Editorial: Treasures Made of Stone

07/17/2015 - 08h53

The parched landscape, typical of the Brazilian semi-arid northeast, does not let into the past of the Araripe Basin.

Located between the borders of the states of Ceará, Piauí and Pernambuco, the region was formed millions of years ago by huge freshwater lakes that at times connected with the sea.

The inhabitants of yore – dinosaurs, pterosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, fish and insects– today emerge from the ground where there once were old reservoirs as incredibly well preserved fossils.

Recognized as one of the most important deposits of paleontological treasures in the world, Araripe has been plundered by traffickers for decades, who sell pieces to collectors and museums abroad.

These traffickers not only commit the crime of smuggling but also deprive the country of a heritage of undeniable scientific and touristic importance.

To make matters worse, recovering these relics is a near impossible task. The Federal Prosecutor's Office has been trying since 2007 to repatriate fossils dated over a hundred million years old that have been taken to countries like Japan, Germany and Italy.

Of the five open investigations, two have already been filed; the remaining investigations, in the opinion of prosecutors, are unlikely to thrive.

The greatest difficulty, they say, is obtaining the information requested by foreign nations, such as specific dates and the circumstances in which the ancient pieces were taken. It is, after all, an offense committed on the sly.

A 2010 study mapped the damage that illicit trade has caused on national research. Of the 41 species of extinct terrestrial vertebrates discovered in Araripe, 21 have their reference pieces - used to describe each type - stored outside Brazil.

Curbing this crime, however, is not easy. Its causes begin with the extreme poverty in which the locals live in, who make profits from the sale of "stone bugs" and also undergo faulty supervision by the National Department of Mineral Production.

These structural factors still walk alongside a fossilized legislation, pun intended, that hinders efforts to curb smuggling.

In Congress there is a project to replace the bill - dated to 1942 - that regulates this issue. The new proposal outlines all details, from the definition of what is a fossil to penalties on the breach of access to this heritage, as well as certain penalties for illegalities.

Approval might certainly be a breakthrough in a battle that Brazil has been losing for decades.

Translated by CRISTIANE COSTA LIMA

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