Life in Traditional Amazonian Communities Surrounded by Soy Fields

The transformation of the rainforest into monoculture fields of soybeans is a reality in the lower Amazon rainforest. Monochromatic soy fields shadow the green-colored remaining forest. In the region de Santarém, indigenous and riverside communities are strangled by the vast fields of the grain.

Deforestation of illegal areas, contamination of water sources by excessive use of pesticides, starvation, death threats, peasant expropriation, creation of precarious life in the cities mark the lives of Amazonian communities surrounded by soy.

The situation seems to be getting worse with the implementation of the Barão do Rio Branco Project, which intends to expand BR-163 by the northern Brazilian Amazon forest up to Suriname. What occurs today in western Pará is a portrait of what can happen to other regions in the Amazon.

The purpose of this project is to make a critical portrait, in text, essay photo, and video short-documentary, mainly from the perspective of those who live this reality, but also through the perspectives of researchers, NGOs, and state agents.