Mamirauá: Conservation, Sustainable Development and Research

(Dolphin-Photo: The Boto Project, Mamirauá)

"The conservation of biodiversity goes through deep issues of social justice and life quality improvement for the less favoured population." (José Márcio Ayres, Uakari monkey researcher and initiator of the reserve)

Mamirauá was the first Sustainable Development Reserve in Brazil and serves until today as model for other areas in Brazil as well as abroad. Instead of expelling the 12 000 people living in the reserve, as is normally done in natural reserves, where no people are allowed to live, the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute was created, seeking to combine conservation and research about the biodiversity-rich site, develop ecotourism and sustainable development in a participative way together with the local communities.

The area of 1,124 mio hectars hosts a biodiversity hotspot of floodplain forest, which is the only place in the world where the Uakari monkey and the black-headed squirrel monkey live, the place with the highest density of jaguars and home to other endangered species such as the manatee and the pink river dolphin. The Pirarucu, the biggest fresh water fish in the world, was due to it´s popularity and commercial value on the brink of extinction when the reserve was created and has now become abundant again thanks to a sophisticated fishing management plan. Commercial fisher boats from outside are not allowed in anymore and detailed zoning and timing regulates the local fishing activities. Direct marketing of the fish in Manaus circumvents middlemen and brings reliable high prices to the local communities. At the same time, the system allows for control of the amounts and kinds of fish extracted. A similar system is applied to sustainable small-scale logging. Had the reserve not been created and the Pirarucu been extinct, it´s likely that the unsustainable logging habits which had taken roots before would have accelerated. Scrupulous timber traders had made local people dependent on them by swapping staple food against the logs at exchange rates which threw the local people into constant debts. “Using the forest so that it lasts forever” is the new slogan.

Nowadays, apart from sustainable fishing and logging, ecotourism and the marketing of handicraft provide the major sources of income. The Uakari Ecolodge at the heart of the reserve is co-managed by the locals who also ripe the benefits. One part of it goes directly to the communities involved, another to sustain the system of voluntary local eco-guards. Programmes to improve the sanitary and health situation, especially maternal health, schooling and family agriculture as well as radio communication have further improved the standard of life in the reserve. While most activities are currently confined to the focal area of the reserve where the majority of the people live, outreach to the rest of the area, as well as the recently created neighbouring reserve Amanã are under way.

The Amazon´s Hopes for REDD

In between my two project visits, I spend a few days in Manaus interviewing a range of actors working to preserve the Amazon rainforest and render development more sustainable. Even though many people are on holidays, I´m able to meet up with representatives of the State of Amazonas, the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS), the opposition and NGOs.

While views on the effectiveness and coherence of the actions taken so far by the federal government and the state governments differ, all actors share the hope for some kind of international financing mechanism to be established soon to channel more funds to the Amazon. One government official quotes the powerful Governor of the State of Amazonas, Eduardo Braga, with a message so outspoken, that it´s not used officially anymore, but still represents the views of many Brazilian officials and politicians: “We are providing all those environmental services for free to the world, now give us the money for it.”

Government officials and NGOs equally voice concerns that a future REDD mechanism must be constructed in a way that the money reaches the forest people and not be “eaten up” under way by expansive carbon consultants, institutions and other intermediaries. Another concern is that the REDD mechanism must carefully balance rewarding reducing emissions and preservation, so as not to create deforestation incentives and pressure on areas which are up to now not directly endangered.

It becomes clear that Brazil is faced with a dilemma: as a developing country, it tries to follow the model of industrialized countries and other developing countries to draw heavily on its natural resources, especially the rainforests, in the hope of advancing economically. In addition, many politicians and state officials of all ranks have stakes in the destructive economic activities in the Amazonas. A recent Greenpeace report reveals that cattle ranching is with 80% the most important source of deforestation in the Amazonas. A big share of the meat and leather produced is exported all around the world, including Europe. The Brazilian government plans to double the share of Brazil in the world meat trade even though the country is already the leading exporter. The Federal government holds shares and finances the expansion of the major slaughterhouses in the Amazon. The Federal as well as the States` governments further infrastructure projects in the rainforest which threaten the precious natural heritage.

At the time I visit the Amazonas Parliament, the green deputy is accusing the State´s government of being involved in a major corruption scandal, where 300 Million Reais were paid to ghost companies in order to build a hydrological plant, but the companies disappeared without accomplishing their task as soon as they had touched the money.

On the other hand, both State and Federal governments publish ambitious plans for saving the Amazon rainforest. State Programmes like the Bolsa Floresta and the Juma Reserve REDD project represent innovative approaches to support forest people in the preservation of ecological services, self-organisation and the development of economic alternatives. The amounts available are however way to low to achieve the objectives, as all interlocutors agree. Sufficient means to control and enforce forest laws are also desperately lacking in the vast and remote lands and waters of the Amazon. It becomes evident that the Amazon can only be saved in a concerted state, national and international effort, spelling out clearly the responsibilities of each level and actor including the control and sanctioning mechanisms. Part of such an agreement must also be the improvement of policy coherence, so that development and economic activities do not undermine the conservation objectives, but rather contribute to them.

