Concern for the Amazon River
Four centuries after the discovery of the Amazon River, the total cultivated area in its basin was less than 25 square miles, 65 square kilometers, excluding the limited and rudely cultivated areas among the mountains at its extreme headwaters. This situation changed dramatically during the 20th century. Wary of foreign exploitation of the nation’s resources, Brazilian governments in the 1940s set out to develop the interior, away from the seaboard where foreigners owned large tracts of land. The original architect of this expansion was President Vargas, the demand for rubber from the Allied Forces in World War II providing funding for the drive. A large-scale colonization program saw families relocated to the forests, encouraged by promises of cheap land. Many settlements grew along the road from Brasilia to Belem, but rainforest soil proved difficult to cultivate. Still, long-term development plans continued. Roads were cut through the forests, and in 1970, the work on Trans-Amazon highway network began and was completed within ten years, connecting all the major cities of the Brazilian Amazon interior. Cattle farming became a major impetus in deforestation, with military governments in the 1960s and 1970s heavily subsidizing the creation of large ranches. By the 1980s the rate of destruction of the rainforest was dizzying, and it is estimated that over a fifth of the total area of the rainforest has now been clearcut. The preservation of the remaining forest is becoming an ever more prominent concern.
January 14, 2006
I had such a great time in Santaren, Brazil yesterday. When we got off the ship in Santaren it smelled so bad like rotten garbage and sewage around the water. When got off the ship and got to land the Santaren people greeted us so kindly with necklaces and there was a woman that was dressed like an Amazon women and people were having there pictures taken with her. We got on the shuttle bus to go to town and once we got to town there were so many crafty things to buy. The market on the square was full of food, clothes, shoes and other things you could buy. The hand made necklaces and earrings were so pretty looking. When you were looking at there things in the market the people there weren’t making you feel like you had to buy it and making you feel uncomfortable if you didn’t buy it like they do sometimes in other countries when you are bargaining. I even took a picture of a Santaren boy holding an iguana and I even touched it. It was really cool to see the boy laughing with me when I was touching the iguana. The thing I bought from there is a little jewelry box that had a real dead butterfly in the lid that was clear and you could see the beautiful butterfly through it. In all I had a memorable time in Santaren, Brazil. One more thing the people there had really nice looking skin probably from all that sun they get there.
Always, Alemitu
This is Winnie. Can’t add anything to Alemitu’s description. It sums up Santaren. Just have a few stories about us and our fellow travelers.
We have table partners for dinner who I mentioned earlier. There is a mother from Manhattan, and her 35 year old son who is an artist. The night before we arrived in Santaren the ship put packets of insect repellent on everyone’s pillow with instructions to use it if you had night time exposure to mosquitoes. The next day the mother asked her son to not forget this packet and he announced that he had applied it over his entire body the night before, put on his pj’s, and gone to bed. He, of course, washed it off the next morning. Oh, well! His mother put it on when we went into town, only to have it dissolve her fingernail polish. Potent stuff. I don’t think I would want to sleep in it!
Then, just as we were to leave port, Carter announced that he was going out on the pier because he had heard that the merchandise went half price right before we left, and he wanted a blow gun. I thought he was joking……until he victoriously produced a blow gun with several darts, in addition to a very scary mask and a traditional knife made with a fish’s spine. Where will we ever put these things? Alemitu doesn’t want Carter to decide to administer a dart in the middle of the night……The weather is over 90 with tremendous humidity. I would never have survived here for long.
Winnie
posted by Hills @ 1:54 PM
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