Every year, more than a thousand people gather from far and near in the Brazilian city of Cáceres on 14 November to honour and celebrate the Paraguay River. The Dia do Rio Paraguai celebration dates back to 2000, when communities mobilised for the first time – with success – against a proposed waterway, known as the Hidrovía Paraguay-Parana, which severely threatened the free flow of the region’s rivers, and the health of the wetlands and its peoples. Since then, 14 November symbolises the close relationship of the people with the river, its culture and the environment, and the power of collective action to protect it.
The relationship with the river
Organised by local organisations and Wetlands without Borders members Fé e Vida and Escola de Activismo together with Instituto GAIA and Rede Pantaneiras, Dia do Rio Paraguai provides communities an important occasion to commemorate their close relationship with the river, which plays a central role in their livelihoods, culture and identity. Over the years, the massive celebration, which draws a wide variety of people, including school children, farmers, fisher folk and traditional peoples, has included singing and dancing, traditional rituals, an agroecological fair and a boat parade.
But Dia do Rio Paraguai is not only a celebration. It is also a time to organise, mobilise, educate and inform the local populations about the state of the river and serious threats, such as those from mining, large-scale agriculture, dams, ports and other infrastructure projects. Wetlands without Borders-members raise awareness about strategies and efforts to protect the river and its communities, including promotion of agroecology and the special La Plata Basin wetland Agroecological Seal of Origin, as well as creation of Biocultural Corridors, which serve to reconnect and strengthen the resilience of similar natural habitats, as well as communities that share common socio-cultural practices.
Every year, the Dia do Rio Paraguai is being celebrated in Cáceres, Brazil. The event is becoming bigger every year.
Cultural rituals in which the river is being honoured are always part of the Dia do Rio.
Uniting communities in defence of their river
With the support of Wetlands without Borders, local river committees have sprung up all along the River Paraguay who are actively monitoring the health of the river and its tributaries, and, if necessary, mobilising to protect them. Dia do Rio Paraguai serves as an opportune moment for these committees to gather and exchange. Advocacy and campaign strategy meetings have become a regular part of the annual event.
In recent years, various local officials have attended the celebration in Cáceres, enabling the committees to present their demands for a healthy and free river and the protection of the surrounding wetlands, and to voice their opposition to destructive projects that would damage their lives, livelihoods and the region’s precious ecosystem. Many local committees as well as a number of regional partners from Paraguay and Argentina have drawn inspiration from Dia do Rio Paraguai and now organise their own local events to celebrate their stretch of the river and local tributaries.
