Plans for Port Threaten Rocks Identified by Charles Darwin

10/17/2013 - 08h31

When a 23-year-old Charles Darwin visited Brazil in 1832, he came across an unusual type of rock on the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Beach rock, as it came to be known, is comprised of beach material and held together with calcareous cement. The rocks Darwin found were over 4000 years old.

Fast forward 181 years, and the strip of sand which is home to the geological formations is under threat. Jaconé, in Maricá municipality, is an area traditionally dependent on fishing and tourism. However, there are plans to develop the area into a major port complex, including a shipyard and an underground storage facility for gas and oil.

The project, a joint venture between the company DTA Engenharia and Petrobras, is still waiting for the green light. Before this can occur, Maricá's municipal chamber will have to annul the area's protected status.

DTA plans to create a base for the production of natural gas from the pre-salt layer formation on the continental shelf. This base, called Rota 3, will provide for Comperj, the petrochemical complex of Rio de Janeiro.

The project, which is worth US$ 20 billion, will use the gas as a raw material for petrochemical products which will then be exported via the port.

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Fabiano Filho, president of Marica's municipal chamber, says the vote will occur shortly. "It will be good for the area," he argues. Just as occurred with land around São João de Barra when the billionaire Eike Batista constructed the port of Açu, areas around Jaconé would immediately acquire greater value.

Júlio Bueno, Secretary of Economic Development of the State of Rio de Janeiro, supports the venture. "I am concerned about Darwin's rocks, but I am more concerned about people's income and employment prospects," he says.

However, for Kátia Mansur, professor of geology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), the area is of global importance, and has immense educational, ecological and cultural value, as well as its scientific interest. Mansur is the author of a work which will be used in a campaign to get the area recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

"It would be a great loss," she says. "We refuse to accept the notion that the port could not be built elsewhere."

Darwin's rocks have allowed us to determine the levels of the tide 4000 years ago. They also permitted the identification of formations now known as the Sambaquis da Beirada, areas inhabited by pre-historic communities.

João Acácio de Oliveira, president of DTA, says he was unaware of the existence of Darwin's rocks at the site. He contracted the company Arcadis-Logos to conduct an environmental survey and assess the impact on the region.

According to Oliveira, the shipyard will be given priority by the Merchant Navy, which is investing in the project to the tune of R$1.05 billion (US$ 480 million).

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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