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ABOUT THE AMAZON: About Para
The Brazilian
State of Para is located on the eastern side of the Amazon Rainforest
and is the second largest state of Brazil, stretching across an area of
1,253.164 km2 (483,815 square miles). Belem, the State’s capital,
is strategically located on the Amazon river estuary close to the mouth
of the Rio Tocantins. Belem was founded in 1616 by the Portuguese to protect
the river mouth and claim Portuguese rights to the region; however, today
the harbour acts as the main port of export for the state selling to markets
in Europe, the USA and Japan. The harbor is 120 km (75 miles) from the
Atlantic Ocean and is located at the right bank of Guaraja Bay. Like Manaus, Belem
also prospered during the rubber boom of the 1920’s (when the harbor
flourished), but today the commodities most transported through this waterway
are timber, pepper, Brazil nuts, palm hearts and fish. The state’s
economy is the 7th largest in Brazil, and has a Gross Domestic Product
of USD 12,800,000,000. Para has
hundreds of small harbors that attend the needs of the communities that
live by the river banks (ribeirinhos). Fluvial transportation is fundamental
for ribeirinhos. However, in the last decade, many roads have been built
to integrate the state and further facilitate the transport of goods and
products. These roads have played an important role in the development
of the local timber industry, as much of the logging activity in Para
state is done in Terra firma. II- Quality of Life
Para has a population of 5,510.849, with just over half concentrated in urban areas. The following statistics are based on a 1996 census, unless otherwise stated. -Almost all of the quality of life indicators of Para state are below the Brazilian average. -The life expectancy of a child born in Para is 61.07 years. Infant mortality is 52.64 per 1,000 births. -54% of the state population have spent less than 4 years at school. -30% of children ages 7 – 14 don’t attend school and 6.6% of children aged 10-14 are working. -61.89 % of the people survive with insufficient money. The average per capita income is USD 60 per month. -43.6% of the population live without clean water and 62.7% without basic sanitation. III - The timber industry (Based on 1998 figures unless otherwise stated) Para’s territory contains around 11,000,000,000 cubic meters of biomass, equivalent to 25% of the Amazon timber reserves. Sawn wood (thicker than 6 mm), plywood (thinner than 6 mm) and sawn/cut mahogany (thicker than 6 mm) accounted for the highest timber exports. According to the Para government, the timber exports made up 11,3% of the state’s total exports, worth USD 126,783,948. In Paragominas region, south of Belem, 92% of the tax revenues come from logging activities. There are 1,500 registered logging enterprises in Para. They provide 25.9% of the industrial tax revenues in the state. There are three logging companies included among the 15 largest exporting industries in Para: Eidai do Brasil Madeiras AS (USD 11,746,208), Nordisk Timber Ltda (USD 7,625,534) and Eldorado Exportacao e Servicos Ltda (USD 6,784,743).(3) Para is the largest log producer in the Amazon, having produced approximately 12,000,000 cubic meters in 1997 of which 19% were exported. The other 81% were consumed by the Brazilian internal market. Sao Paulo State alone consumed 12%, followed by Minas Gerais (8%) and Rio Grande do Sul (6%). IV – Flora and Flora The terra firma forests are located in areas that do not flood during the high water season. The trees are high and have dense compact canopies, that “knit” together to form a ceiling in the forest. It is possible to find between 140 and 280 trees species, such as cedars, mahogany, caucho, sapucaia, acapu, angelim and Brazil nut trees in a single hectare. The mahogany tree can grow to heights of 30 meters and is very common in the south of the Para State. Mahogany is used in luxury furniture, plywood, civil construction, interior decoration and others. Cedar is another desired Amazon hard wood. In addition to having medicinal applications, it is widely used by the logging industry in carpentry, plywood and cigar boxes. Brazil nut trees are very common in the south of Para region. Due to their valuable fruits, the trees are not logged. As in many parts of the Amazon Rainforest, more than 2,000 fish species, 950 kinds of birds and 300 different mammals can be found in the Para forests. Among them, the manatee (up to 2 meters long) and the poraque, a fish species that releases an electric charge when attacking its prey. Sources:
2) Report “Hitting the Target: timber consumption in the Brazilian domestic market and promotion of forest certification”. Roberto Smeraldi, Jose Adalberto de Oliveira Verissimo. São Paulo, FOE – Programa Amazonia; Belem, PA, Imazon; Piracicaba, SP, Imaflora; 1999. 3) CD ROM “Para is Amazonia”. General Director: Leila Daher. Government of the State of Para, Belem, PA, 1998. More 'About the Amazon' Samauma:
The queen of the forest
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