Covas do Barroso has been fighting for the past 7 years against what could be the first open-pit lithium mining project on the European continent. The project is in the hands of a British financial and speculative company, Savannah Resources, created to profit from what is mistakenly called “the green energy transition”.

Barroso and its ways of life, that are harmonious with the surroundings, refuse to become a new “sacrifice zone” for the benefit of an economy increasingly disconnected from the social and ecological realities of our planet. Here, the lands, waters and mountains are not mere resources to be ravaged — they are part of the identities and practices that, for centuries, have allowed the reproduction and sustenance of life. Here, water and land are not for sale — they are loved and defended!

The project of Savannah foresees the opening of 4 open pit mines, several waste dumps and many other industrial infrastructures. These planned mines — some 100 metres deep and 38 hectares in surface area — would be located at people’s doorsteps: just 200 metres from the village of Romainho, and 750 metres from Covas do Barroso. The project represents a serious threat to the Covas river waters and the entire Douro river basin. It would involve daily explosions and detonations of the mountains, resulting in unbearable noise and dust. It would devastate agricultural soils and large extensions of forestry areas of common usage, putting peoples’ livelihoods and sources of income at risk. In addition to all this, the project would have unpredictable effects on regional and planetary ecology.

The same Portuguese Environment Agency that in June 2022 identified the very significant and irreversible negative impacts of this mining project and issued an “unfavourable” opinion — recognising its incompatibility with the classification of “World Agricultural Heritage”, that is, with the local way of life — issued in May 2023 a “favourable conditioned” Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Obtaining the EIS confirmed our concerns about the state siding with this private investment to the detriment of the environment and populations.

50 years after the 25th of April Revolution, the people of Barroso feel the oppression and repression of governments that want to impose the exploitation of the region at any cost. The company after receiving the EIS — with the connivance of the State — adopted a more aggressive stance and a more assiduous and intrusive presence in both the villages and the region. Since October 2023, a daily police patrol (GNR) has been deployed to Covas do Barroso. The company also mobilised vigilance private security 24/7 and pursued community leaders through intimidatory legal actions and statements. All of these are tactics to intimidate, delegitimise, discredit and criminalise the resistance; an attempt to undermine this territory, to prevent protest, and to pressure the population to accept a project they do not want.

Last November, the company tried to access the common lands to carry out further prospecting. As the Community of the Commons (Comunidade dos Baldios) and many private landowners continue to deny the company access, it has turned to usurpation, expecting the people of Barroso to not have the backbone to stand up against them. However, thanks to the unity and constant support from all corners of the country and the world, the community did not give up and resisted. For 7 months, every day, the company was blocked access to common lands, demonstrating collective strength, unity, perseverance and resistance.

In recent years we have been through a lot: we have taken legal action at all stages of administrative processes; we have signed petitions; we have taken to the streets; we have organised meetings, caravans, artistic residencies and camps. With all of this, we have won many battles: we stopped prospecting work, we prevented the company from advancing on the land, we raised awareness and we built networks of solidarity.

Barroso is not an isolated mountain range, nor is this an isolated problem that only concerns its population. Here we face fundamental decisions that represent ecological, social and economic transformations, not only for this region but for the type of future we want and will be able to achieve. We can repeat the mistakes of the past, insisting on an relentless search for profit and an idea of “progress” at the expense of the majority’s wellbeing. Or we can be at a turning point for a future where ourselves, the forests, the animals and the rivers are valued and protected. A future where clean and abundant water, healthy food and time to live help us to redefine “wealth”.

Our struggle demystifies and rejects the approach of States and capital to contemporary ecological and social challenges, highlighting that these devastating projects are a political choice, conditioned by economic logics and energy dependencies. Maintaining the current economy “functional” implies infinite economic growth, the constant creation of new markets, and the continuous extraction of raw materials from the Earth. With this vision many territories and populations — especially the most vulnerable — are considered “sacrificial” in the name of a “greater common good” that is neither good nor common.

This vision leads us to the great contradiction of destroying nature in order to save it, conveniently reducing the vast ecological problems to a mere accounting of greenhouse gas emissions. It’s this vision that allows the expansion and reinforcement of the current production and consumption system, maintaining dependence on fossil fuels, while strengthening the militarisation and digitalisation of the society and economy. It’s this view that distances us from having a more holistic view of human societies and the Earth, and prevents us from asking difficult questions, looking for new answers and following different paths.

We are not on our own on this journey. In Portugal alone, the prospective area for new extractive projects is overwhelming. Protecting Barroso by not allowing the first of these projects, is also defending all other threatened territories. Therefore we stand alongside with our companions of Gornje Nedeljice in Serbia, of Suído-Seixo in Galicia, of Cañaveral in Extremadura, of Allier in France, with the people of the Salares in the Andean puna and with all the other movements, communities and territories that are fighting for a life that is not dictated by imperatives and interests separated from the common well-being.

The Camp in Defense of Barroso is a meeting point, a place for sharing and fighting side-by-side. Like spiders, we weave networks. Like wolves, we howl. Like moles, we conspire. Like birds, we fly in flocks. Like snails, we move slowly. As human beings, we know the imperative to maintain functioning ecosystems that ensure life — and we fight for them with courage, love and joy.

We are waiting for you in Covas do Barroso between August 15th and 19th, 2024. Join us!