About Amazonia
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Contents

Introduction

Living in Amaz⌠nia

Early Explorers

Scientists & Adventurers

Exploration Today

Development

The Rubber Boom

Environment

Natural History

Development in Amaz⌠nia

Europeans first ventured into Amaz⌠nia in 1542 searching for new riches and resources. Their first quest was for gold (El Dorado) and for vast forests of cinnamon. To begin with, all the Europeans found were dense forests, mosquitoes, and tribes of fierce Indians.

But, later, enterprising explorers discovered ways to make money from the new lands that they discovered. Development of the area first began in the 1620s. Although small quantities of gold were found in some areas of Amaz⌠nia, the biggest developments were plantations.

Plantations and Slavery

Early visitors believed that the land in Amaz⌠nia must be very fertile due to dense luxurious rainforest which covered the area. European settlers tried establishing farms and plantations in Amaz⌠nia near the Atlantic coast, but soon discovered that the work was much more difficult than they'd imagined. Plantation work was long and hard, and didn't appeal to the Europeans – so they sent slaving expeditions deep into the rainforests to capture Indians as slaves and forced to work for the settlers.

Once captured, Indian slaves became sad and depressed. They weren't used to such hard work – they were mistreated, and missed their life in the rainforests. Many waited for a quiet moment, then slipped back into the forest – trying to get as far from the settlers as possible. Even when Indians settled among the settlers on peaceful terms, they watched in horror as diseases (such as smallpox, malaria, and measles) devastated their communities. Unfortunately, Indians escaping back into the forest took the diseases back with them. These diseases swept through the rainforest (and the rest of South America) killing millions of Indians. The Indians learned too late that contact with Europeans made their people sick. Entire communities and cultures disappeared.

Because of the huge decline, settlers found it increasingly difficult to find Indian slaves for their plantations and farms, so organised expeditions to travel even deeper into the forests to capture more of them.

Wealthy settlers decided to import their slaves from Africa. African slaves were physically stronger people, and were better able to withstand the harsh conditions of plantation work. And because they were so far away from home, African slaves were less likely to run away into the surrounding rainforest. The rainforest was as unfamiliar to the Africans as it was to the Europeans. Slave labour made it possible for European settlers to establish huge plantations, exporting sugar, rice, coffee, tobacco, cotton, and cocoa to the markets of Europe and North America. For the plantation owners, life was luxurious and easy because they had many other people to do all the work for them.

Missions

Many of the earliest settlements and plantations were established by Jesuit priests. These settlements, called Missions, were created by the Church as a way to make contact with the Indians and to convert them to Christianity. The missions were plantations and farms where the Indians were taught European methods of farming and agriculture – working long hours during the day, then learning about Christianity during the evenings an on Sundays. Life for Indians living in the missions was very strict and difficult, but it was much better than the mistreatment that they were likely to suffer as slaves belonging to other settlers. The Jesuit missions in Amaz⌠nia and elsewhere in Brazil became very successful – getting large numbers of Indians to work for them, and becoming rich from the produce which they were able to export back to Europe. The other settlers became jealous. They found it increasingly difficult to find Indians to take as slaves for their own farms, so began to attack and raid the Missions – looting and burning everything that they could find, and capturing the Indian workers. Although some of the missions gave the Indians weapons and training to defend themselves, they were no match for the settlers' armies.

In the 1750s, as a result of pressure from the settlers, the colonial government declared new laws which forced the Jesuit missions to close. Their prosperous lands, animals, and Indians were distributed among the settlers who treated them very harshly. As a result, many of the Indians got sick or fled back into the forest. Production on the plantations declined – they became rundown and were soon abandoned.

The new laws also claimed to make it illegal for the Indians to be kept as "slaves" – but, in reality, life for them became much worse and the slaving raids into the rainforests continued. Indians

Drogas do Sertπo

Indians were employed for other tasks, gathering precious items from the forests and rivers, such as sarsaparilla (used for medicinal teas), cravo (a spice, similar to a clove), Brazil nuts, and dried fish. Another widely used product was oil from turtle eggs. In the days before electricity, turtle egg oil was a popular for use in lamps and lanterns – and turtle eggs were dug up from riverbanks all around Amaz⌠nia to produce this valuable oil. It is estimated that 48 million turtle eggs were dug up each year. Poaching of the turtles' eggs, combined with heavy hunting of adult turtles, have resulted in the near extinction of this once abundant species.

Indians were also commonly used as rowers on expeditions upriver – acting as carriers for people and goods along Amaz⌠nia's many rivers. These expeditions usually kept the Indians away from their their families for many months.

The Rubber Boom

The biggest development to affect Amaz⌠nia was the rubber boom of the 19th century and early 20th century. The Indians had been using rubber long before the arrival of the Europeans. Rubber was collected by cutting into trees which would bleed a milky white sap called latex. This could then be processed into rubber.

The Indians used rubber for repairing holes in canoes, coating drumsticks, and making rubber syringes to suck up and squirt fluids. They even made rubber balls for Indian children to play with. At first, the Europeans treated rubber as a curiosity – they knew that it had special properties, but weren't sure how to use it. But gradually, European inventors found out how to treat rubber so that it could be used to make waterproof raincoats and boots, inflatable rubber tyres for bicycles (and cars), and many other useful things.

Two factors that created the right conditions for a "boom":

1. Lots of people wanted rubber for making a wide variety of products, and;

2. Amaz⌠nia was the only place where rubber trees grew. Because there was no other place for anyone to get rubber, the rubber sellers charged very high prices and became extremely rich.

