1976. I was ten years old when I received a styrofoam surfboard from my father. Very quickly - watching to the pictures of surfing on television, and even the first surfers in Morro de São Paulo, I learned how to stand on the little board, just my size. Over time, by living deeply with the nature of the coast of Bahia and Brazil, the surf, and the beauty of this coast became apparent to me, and, as for so many surfers, came to seem like two faces of the same sanctuary. Years later, I started taking part in championships in Valença-Bahia, local competitions in Guaibim’s beach. The race for first place moved the hearts of many surfers; the peace transmitted by this sport is still present in my heart, even though the scene has been taken over by the outside sponsors and interests.

And once more I watch the surfing scene – Ilhéus, a city located in southern Bahia - Brazil, will be the site of the Pan American Surfing Games, which will meet, from November 7-14 in Batuba Beach in Olivença, bringing competitors from 20 countries of the continent. The official sponro of the event has a deeper strategy – to promote the image of companies and organizations by endorsing something quite natural through events like this. The difference in this championship is that one of the sponsors is Bamin, a company with Indian and Kazakhstan capital (as  far as we know) that focuses on iron exportation from the city of Caetité in the interior of Bahia. While the highest impact in the region of the mine, things become more and more complicated because the idea of this company, in partnership with the government of Bahia, is to discharge mining remnants along the clean beaches of Praia do Norte, specifically in Ponta da Tulha, just to the north of where the Pan American games will take place. And important watershed of the Grapiuna people, this coast is famous throughout the world for the high biodiversity of its forests. Thousands of people are now working in the region in tourism, fishing and organic family agriculture. Schools such as Dendê da Serra and Rosa dos Ventos, next to the Conduru State Park, educate children on nature conservation, teaching them the value of the environment from a young age.

But the marketing of this event continues: there will be over 300 surfers classified in their countries of origin  through qualifying competitions competing in Ilhéus, for the title of "Best of America" in various categories. Bamin, hitchhiking on these surfboards, will try to sell us the idea that the company is associated with a sport that is both physically and spiritually connected to nature, since it first begin in Polynesia.

It is worth mentioning for the local surfers and for many Americans from several countries who will come to this event what this company insists on omitting the information that, in pursuit of profits from mining, it will compromise a formally designated State Environmental Protection Area, called The Enchanted Lagoon, that many miles of beaches will be polluted with the iron tailings, and that there will be significant impacts in the construction of a port area in a well-preserved natural area. Whales, turtles, dolphins, coral and a myriad of fish are already feeling a strange presence on this coast with the onslaught of Bamin as it searches out the deepest port location and tries to show the technical feasibility of what will be a bad deal for Ilhéus by transform the wonderful northern coast of this region into a courtyard of minerals.  
 
To benefit whom? While surfers  from across  the  region will be anxious to find out who wins “the best in America,” we,on the other side of  the beach, know that the event has another purpose - to improve the image of a company, driven by the money of the iron, that wants to destroy the charm of the coast in a fraction of months -- a coast that was carefully created over millions of years.  
 
The question lies in the midst of Batuba’s waves in Olivença – should Bamin exploit the iron of Caetité, causing so much impact for the residents of the area? Do its logistical plans make sense through the Enchanted Lagoon, destroying one of the most beautiful landscapes of the South American coast? While waiting in  the waves on  “the outside,”  the athletes will be questioning what do they have to do with this. What’s obvious is that we all have to do something!
 
Rui Rocha, an environmentalist since 1990, is a social entrepreneur of the Ashoka Foundation and operates the Floresta Viva Institute in Southern Bahia. Born in Valença, Rui has lived in Ilhéus with his family since 1996. He is a member of the Council of Environment of Ilheus. Since January 2008, along with activists and professionals from all over Brazil, he has criticized the BAMIN project that threatens the South of Bahia, He is one of the founding members of the “South of Bahia - Just and Sustainable“ group.
 
Tradução: Lu Nora

Rui Rocha