INDIGENOUS PARTICIPATION IN THE ‘RIVER BASIN COMMISSION’ IN BAHIA STATE

Abstract

The environmental crisis of water and vital, with the loss of their its quality and poor distribution reflects not only a social and political crisis, but also an ethical one within the community. To overcome this it’s important that the organized civil society and the State through participative planning create and implement public democratic policies and decentralize the management of water resources, involving various social segments. The indigenous participation has legally received prominent role in this process either because of the value historically linked to water, or because of the symbolic meaning that the Indians have as communities that care and preserve the nature. The objective of the research was to evaluate indigenous participation in the management of water resources in the state of Bahia, in the period from 2006 to 2009. It was measured the level of participation and identified the factors that hindered or facilitated it. The methodology used was participative observation, case study with the Committee Itapicuru River Basin and an analysis of the participation of Indigenous Peoples Kiriri and Kaimbé through a systemic approach.