Boat trip down the Rio Negro

I write these lines in a coffin, that´s at least how it feels like to be in a cabin on the public boat from the Rio Jauperi to Manaus. It´s too small to enter with your rucksack, smells like dust and mould. As there is no window or aeration, it´s very hot apart from the few hours when the boat drives quickly enough for the energy to be turned on – which is seldom the case, we mostly advance at pedestrian pace. Still, such a cabin is considered to be a luxury and very expansive (200 Reais, about 80 Euro). Most of the other passengers only buy a hanging space for their colourful “rede” (hammock), which can, in spite of the cool sea breeze, be just as stiffling and even more uncomfortable, with hammocks hanging very narrowly next, over and under each other. Yesterday evening, a speed boat brought me from the Xixuau reserve to the next port. I was prepared for what was to happen: we arrived at 17:30h and the public boat was to arrive at any time between 20h and 4h in the morning. My wish to eat something and to go to the toilet in between was incomprehensible to the locals: neither restaurants nor public toilets seem to be know in this port where many people regularly wait for 10 or more hours for their boat. In the end, we found a woman who was willing to cook for us and let us use her bathroom. Satisfied, we followed the open-air Evangelist church performance until we were afraid that the ear-splitting loudspeakers of the preacher in ecstasy would cause a tinnitus. We hung up our hammocks on the floating pontoon and waited for the boat which arrived “punctually” at 4:10 am. It could have been a peaceful period if you had not always to watch out for the children who, due to lack of other divertissement, played “throwing the sandals of the people sleeping in their hammocks into the river”, to listen to the snorers’ choir and from 1 am onwards loud radio music.

Life on boat is peaceful, everybody is waiting for our arrival in Manaus hopefully between 15 and 20h while the ever green rainforest passes by. Fortunately, I have developed over the past week a new sense, needed to detect when food is served, because as I already discovered repeatedly in Xixuau, when you come a few minutes too late, there is little to nothing left. There are a variety of dishes at choice, 3 different kinds of chicken, 3 other meat dishes, noodles, spaghetti and rice. The only vegetables, cucumbers, apart from the obligatory “fejoada” (beans), are already finished when I arrive. I´m glad I have brought apples and take care not to read the remaining pages of my book too quickly.

On the Way to the Rio Jauperí

Our boat trip to the Xixuau Reserve off Rio Jauperí gives us a first taste of travelling the water ways, the typical means of transport in the Amazonas, if you cannot afford a plane. The landscape around is beautiful, but everything takes much longer than expected. The first hours on the boat are pleasant. After the engine being broken and ours not moving from a spot in sight of Manaus for 24h, we start loosing a bit ourpatience, as we lack clean water as well...However, finally, Plinio, the President of the Reserve and organiser of our trip releases us with a speed boat: only 7 hours, and we reach our destination.

The Xixuau Reserve Fighting against Political Obstacles for its Existence

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One of the two model forest projects I´m going to visit in the Brazilian Amazonas, is the Xixuau-Xiparina Reserve, located in the South of the Brazilian state of Roraima. Compared to the project sites I visited in Indonesia and Cameroon, this reserve is huge – 172 460 hectares with only about 100 people living in it, they plan enlarge it even to 630 000 hectares. The enlarged reserve would encompass about 850 “Caboclos” - that is Brazilians who originate in other parts of the country and came to live along the rivers of the Amazonas over the past century, encouraged by the Brazilian government in an effort to “develop” and open-up the biggest rainforest of the world. At the time of my arrival, the decree for the creation of this enlarged Extractive Reserve of the Lower Rio Branco-Jauaperi River was supposed to be already signed by President Lula. Instead, Chris Clark, Scottish-native co-founder of the reserve (together with local caboclo Plinio), was once more summoned to the police. About 50% of the budget of the reserve goes into legal and political defence against continuing accusations which seem to be without factual grounds, calculates Clark. Regular raids by highly armed military and police men have never produced any evidences of crimes such as drugs and arms smuggling, pharmaceutical piracy, spying for foreign governments or even training of “eco guerrillas” in the reserve. A number of death threats have earned Clark the invitation to be enrolled in the national personal defence programme which he declined to accept in order to continue his present lifestyle. A decision not without risks as many famous defenders of the environment and of the people have been murdered in the Amazon in the past. But the support of diverse reputable organizations and individuals in Brazil and abroad including the WWF and the former Environmental Minister and Lula’s contester for the next presidential elections, Marina Silva, have helped sustaining the reserve.

Only a tiny fraction of the vast reserve consisting of untouched primary forest is under use by the community, about 30h. Exploitation of the natural resources is forbidden, logging only for own-use of the community. Fishing and small-scale farming provide basic food stuff, topped-up by income from activities such as ecotourism and nature documentaries. With the help of donors, a number of projects have been realized which considerably improve the livelihoods of local people. 3 primary schools are operating, a nurse is in training, the health post is well stocked and malaria has practically been eradicated in the area. Communication with the outside world is facilitated by a satellite telephone and internet powered by solar panels. Future projects scheduled to be realized as soon as the legal situation is secured are a secondary school, a forest college, a research center, diversification of economic activities for instance to apiculture (beekeeping) and improving the functioning of the eco-farm.

