By Ana Fernandes

Gathered May 9th at University of Sao Paulo (USP), one of the most prestigious Brazilian universities, the geographer Wanderley Messias da Costa, professor at USP, Eduardo Villas Boas, general at the Brazilian Army, with wide experience at the forest, and Washington Novaes, journalist who conducted a documentary called “Xingu, a terra ameaçada” (“Xingu, the menaced land”), debated about the strategic importance of the Amazon Forest. Specialists in different aspects of the subject, they agree in at least one point: Brazil still has a lot to do to be able to properly manage this biome.

Concerning the preservation of the physical area of the Amazon, Novaes is emphatic: “unfortunately, our country doesn’t have a territory strategy and that will bring consequences for the next decades”. Something that is reaffirmed by General Villas Boas, who said that Brazil lacks a project for the region. Questioned if the forest nowadays represents more of a pour source in the international political scenario or a fragility point towards Brazilian sovereignty, considering that the country is not capable of protecting this biome that is so important for humanity, Costa has no doubt: “we are very fragile, Brazil has one of the best environment legislations in the world, but has a very low capacity to implement it”.

Novaes highlights that Brazil invests less than 0.5% of its federal budget to the Ministry of Environment and that many times not even that is completely used by the ministry, which shows a big planning failure. For Villas Boas, a good project would have to take into account three fundamental roles for the Amazon: its economic potential, its power to help South-American countries to get closer politically and its natural tendency to aid in great humanity issues, such as the climate changes or the lack of potable water around the globe.

International pressure

Humanity has not closed its eyes to these problems. Global warming is no longer e theory defended only by Nature magazine, but is now something that worries almost everyone and the Amazon biome has a central part in this dilemma. By the meanings of treaties or through diplomatic pressure, the internationalization of the Amazon already exists, explain Novaes, and he adds “the understanding that economic growth will solve all of our problems is not credible anymore, we need to find new ways of development, otherwise we are just going to keep destroying the planet”.

Every single day Brazil suffers more and more pressure to manage better this world patrimony. Also, internally there are claims from the people who live in the preserved area for better life quality. On a debate aired at that same day, May 9th, at BBC television, also discussing to whom compete taking care of the Amazon, the governor of the Amazonas state (the biggest state at the area), Carlos Eduardo Braga, pointed “we can’t forget that there are people living there”, drawing attention to another issue that can’t be put aside, the human factor of that region.

Habitants of the paradise

According to a census conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the so called Legal Amazon, that comprehends the states of Acre, Amapa, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Para, Rondonia, Roraima, Tocantins, part of Maranhao and five cities of Goias, had already more than 20 million habitants in the year of 2000. It is not only a lot of people, but also a people with great cultural diversity. The Bolivian area of the biome, for example, has more than 150 different ethnical groups living there, points Costa.

This people, who have the privilege of living in this natural paradise, don't have as much life quality as one would expect. Villas Boas, who has had experiences in different army bases of the region, says “part of the people there is abandoned; with no condition what so ever to take part in citizenship”. They are in need of education, healthcare, transport and lodging.

As Novaes exposed in his speech, a big part of the deforestation process is associated to the creation of roads that cut the Amazon, tearing down trees around them and causing even more anthropism (men interference in nature). The terrible effects that the asphalt brings to the green vegetation quickly raise voices against the roads, but, the situation isn't that simple. Costa confesses feeling divided, “when I see it from the outside, I am against the construction of roads, but in the other hand, when I'm there and I see all the benefits they bring to the local population, I have to be in favor of them". While the world sees in the highways an abuse against nature, for the Amazon people they are the opportunity for a better life, with easier means of transportation, more food and medication arriving in the area.

The indians

The indian issue is also another tense problem in the Amazon. Sometimes idealized as "the good savage man", sometimes demonized because of the habits of his culture, the indian man doesn't receive the proper support from the government. There is the polemic matter of marking part of the territory as indian reserve, as it recently happened with the land of "Raposa Serra do Sol" in Brazil (a big territory that now belongs exclusively to the indians), but also the government obligation of offering decent conditions of housing, education and healthcare for this part of the population.

