Article 2 - "Innovation allows Amazon villagers to make ecological history"

The Guardian: 

      My second article, which I will be writing about, is based on the innovative ways amazon villagers used to create an Eco - friendly environment. The Island of Cinders or Ilhas das Cinzas is situated between two streams of the Amazon River. The village is about a six hour boat ride and 2 days further from Macapa which is the capital of Amapa State in Brazil. 

      The villagers have kept everything in tact from the forest to the water, which is "filtered and recycled". Farming and fishing are controlled. Their main income is from Palm Hearts and Acai Berries. They live on white prawns which they found in mangrove swamps. The villagers initially arrived in the village in the 1920s or 1930s and there were only a handful of them. They came to usurp the plots of land without having any right over them. They were mainly tempted to do this due to the "potential of logging and the river's well - stocked waters". The people settled there and slowly expanded. Currently, there about 100 families and 350 people in total. 

      The village reached destitution when their supply of the white prawns was hampered when the reproduction of the white prawns was restrained by the fishing methods. The community found it very hard and time - consuming to farm and harvest because they never farmed that material, they only caught the Acai Berries and Palm Hearts. Moreover, the value of the Palm Hearts decreased and "the market for Acai juice was relatively small". 

      NGO's became quite active and an agricultural engineer, Pinto came and studied the farming techniques of the villagers. He carried out a process and set up a scheme which was well approved by the islanders. At the end of the year, the villagers decided to modify their macapis, which were the cages they used to catch the white prawns from the swamps. The size was increased so that small baby prawns could easily escape and the bigger prawns would be captured. This would help the smaller prawns reproduce and then grow. Pinto also found out that there too many macapis and so he cut down the macapis to a sustainable number. This also gave the villagers enough time to farm and harvest the berries and palm hearts. This brought more than double the income by selling larger amounts of berries and palm hearts. The islanders worked collectively and made great profit. 

      Since then, the Island of Cinders has set an example for reusing, recycling and preserving their surrounding environment. The Brazilian government even rewarded the community for using Eco - Friendly ways and promoting renewable energy. 

MLA Bibliography of Photo:

Calton, Gary. Collective Work … on the Amazon Estuary near Macapa. N.d. Photograph. Macapa. The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited, 19 June 2012. Web. 26 June 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/19/sustainable-living-island-brazil-amazon>.

MLA Bibliography of Article:

Bourcier, Nicolas. "Innovation Allows Amazon Villagers to Make Ecological History." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 19 June 2012. Web. 26 June 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jun/19/sustainable-living-island-brazil-amazon>.

Yavnika Kumar

26.06.12