Tabatha Benitz, 17th June 2020

Entrepreneurship workshop in the Boa Esperança Community. Photo: Fernanda Viana

The Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve is located in the region close to the confluence of the Solimões River with the Japurá River. The ancient meaning of the word used to name the lake and the reserve is linked to rain. In Tupi, for example, the word amana means rainwater, while in the General Language the same word can also be translated as a cloud. Amanã can be the place of rain. The reserve covers areas in the cities of Maraã, Barcelos and Coari.

The RDS Amanã is located in the Central Amazon, about 680 km from Manaus by river. It covers part of the drainage basins of the Solimões River, the Japurá River and the Negro River and its territory, with an area of 2,348,962.9ha, overlaps with the territories of the municipalities of Maraã, Coari, Barcelos and Codajás / Amazonas.

Amanã is one of the largest protected areas in South America tropical forest. The conservation unit has a high value in terms of its biodiversity, as it comprises lowland and upland forests. One of the most important factors in the distribution, behavior and diversity of life forms present in the reserve is the seasonal variation in the water level caused by the annual pattern of the rivers and lakes flood regime in the region.

In the region of Lake Amanã, the annual variation in the water level is around nine to ten meters. As floodwaters enter the Amanã lake area, habitat availability for aquatic fauna increases. Already in the drought, the loss of aquatic habitat results in an increase in predation and, as the animals become more concentrated in areas of free water, with little or no shelter.

The population of Amanã is 5458 people and has 12 indigenous communities with records of requests for demarcation with the indigenous agency.

The Amanã human occupation history includes the participation of populations descended from local indigenous groups and successive waves by northeastern migrants.

With its shards (fragments of pottery) and Amazonian dark earth, the archaeological sites found in the RDS Amanã gather a valuable heritage that refers to the context of pre-colonial occupations (human occupations of a period before European colonization of America) in the region.

The archaeological research carried out in the RDS Amanã mainly raised questions about antiquity (with traces of more than 3,000 years ago) and variability (with at least four different cultures) in the traces found.

However, even with this wonderful biodiversity and incredible history of occupation, the Amanã population is far from being fully served by basic public policies such as sanitation, education and quality health. In the pandemic, these problems, which already existed, are aggravated and require more than ever a careful look at the guardians of the forest.

Amanã Lake. Photo: Euler Dumbá

Reserva Amanã community. Photo: João Paulo Borges Pedro

Excavation of funerary urns in the Bom Jesus do Baré community in 2011. Photo: Bernardo Costa

Hi I’m Tabatha Benitz, and I work at the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Institute in Tefé, in the Brazilian Amazon.

I work with resource mobilization, research and extension on sustainable entrepreneurship, use of natural resources and gender.

Tabatha Benitz, 8th July 2020

In the Amanã Sustainable Development Reserve there are 133 communities that organize themselves into associations. These associations have the function of politically representing the residents of the communities, requesting funds for projects, demanding public policies, etc.

Some communities have their own association and the reserve has a “parent association” that represents all of their communities, the Central of Residents Associations and Reserva Amanã Users (CAMURA - acronym in Portuguese).

Assembly in the Amanã Reserve with CAMURA representatives

Source: https://www.mamiraua.org.br/noticias/plano-gestao-uc-amana-assembleia-geral

There are many difficulties that communities have been facing during this pandemic. Not everyone can benefit from the federal government because they prefer not to go to the city for fear of being contaminated. Talking to the current president of CAMURA, Mr. Edivan Feitosa, he comments on the following:

"We received little help from the Maraã city hall. Residents are afraid to go to the city to receive the federal benefit and buy items that are not produced locally. If it weren't for solidarity campaigns by our partners, we wouldn't have help. Thank you on behalf of the residents of Reserva Amanã to everyone who has helped us in this difficult time ”.

Support delivered with our campaign. Logistics was carried out by the Municipal Environment Department. Source: www.instagram.com/ajudeascomunidades/

Tefé is the urban hub in the region, serving a large part of rural residents with bank, hospital and legal services. And to avoid the city and its agglomerations, communities have created their own strategies for isolation and lockdown, drastically reducing travel to cities and allowing only residents to enter the communities. The visit to the reserves, whether for tourism or research, is currently closed, with no opening forecast, which helps to reduce the flow to these areas.

Helping communities with food, protective masks, personal hygiene kits and information about the pandemic is a way to contribute to the riverside population in the fight against the coronavirus.