In a very polemic moment of the event, Villas Boas said that sometimes there is a great anthropological preoccupation of preserving some native tribes’ cultures, which occurs in a way that is distant from the actual human reality of that place. For example, he says, there is the Ianomami culture, in which the individuals have a life expectation of around 30 years, there is a high incidence of respiratory diseases because of the poor ventilation of the indian houses and high children mortality, thanks to sacrifices that are conducted by mothers in this culture.“What is the advantage of preserving such a culture?” he questions.

Studies show that the indian lands are yet better environmentally preserved, but in concern to this people life quality there is still controversy. A possible and balanced line of thinking is that the interference over the local cultures is inevitable as it happens naturally when indians and non-indians meet, and that ideally that process should be followed and conducted adequately. That is the position of general Villas Boas, who in his experiences in the forest has many times seen indians becoming prostitutes or alcoholic addicts after the contact with the white man.

The Amazon rainforest is still under threat from cattle ranching. The forest is being cut down at an astonishingly fast rate as the need for grazing land increases. Since many can make a good living from cattle ranching the rainforest will continue to be destroyed.

A ferry boat carrying over 80 people sank in the Amazon River tributary Solimoes River. It was a wooden ferry boat know as the Comandante Sales. It capsized in the early hours today, in a rainstorm. At least fifteen people were dead, and dozens of others still missing. This same ferry was grounded a few months ago for failing an inspection. It is unknown how many people were actually on board as boats in the Amazon are frequently overloaded with passengers.

The people on board were traveling to a party in another river town. The rescue operations will continue tomorrow as well. Some of the survivors were able to swim ashore, while others were picked up by other boats in the area

As the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest continues, snakes are being driven from their natural habitat. They are showing up in the city of Belem, which is located at the mouth of the Amazon River.

Ibama is an agency that deals with snakes in Brazil. This year alone they have been called to capture over 20 snakes already. In a typical year they may receive only 12 calls. And these aren’t just small snakes. One of the snakes captured was a 10 foot long Anaconda. The thought of snakes in the plumbing is scaring local residents.

Ibama will take the captures snakes to a zoo or somewhere far out in the forest and release them. This disturbing trend of deforestation will continue to impact humans in more ways than imagined.

Scientist Tim Killeen of Conservation International (CI) has completed a study that suggests the plan to link several South American countries economies through new energy, transportation and telecommunications projects, puts the Amazon Rainforest at risk.

He has put together a report that outlines ideas on how to resolve the problem of environmental protection and economic development called, “A Perfect Storm in the Amazon Wilderness: Development and Conservation in the Context of the Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA)” .

Problems that he foresees with the development of the region include logging, climate change, mineral exploitation, deforestation for agriculture, and the increasing use of biofuel crops such as sugar cane. The study shows there are three possible outcomes for the rainforest with the worst case scenario being the loss of the forest within four decades. He fears that the loss of the forest will make global warming worse as huge quantities of carbon are stored in the biomass of the forest. It is estimated that the forest would release twenty times the worlds total annual greenhouse gas emissions.

He argues that biocrops such as sugar cane should be planted on the 162 million acres of the forest that have already been destroyed, as opposed to cutting down more forest to grow the crop. Another goal he states is to begin fish farming for the locals so they can use the natural water that already exists within the forest.

Killeen report states, “A visionary initiative such as IIRSA should be visionary in all of its dimensions, and should incorporate measures to ensure that the region’s renewable natural resources are conserved and its traditional communities strengthened.”

The report can be found at:
Report

Florida businessman Jeff Moats, is getting ready to launch “Equa” a premium brand of water. He is tapping a spring found near the equator in the heart of the Amazon Rainforest. This is a spring he discovered over 10 years ago while searching the region for alternatives to cocoa beans. This water will sell for around $2.00 a liter, and will compete with high end brands such as Voss(“From the wilderness of Norway”, Jana(“Croatian Village of Saint Jana), and Fiji.