The nature and wildlife of the reserve are extraordinary and can be explored by canoe or on foot. Small river dolphins and big alligators can be seen swimming in the Xixuau river right in front of the main settlement every day. Giant otters, anacondas and river turtles are further fascinating creatures populating the rivers while the tree tops are full of various species of monkeys and birds.

The Caboclos of Xixuau are good neighbours with the much bigger community of the militant Waimiri Atroari Indians. When commercial fishing boats invaded the area and considerably diminished the fish stocks, the Indigenous sank one of the boats, putting effectively an end to this kind of unsustainable exploitation.

According to Clark, the reserve shows that it is possible to live good in the forests without deteriorating them. 800 Reais, about 300 Euro, per family as monthly income is sufficient to make them preserve nature, if infrastructure, health services, education and communication means are provided. Payments for environmental services, including for avoided deforestation, could be an important element of the income of those forest people. If such basic services and income are not ensured, local people are likely to move away, leaving the forest vulnerable to destructive exploiting activities of outsiders or even participate in such activities themselves.

The enlarged reserve is supposed to form one day part of a long “ecological corridor”, stretching via several other reserves to the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve -my next destination.

Manaus, a modern, Mediterranean city at the heart of the Amazon

After having read the travel account “My Amazon”, I wonder if I had not wrongly chosen my base for the next month. The author Juan Madrid describes Manaus as antipode to the pleasant city of Belem, the second important town at the other end of the river. Fellow travellers assure me, it´s the other way round and I start believing them after just one day.

Thiago, young assistant to the only green Member of the Parliament of the State of Amazon, get´s time off to show me around and help with travel preparations. The city boosts a number of remarkable buildings from the turn to the 20^th century, the “golden age” of Manaus. Exploiting its monopoly for rubber production at the expanse of the life millions of enslaved workers, Manaus became within a few years one of the richest and most modern cities in the world. Many of the old buildings are better preserved than Art Deco houses in Brussels and the city is still so modern that many sights could easily be found in Western Europe or America. The port is the life line of this vibrant place, which can only be reached by air or water.

The vast green tropical rainforest surrounding the city and stretching over the entire state is to 97% preserved. The contrast to the neighbouring state Pará, where large-scale deforestation is rampant, is according to Thiago not only due to its seclusion. Rather an alternative economic model, not based on the exploitation of natural resources, but on the development of other industries, furthered by a tax-exemption, marks the difference.

At night, the city is probably most pleasant, when a gentle wind takes away the heat of the day, squares and buildings are illuminated and a Mediterranean flair takes over. In front of the newly renovated Palacette Provincial, which hosts 5 interesting exhibitions for free with excellent French- and English-speaking guides, a brass band entertains the public, playing in a romantic pavilion in the midst of a park of water and plants. More people are even attracted by a band playing famous Brazilian folk songs on the large square belonging to the splendid Teatro Amazonas. People dance and enjoy a traditional shrimps dish while the most popular songs are echoed by the entire audience, about 200 voices. It can be felt that this part of the city is safe even at night, and fortunately my hotel is just a stone throw away.

I am flying

The flight from Brussels via Madrid and Sao Paulo to Manaus is the longest and most exhausting of all my flights. Still, it turns out to be much more relaxed and interesting than I expected it to be. We leave Brussels in bright sunshine, it´s a pleasure to see the Royal Greenhouses, the Atomium and the Cathedral of Koekelberg from close from the air. A few minutes later, I see the typical Western European landscape consisting of green squares; cities scattered in between. When approaching Madrid, the view has considerably changed. Yellow, brown and grey are the dominating colours of the mountains, the desert and the fields. Only a handful of green spots, orderly planted trees in rows can be seen.

Flying over the Amazon forest coming from the South-East, you can see what the “deforestation frontier” is all about. Huge colourful squares eat up the green rainforest. The further you go to the North, the fewer those squares become. Here, large and long rivers wind up their path through the endless green to meet the biggest and mightiest of all rivers on Earth: the Amazon.

Next to me in the aircraft sits Silvia, a young Brazilian women on her way back from a congress of Jehovah´s witnesses in Paris. This young trader in jewellery astonishes me with her sound knowledge of the causes of destruction of the rainforest, world trade and politics. Her profound foreign language skills only glimpse up when she traces back the etymology of words to their Chinese origin to help me with my poor Brazilian Portuguese. In Brazil, just as in Cameroon, religion plays an important role in life. It´s easier to found your own church than your own business – three followers are enough. It seems to me that in societies with little order and security, religion provides people with structures, values and guidance in life. In Nairobi, the church was one of the few trustworthy, calm and secure places in the middle of disorder, dirt and dust.