Amazon Updates
6 October 2001
After another week in Manaus, we left today to head down the
Amazon river towards the Atlantic ocean. I think most people were
anxious to leave. Many sailors would have a hard time sitting
in port for such a long time, but sitting here, with rainforest
in every direction leading away from Manaus, the wait becomes
even harder.
Manaus is a kind of jungle made up of crumbling concrete, metal,
wires, cars, boats and people. It is unlike any other cities I
have visited. Somehow, even in the middle of down town, I do get
the sense that I am in the middle of a jungle, isolated from the
rest of the world.
Manaus is the largest city in the Amazon with almost two million
people and sits almost directly in the middle of the Amazon region
on the Rio Negro. Manaus saw its most prosperous days during the
late 19th century when the city was a major commercial centre
for the rubber trade. Some of the remnants of that era can still
be seen around the city such as the Manaus Opera House. But many
of the old Portuguese style buildings that were built on the wealth
of the rubber trade are being reclaimed by the jungle as plants
and trees break down the walls and open the roofs up to the rains.
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The highlight of our time in Manaus this week was our "visit"
to a local saw mill. A Chinese owned company, the Compensa
saw mill produces plywood for export using wood from illegal
and destructive sources. |
We entered the mill and branded the wood and products with "CRIME".
Eventually the saw mill manager agreed to meet with Paulo, the
Amazon campaign coordinator, to discuss our demands.
Before we left Paulo spoke with the workers and told them that
Greenpeace is not just concerned about protecting the forest,
but also local jobs. He told them that under the Forest Stewardship
Council certification (FSC), they would also have safer working
conditions, proper protective clothing and better benefits while
at the same time the forest is not destroyed to harvest timber.
This was met by cheers and clapping from the workers who seem
to work in quite difficult and unstable conditions.
Our last few days in Manaus anchored off shore, we could still
feel the weight of the city upon us, the heat and humidity making
even the simplest tasks more difficult.
I could feel the change in mood on board as we left Manaus
and reached the point where the black waters of the Rio Negro
and the milky brown waters of the Rio Solimoes meet to become
the Amazon river. |
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Almost everyone came out on deck to see the rivers meet
like oil and water. At first there is a sharp line where the
rivers come together, eventually they begin to intertwine.
In some areas the waters swirl in a difficult dance trying
to mix. Areas of resilient black Negro waters can still be
seen 15 to 20 kilometres down river until the brown water
that is typical of the Amazon river completely engulfs them. |
Already I can see that the landscape here is different then on
the Solimoes river. There are more houses along the river's edge,
and they are larger, more of the forest along the river has been
cleared, there are more cattle grazing and more fires burning
in the forest along the river. There are few people that come
out to wave at our passing ship, they are used to large ships
travelling on this part of the river.
The sunset we used to watch from the bow of the ship travelling
up river, will now be behind us until we reach the ocean. Tonight
the sun is a big ball of fire, the air is thick with humidity
and the sky around the sun glows pink and orange.
We are not sure what the reception will be like in Santarem.
We know that it will be different than our trip up river. In Amazonas
state much of the forest remains pristine and the logging industry
is relatively small compared to Para state. The people of Amazonas
state we met want to preserve the forest and their way of life.
But now we are heading into logging country and the wild west
mentality prevails.
Tracy
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