New Project in The Amazon Rainforest.

Our Amazon project is deep in the western section of the rainforest, in the state of Acre.

Acre has the Bolivian border to the south, and the Peruvian border to the west.

Due to illegal logging and other devastating activities, 45% of the rainforest in Acre is protected by the Brazilian government, and the remaining 55% is very, very, closely monitored.

There are hundreds of plants, fauna and trees under threat of extinction, perhaps none more so than the Mogno tree, which, primarily, over the past 150 years has been illegally cut down and sold as the sought after, wood; mahogany.

The Mahogany was a much sought after commodity, particularly in the British and North American markets. It was ultimately this desire for mahogany, the once favored wood for furniture making (amongst many other traditions) which today threatens the species.

Our project then is to replant and protect the most endangered trees, plants and rainforest fauna. We do this by collecting seeds and fruits from endangered species, and replanting them in a nursery environment. The nursery stage is usually about 3 months in duration, after which the plants and seedlings are replanted in the Amazon Rainforest.

The project objective is to replant some 50,000 hectares per year, we are currently only managing 2000 hectares per year - less than 5% of target..……This is why volunteers are needed

More Information about your location.

Acre, lies in The Amazon Basin, and 93% of the state territory is covered with tropical rainforest. And despite the deforestation , Brazil, remains the most bio-diverse country on the planet (Indonesia is second).

Some of the trees are gigantic, such as the "sumauma" which can attain a height of 160 feet, or the water lily, named by a British Victorian explorer as "victoria regia" on account of the lily being ¨fit for a queen¨, spanning more than 6 feet across.

There are Brazil-nuts , copious amounts of exotic fruits, innumerable species of insect, birds of paradise, parrots, marine life, snakes, turtles, monkeys, jaguars, panthers and possibly other species waiting to be discovered.

Indigenous peoples of your location.

The known Indian peoples of the Amazon Basin, are divided into 6 linguistic groups:

Tupi, Karib, Tukano, Jê, Pano and Aruaque. However, there are also isolated groups who have little no contact with other groups. Notwithstanding, previously unknown indigenous Indian groups are sometimes discovered.

The first immigrants to the area

By the end of the 19th century the first wave of immigration took place, this was due primarily, to the European and North-American demand for rubber.

Rubber companies were set-up, called "Seringalistas" . The "Seringalistas" appropriated large areas of rain forest for rubber extraction (latex). The Amazon Indians tried in vain to resist, but their bow and arrows were no match for the guns of the rubber companies sponsored gunmen. The gun wielding "Correrias" were mostly bachelors, and usually killed only the male Indian, and taking the Indian women as wives. In addition to this , many of the Indians died from diseases such as tuberculosis and measles, hitherto unknown in the region.

The Indians were forced into labour, constructing roads and rubber-tapping.

The rubber boom brought great wealth to the Amazon cities of Belem and Manaus. However, this was to end, under dramatic and infamous circumstances.

Biopiracy is not new to Brazil, indeed the Portuguese colonizers were the first biopirates to set foot on Brazilian soil. However, the decline of the Brazilian rubber industry is infamously attributed to an Englishman; Henry Alexander Wickham, who in 1876 stole rubber tree seeds.

He was originally in negotiation with the Brazilian government to establish a rubber industry in the Amazon region. When the parties could not agree terms, Wickham hid the rubber seeds on his ship, stashed between banana leaves.

Ironically , Brazilian officials organized a farewell party for Wickham, and proceeded to give him a most generous send-off, not knowing of course, that he had hidden seeds on board his ship.

Wickham and his pirates sailed for the British colonies of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Malaysia and established the region as the worlds main latex production and exporters. Which devastated the Brazilian rubber-tapping industry.

Wickham was subsequently knighted by King George V, and loathed by Brazils rubber barons, who called him ¨the executioner of the Amazonas¨.


If you would like to volunteer on our Amazon Project, please contact us by either , clicking here:

http://volunteerbrazil.com/booknow.html

or by emailing us: alan@volunteerbrazil.com , mention, Wickham the rubber-tree pirate in your email, for 15% discount off the program cost.