A brief introduction to the Amazon rainforest
An old Indian legend says that God had not finished with the Amazon, when the man appeared. Thus, the story, God decided to leave, the man did not last long expected, when he would return to finish the job. Today, more than 20 million people live in the unfinished work which extends from the Andes in the west to the Atlantic Ocean in the east, the Guyana Shield, north of the Brazilian savanna to the south. Its size is disconcerting, which contains:
- 5% of the world population of the earth.
- 20% of freshwater reserves.
- Third of the world's forests.
- 40% of South America.
- 60% of Brazil.
- 0.4% of world population.
Despite being a large continuous forest, the Amazon is highly differentiated from the geophysical and ecological perspective. Clear examples curious travelers discover that rivers are a different color: black-deep waters of the Black River with the waters of the Solimões yellow mud, and his encounter majestic where two-color travel for many miles, side by side without mixing. At that meeting, the traveler is likely to meet also the boto pink dolphin pink prehistoric Amazonia, a figure of many legends and stories are banned in the region. In fact, the traveler is one of the last frontiers of nature true.
Multiple and integrated ecosystems coexist with each other, while the flooded forests and floodplains (locally known as igapó and floodplain) cover 5% of the region, the remaining land includes forests of the mainland. There are five different regions with specific geographical and biological characteristics of each: the Amazon Atlantic, swamps near the sea off the coast of the Brazilian states of Pará and Amapá in Brazil, the central alluvial plain, which stretches from the Atlantic all the way to Peru, following the trace of the Amazon River, the northern plateau, a land of soils poor, and goes further north, more rocky and hilly turns, the southern basin, a land of rich soil and wild rivers full of mud, and cis-Andean Amazon, a transition zone that ends at the steep snowy slopes of the Andes. A typical four square mile patch in any part of the Amazon has more than 1500 species of flowering plants, 750 trees, 125 mammals, 400 birds, 100 reptiles, 60 amphibians and 150 butterflies. Surprisingly, the crown of a tree perhaps more than 50 feet high, can accommodate more than five thousand species of insects.
This land is a region marked by biological, geological, economic and social diversity; centuries of explorers have documented. As an example, many will remember the familiar legend of the Amazons, a myth created when the first man travel from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, Francisco de Orellana allegedly found these fierce women fighters in 1542. Since then, other adventurers, scientists and seekers of hope, have traveled, and studyied occupyied the region, albeit with varying degrees of success. Among these, the most notable include:
- Alexander von Humboldt, which assigns a passage connecting the Orinoco basin in Venezuela to the Amazon basin, the length of 300 miles Casiquiare Channel, available for the visit even today only the most adventurous of travelers.
- Henry Walter Bates and Alfred Russell Wallace, which together make a story of discovery more natural products. Alfred later co-discovered (with Darwin) the theory of evolution.
- Jacques Cousteau, the intrepid adventurer modern and scientist who, as far as I know, is the only person with the courage to have swum in a school of piranhas.
Visiting the Amazon can not fail to appreciate the difficulties and wonders of these explorers found. From the plane, the seemingly endless green carpet, very quiet and the field is just the opposite. First, the traveler would notice chirps, sounds, cries, and the plethora of other strange sounds that come out of nowhere and all parts at the same time. Then the smell of freshness and flowering plants mixed with the musty smell of decaying plants, marking the endless cycle of life and death in this forest. Look up and see the static outcome of a secular fight for the light: the vines are intertwined with tree branches reach more and more high to outsmart each other in a desperate fight for sunlight. So efficient is this struggle that a stain on the ground is likely to have sun shining directly on it only once every 50 years, the point where some nearby trees finally gives up, dies, falls to the ground, leaving an opening in the deck, a pinch of hope for new trees born. Life in this wealth is unimaginable, but overwhelming.
Along with people such natural exuberance, more than 20 million live. The history of human occupation in the Amazon goes back 11,000 years, around Monte Alegre, where archaeological sites have been discovered, and pointed to the existence of rather complex communities long before than previously expected and in a region where its existence has not been thought possible a few years ago. The adventurous traveler with a few days of rest can take a plane from Santarém to Monte Alegre to visit native murals are still visible today. Ancient Indian populations are still present, although outsiders are rarely invited to visit. Although shocking to some, there are some small indigenous tribes who have never found or identified by us, Westerners, is a tribute not to our disability, but rather with the incredible size of the forest.
The larger, non-indigenous occupation, however, came with the discovery of valuable natural products especially rubber. Hevea brasiliensis, rubber tree known locally, is the tree that produces this precious product as soon as Charles Goodyear invented the rubber vulcanization process in 1839. A late 19th century, with industry production of bicycles and cars record pace, the rubber market was hot indeniably. The wealth of Manaus, the center of the rubber trade, is legendary, and was the first city in South America electricity. Cobblestones, telephone systems, trams were imported all of Europe, along with crystal chandeliers, pianos, champagne and caviar. The reminder main foot this time is the Teatro Amazonas, the opera house in Manaus. For a population of only 30,000, the Opera House could sit and contained 1600 glass, marble and other materials imported from Europe opulent. Such wealth hid the tremendous hardships faced by the rubber tappers, like the trees were scattered the forest and resisted several attempts of domestication in plantations. The remains of the dreams of domestication can be seen in Fordlândia today, aptly named after U.S. entrepreneur Henry Ford, on the shores of the Tapajos River.
Today, Brazil's development is encroaching upon the southern borders of the Amazon. Such is the fertile ground and with recent advances in agriculture in tropical climates, population growth and the appreciation of commodities in international markets, the economy have changed. In the past five years, the deforestation has ranged from 15 to 26 thousand square kilometers in Brazil. Put in perspective, the Brazilian portion of Amazonia is approximately 3.6 million kilometers square, so the current rate is between 0.4% to 0.7% per year, in fact concern. It is estimated that deforestation has reached approximately 20% of the region, mostly to make way for cattle ranching in the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso, Rondônia and Pará. The socio-economic process involved is a great migration of the southern states of Brazil, where land is already occupied mostly south of the Amazon, where there is abundant land and few people.
Despite the global developments, a look at the people of the Amazon will also discover an unenviable situation socio-economic development. In the historic drought of 2005, hunger, disease and isolation threatened coastal populations. In big cities, travelers will discover the slums and difficult living conditions.
About the Author
Secretary for Planning and Economic Development, State of Amazonas, Brazil
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