Indigenous women in the interior are raising concerns over the impact of mining and other development activities on their food, water, health and traditional lands, with some facing difficult choices over mercury contamination in rivers they depend on for food.
The issue was highlighted on Monday as the two-day “Gender on the Frontlines: Roles, Risks and Urgency in a Changing Environment” conference opened at the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen Campus. The event, hosted by Tamùkke Feminists and the University of Guyana’s Institute of Gender Studies, is examining the links between extractive industries, climate change and gender justice.
Tamùkke Feminists founder Akola Thompson said the impacts are already being felt in Indigenous communities. She said a recent field visit found many women in Parabara reported having to choose between eating mercury-laden fish or avoiding their rivers entirely, adding that women across communities have reported an increase in deformities in their children over the past few years.
Goretti Lewis, president of the South Central People’s Development Association (SCPDA) and a member of the Wapichan Wiizi Women’s Movement, said mercury exposure could also have serious implications for reproductive health. She said mercury can pass through the placenta and breast milk and has been linked to miscarriages, low birth weight and damage to children’s developing brains and nervous systems, adding that the mining crisis is a reproductive health crisis. Lewis said Indigenous women need reliable access to clean water and food, while retaining the right to manage and protect their ancestral lands.
The conference also examined the impact of development projects on Indigenous land rights. Amerindian Peoples Association Executive Director Jean La Rose pointed to mining concessions and exploratory rights in Indigenous territories, saying these activities have affected land rights. She noted that while titles were granted in 1976, much of the titling and demarcation process took place only in the 2000s, and that mining companies granted concessions and exploratory rights in the Upper Mazaruni in Region Eight began having impacts on Indigenous land rights soon after.
Indigenous leader and environmental advocate Michael Williams also raised concerns about development in the North Rupununi, including the Linden-Lethem road and large-scale agriculture in the wetlands. Williams said communities are involved in discussions about the type of road development they want to see in the wetlands, but questioned whether they are being adequately consulted about the potential environmental impacts.