The rubber boom meant that lots of money was flowing into Amaz⌠nia. The rubber sellers (sometimes called rubber "barons") built huge houses for themselves rebuilt the cities of Manaus and BelΘm as replicas of the finest European cities. They had expensive restaurants, electric tramways, telephones, opera houses and theatres, and (eventually) motorcars and paved roads. The rubber boom meant significant changes for Amaz⌠nia. But, unfortunately, most people in Amaz⌠nia never made any money from the rubber boom because they were cheated and abused by the rubber barons who tried to keep all the profits for themselves.

The boom ended suddenly in 1912, when rubber plantations in Malaysia (planted from seedlings stolen from the Amazon over thirty years before) started to producing enough rubber to offer an alternative source. You can learn more about the rubber boom in the next section.

Development in the 20th Century

Although development had already had an effect in Amaz⌠nia prior to the 20th century, development was small and most of the territory was relatively untouched. But things changed. Improvements in transport and technology meant that it was now possible to built large factories in previously remote areas. Large ships could travel upriver to deliver people and supplies to the factories, then return with cargoes full of goods. Governments and industrialists view Amaz⌠nia as a huge territory with vast resources ready to be exploited.

Resources include:

• Animals. Animals have always been a valuable resource in the Amazon. The Indians relied on hunting for their food, and used a variety of animal products. But, large-scale developments in the last 100 years have led to the near-extinction of many species. Developments included the widespread hunting of turtles and manatee for their meat, the collection of turtle eggs for oil, and the hunting of many other animals for their hides. The rarest animals are now protected by law – but hunting still continues in some places.

• Logging, and paper production. Most of Amaz⌠nia is covered by rainforest, which means that there are a lot of trees which can be cut down for timber and paper production. The most valuable tree for logging is mahogany – but for every mahogany tree, many surrounding trees must also be chopped down. It is estimated that 13 other trees are chopped down for each mahogany tree recovered from the rainforest. Several large paper pulp factories have also been established. The largest ever plantation was established by the American billionaire, Daniel Ludwig. His Jari plantation of eucalyptus trees was bigger than the state of Connecticut (in the USA), and was the largest area of land on earth owned by a single individual. The plantation included its own paper pulp factory – which was first made in Japan, then towed on a barge to Brazil, and up the Amazon river where it was reassembled. However, the venture wasn't very profitable, and Ludwig later sold the plantation to a group of Brazilian companies. Jari is just one of several large paper pulp projects based in Amaz⌠nia.

• Minerals, oil, and diamonds. The riches which eluded Amaz⌠nia's first explorers really do exist. Amaz⌠nia has some of the richest gold discoveries found this century – attracting hundreds of thousands of people to remote Amazon lands with hopes of making vast fortunes. A modern-day goldrush, with scenes similar to the great goldrushes of California, the Yukon and Otago (NZ) last century! Other valuable discoveries include iron, copper, manganese, bauxite (aluminium), nickel, tin, oil, and diamonds. Mines are a huge source of income for Brazil. For example, the area of Serra dos Carajßs is estimated to produce 50 million tonnes of iron ore per year, earn $US15 billion per year in foreign exchange, and employ about a million people in mining and support industries (such as road-building and the generation of electricity to power the smelters). Oil drilling, pipelines, and other developments are now appearing throughout Amaz⌠nia. State and national governments are encouraging these developments as a way to earn money and to help their nations' struggling economies.

• Electricity Generation. With such huge developments occurring in recent years, rapidly increasing populations – there is a huge need for electricity generation. Planners have dreams of harnessing Amaz⌠nia's rivers in gigantic dams and hydro-electric power projects. Some projects are already underway, flooding vast areas of rainforest.

• Farming and agriculture. With serious overcrowding problems in Brazil's north-eastern territories, more people are being encouraged to move into Amaz⌠nia. They are being attracted by lower living costs. New farmers are attracted by the prospect of cheap land. Development often happens when a new road is built through a previously remote area – settlers quickly move it to claim the land and clear it for farms. Land is cleared in the dry season by setting fire to surrounding rainforest – resulting in huge fires with gigantic clouds of smoke, visible hundreds of kilometres away. These fires kill lots of wildlife, and devastate more area than logging or other developments. The smoke created by the fires is also a major contributor of carbon dioxide and "greenhouse" gases which are responsible for . Despite the effort of clearing the farms, Amaz⌠nia's soil is very poor – within a few years all of the soil's goodness has been used, and plants will no longer grow.

• Factories and industrialisation. Eager to catch up with the rest of the world's "developed" nations, Brazil is encouraging companies to build new factories in Amaz⌠nia – and particularly around the city of Manaus. Special exemptions are available which allow many factories to operate tax-free;

Ecologists are very concerned about the amount of development currently occurring in Amaz⌠nia. Much of it is destroying rainforests, rivers, and other delicate natural systems. Once an area is deforested, the land becomes hard and sterile – it is baked by the hot tropical sun, and any nutrients stored in the soil are quickly washed away in rainstorms. The destruction of forests, which are responsible for so much of the area's rain, could potentially turn Amaz⌠nia into the world's biggest desert and result in dramatic climatic changes for the area. Development is also destroying wildlife and delicate ecological systems.

Although the people who live here agree that development is causing problems, they say that they are only doing what most other countries have already done. Much of Europe, the United States, and New Zealand were once covered by forest which was then chopped down by settlers for agriculture and other developments. Many Brazilians think that it is unfair that they are criticised by "developed" countries for doing the same thing.