The great community corridor

We arrived last night in the small town of Santa Maria on the Uruara river. The first thing we saw was a big log yard and as we docked we could tell this was a town with a bit of money. First of all they have electricity, several satellite dishes and there are a few bars, this is a logging town. Think we got the wrong brochure.

Delfem is back on board with us. He is a representative of the rural workers union in the municipality of Prainha who was with us a few weeks ago for community visits on the Guajará river.

We stopped in town long enough for a few beers, and after the electricity in town was turned off at 10pm, maybe not such a big town after all, we slipped out and continued up river.

By morning we arrived in Santa Cruz, a small community of the western edge of the proposed Prainha extractive reserve.

The communities in Prainha have also submitted a proposal for an extractive reserve called Renescer (Rebirth). The Prainha reserve sits west of the Porto de Moz reserve creating a corridor of 1.6 million hectares. Together the two reserves would be the largest area of protected forest and rivers under community control in Brazil.

We are visiting communities in the region to offer information and support for the creation of the reserve while investigating the logging industry in the area.

And it is not long before we see evidence of an active logging industry on this river. In just one day we see four barges, three full of logs headed down river and another one empty headed up river.

In the morning we investigate Madenorte’s logging operation in this area. They have a log yard not far up river from where we are docked so we take the small aluminium boat to check out their operation.

Madenorte is one of the most important players in the region holding more than 200,000 hectares of forest in the area. The company consumes 175,000 cubic metres of logs a year 90 percent of which is exported, mainly to the United States, as well as Europe and Asia.

However, this isn’t the first time we have encountered Madenorte in the region and they have already moved all of the logs out of their yard.

In the afternoon we visit communities up river to talk about the reserve and invite them to Santa Cruz for a meeting in the evening. We have had little contact with the people in this region so far and those that have heard of us have heard from the loggers first. We hear the same propaganda here as in other communities that we are gringos here to steal their land and they will not be able to continue their traditional lives living off the land.
Delfem explains what the reserve is wearing a warm smile and a Che Guevara t-shirt. He invites them to the meeting explaining we also have a doctor on board for anyone needing medical assistance. This often makes people more receptive, loggers do not bring doctors, only cheap gifts that do little to improve people’s living conditions.

Delfem explains to the people in the communities that poverty is an industry and companies are making money off their misery, and politicians simply want to maintain their position of power.

He explains to us that people here are humble and do not expect to get something for nothing, so on voting day they believe they have to repay any favours and the problems in the region perpetuate.

With the reserve, he hopes the communities will be able to take their future into their own hands and break the cycle that keeps them impoverished while others make money off the forest resource they depend upon.

Even in this one state, each river and area has it’s own characteristics and beauty. Here the river is crystal clear and we can see below the surface of the water to explore the underwater forest as we take our time on the trip back down river looking for fish and enjoying the various underwater vegetation.

The trip is only marred by the many fallen and dead trees along that river’s edge that are knocked down by the large barges that pass through this narrow river.

By the evening’s meeting there are many enthusiastic and supportive community members for the extractive reserve and with the help of our local friends, I think we have begun to build new relationships in this region.

Tracy