The marketing is clever as the bottle is shaped like a droplet of rain. They used the simple shape to signify that there is nothing in the water, that it is pure.

However there are quite a few people upset with this new endeavor. Some argue that selling water for such a premium is outright wrong as 1.1 billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water. Others argue that the plastic water bottles are filling landfills and an alarming rate. Still others feel the fragile rainforest ecosystem may be harmed as 45,000 square foot factory is being built right in the heard of the rainforest.

Moats states that he will direct some of the profits to help “the people of the Amazon to preserve their environment”.
Time will tell, what the impact will be and at what will be given back to the people of the Amazon.

Marina Silva the Brazilian Environment Minister has announced that Brazil will allow for private management of 220,000 hectares of forest. This will be from the Jamari National Forest that is in northern Brazil in the state of Rondonia. Ninety thousand hectares will be auctioned off on October 31, 2007. The winning bidders will be able to use the land for 40 years. The companies will be able to use the timber and must use environmentally sustainable techniques.

There is a law that prohibits the removal of flora, fauna, water or mineral resources from the forest. The government is justifying the move as it said that deforestation rates in the Jamri National Forest have increased, and private management might help.

One must remember that there is more to the forest than just trees. There are animals and plant species that will be eradicated as well. While a private company may replace the trees they cut down, they cannot replace the animals that lost their homes when the trees were cut.

While this might be contrary to conventional think a new study has concluded that a drought in the Amazon rainforest may actually make it greener. The full report is published in the September 21, 2007 Journal “Science”. With the threat of global warming and climates changing rapidly scientist have long feared a drought that might strike the mightiest of the earths forests. However this new study has given some hope that a drought to the Amazon Rainforest may not b as catastrophic as first thought. Of course this does not dismiss the constant threat to the rainforest from deforestation.

Researcher Scott Saleska has studied the 2005 drought in the Amazon Rainforest and now concludes that trees were able to grow their roots deeper to sustain themselves. Satellite images show that the changes in the amount of chlorophyll and leaf area actually increased during the drought. This may be caused by the fact that the trees had more access to sunlight, and weren’t blocked by overgrowth.

The fear has always been that once a drought started it the plants would respire less, thus leading to even less water vapor in the Amazonia region. With less available water vapor, there would then be even less precipitation causing a self sustaining cycle or drought.

The Amazon Ashaninka tribe will be opening a school to preserve their culture. The school was designed by the indigenous people and its goal is to provide environmental awareness in addition to preserving their traditions.

Benki Pianko, who is the tribe leader is credited with coming up with the idea. For years the tribe had violent conflicts with miners and loggers. Recently more dialog and less violence has been the norm. Benki uses the internet to spread the word for the Ashaninka people.

Francisco Pianko who will work on the project said "We're bringing an opportunity to this region, for people to reflect, and we're pointing out the real investments that should be made in a region like this. We must look at the human being first, the man who lives inside the forest."

The Ashaninkas are distinguished for their use of beautiful cotton robes, that are called cushmas. The cushmas are woven for the men of the tribe by the Ashaninka women. Historically Cushmas were frequently traded with distant villages to share the resources.

Brazilian environmentalist Philip Martin Fernside feels that the Amazon Rainforest will be extinct by 2080 if the current rate of deforestation doesn’t change. Brazils Environmental Minister Marina Silva, said that the country is taking measures to slow the deforestation. Between August 2006 – July 2007 there were 14,000 square kilometers deforested. Projections are to reduce the deforestation to 9,600 square kilometers for the period of August 2007 to July 2008

Between 1991 and 2000 an area of rainforest has been lost to deforestation that is the size of the country of Portugal. The main culprit was the growth of cattle farming. If the ranchers would reuse previously cleared land it would reduce the destruction. However many prefer to destroy the virgin forest.

The Amazon region contains over half of the planet's remaining rainforests. It is not only the largest but also is the home to the most species of animals of any tropical rainforest in the world Experts feel it is not just Brazils problem, but all nations of the world need to address this problem, as they will suffer the side effects of deforestation as well.