Liberal Amazon

After years of negotiations with communities located in the railway's influence zones, the final design promises to get off the ground and boost exports of mineral and agribusiness products from the region to the world, connecting the south of Pará to the closest port to the States United States, Europe and Asia

Exercise with 300 US military personnel and another 1,200 from the Brazilian Army across two states in northern Brazil reaffirms the importance of the forest in relations between the two countries and signals possible joint troop operations in the region.

Uma peculiar aliança da natureza volta a ganhar atenção e vem transformando a produção do açaí na Amazônia: a presença de abelhas nas áreas onde açaizais se multiplicam vem garantindo até 40% a mais em produtividade -, o que demonstra a força da economia da floresta em pé e da sua sustentabilidade, quando se garante a atenção às riquezas das relações da biodiversidade e às caraterísticas dos ciclos do bioma amazônico.

O açaí está no auge de sua popularidade mundial. Não faltam compradores e os produtores, ano após ano, vêm sendo desafiados a buscar técnicas e alternativas para garantir cada vez mais ganhos às safras. No Pará, estado responsável por mais de 90% da produção do Brasil, mais de 1,5 milhão de toneladas foram produzidas apenas 2022, estimam dados do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE). É nesse contexto que pesquisadores da Embrapa (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária) vêm desempenhando um importante papel, ao incentivarem produtores a conciliar a criação de abelhas ao plantio e colheitas nos açaizais. E a atenção maior vem sendo dada às espécies sem ferrão.

The implementation of the carbon credit market in the Amazon has become the target of recent debates and criticism. The system, which repays those who reduce the release of gases responsible for the greenhouse effect, allows compensation for companies and other actors that try to reduce their emissions footprints. This model has gained strength after the emergence of climate agreements, signed since the 1990s, to reduce CO2 emissions, and emerged as an alternative for countries which have a greater share in these taxes. However, researchers have been pointing out signs that this mechanism presents major gaps and problems. In addition to the race for untouched areas of the Amazon forest, in search of maintaining financial power and foreign geopolitical control, the alternative is not producing apparent environmental results, scholars point out. And this movement, made up of million-dollar promises and contracts, also affects traditional populations in the region.

Reporter: Camila Azevedo

Images: Marx Vasconcelos

For a long time, producing scientific knowledge about the Amazon meant consuming content from other parts of Brazil and the world. From researches to solutions to the problems faced in the region, the general interest in debating, analyzing, studying and presenting issues related to the reality experienced by the almost 30 million inhabitants of the biome has not always deserved active listening nor has attention been given to those who make up this scenario – survive in it and reflect upon it. However, for 50 years, a good part of this pondering and awareness about the Amazon has been reflected in the daily work carried out at the Núcleo de Altos Estudos Amazônicos (NAEA)[Center for Higher Amazon Studies], linked to the Federal University of Pará (UFPA).

Research guarantees that there are no coral reefs on the Amazon coast as environmentalists maintain

Trees are essential to maintain human life on Earth. The first reason is that they sequester carbon through photosynthesis, an increasingly important asset in times of climate change. Furthermore, forests are shelters of biodiversity, especially fruits, leaves, roots and animals. And, finally, trees generate income, whether through tucumã seeds, which turns into moisturizers and perfumes, or through the bioeconomy, by which families harvest nuts to sell in urban centers, for example. It is no surprise that the interest in planting trees in degraded areas is only increasing in the Amazon. It is called reforestation, a task that is not easy, as it involves recognizing areas which were degraded or previously used for pasture and studying plant species and seeds capable of developing in the region's soil

Mitigating the negative impacts of solid waste and preventing it from simply becoming "garbage" is crucial throughout the world, but in the Amazon, this awareness becomes even more important. After all, the Amazon is an ecosystem where rivers and springs, coastlines, mangroves, groundwater and countless animals and forest areas pulsate. In other words, this environment is definitely not conducive to the proliferation of plastics or metals without correct disposal, a practice that is still very common, especially in urban centers and metropolitan regions. The solution is recycling – a market that raised R$4 billion in the plastics sector alone in 2022, but also lost R$5.7 billion due to the lack of correct management of discarded waste.

"Círios", the song written by Marco Aurélio and Vital Lima, refers, in the plural, to the many “October months” experienced by people from Pará, not only in the capital. However, in an expanded interpretation, it could be a reminder of the plurality of feelings inspired by the Mother of Jesus throughout Pará, with celebrations that, even holding similarities, preserve unique peculiarities. And, in fact, there are many Círios. Belém is not the only place where devotees of the “Patron Saint of Pará” take part in “Círios” organized by the Catholic Church. Celebrations spread over several inner municipalities in the state all year long.

Regardless of how it is called – tortoise, iaçá or tracajá –, the chelonians of the Amazon have always caught the world's attention due to the high degree of species diversity, with different appearances and behaviors, as well as for the profusion of animals on the region's beaches and rivers. And riverside communities are agents of protection for chelonians and conservation of species threatened with extinction.