usually difficult to be “tracked”: the shareholders and financiers. Our expectation is that the results of the project can help build better participation of local communities in the decision-making processes for implementing hydroelectric plants in their territories.