Imagine a 30-storey building in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. You won't find a typical big city building, but you will find a tree almost 90 meters tall. In 2022, researchers reached this giant during an expedition on the border between Pará and Amapá. The tree boasts the title of being the largest in Brazil and Latin America and the fourth largest in the world.
The researchers' work began in 2019, when the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) carried out a study in the Amazon region to learn about the biome's characteristics. Using a laser sensor on board of an aircraft to determine topographic data, the research identified areas with trees measuring more than 80 meters high in the Jari River Valley region. The discovery was considered an unusual reality for the region, since the largest Amazonian trees usually reach 40 or 50 meters on average.
Based on the data obtained by INPE, several expeditions were made to the area to reach these giant trees. Representatives of research and government institutions took part in the search, as well as local residents, who helped with transportation, as the area is quite isolated and difficult to access. The area explored includes part of the Paru State Forest (Flota), in western Pará, and the Tumucumaque Mountains National Park, in Amapá, both conservation units.
Five expeditions and several discoveries later, the researchers, led by the Federal University of the Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys, from Minas Gerais, and the Federal Institute of Amapá, located, in September 2022, in the Paru Forest, a specimen of red angelim tree (Dinizia excelsa) 88.5 meters high and almost 10 meters in circumference. Its age is estimated at between 400 and 600 years.
In the region, in addition to the record-breaking tree, the expedition found a population of almost 40 other giant trees, measuring more than 60 meters in height, including several other red angelims, but also other species, such as piquiá (Caryocar villosum), maçaranduba (Manilkara huberi), tauari (Couratari guyanensis), castanheira (Bertholletia excelsa Bonpl.) and samaúma (Ceiba pentandra (L.) Gaertn.). The site has been named the Amazon Giant Tree Sanctuary.
Discovering the sanctuary
Ideflor-Bio (Pará State Forestry and Biodiversity Development Institute) is responsible for the state's conservation units, such as the Paru Flota. Crisomar Lobato, a forestry engineer and the Institute's director of Biodiversity Management, says that specialists from the agency have joined the team of expeditions in search of the giant trees.
"We started to integrate this work so that we could legally and physically protect these unique species. And now, in May, we have made a new expedition, which has located a population of dozens of red angelims, further south of the area where the 88.5-meter one was found. This population measures between 60 and 73 meters," says the manager.
According to the engineer, the agency is now working on producing knowledge about the giant trees. "We're working on dating to find out how old the trees are. We're also looking for a scientific basis to find out why they've grown so much. Together with Embrapa [the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation], we are analyzing the soil to find out its importance in the evolution of these trees. We also know that the wind in this region is less intense than in other areas. Another important factor is that there has been no anthropogenic disturbance, i.e. there has been no effective human arrival in the region," explains Lobato.
According to forestry engineer Rodrigo Geroni, a professor at the Federal Rural University of Amazonia (UFRA) and one of the curators of the Forest Resources Measurement and Management Laboratory, the trees found, based on their size, have been alive for hundreds or thousands of years. "The existence of the largest trees in the Amazon at this specific site indicates a region with a high stock of biomass and carbon, with a probable great wealth of biodiversity," says the professor.
According to Geroni, studies on the giants found can answer important questions, such as the amount of carbon they store (remove from the air), their relationship with the biodiversity of the place, how they affect or are affected by the microclimate and even the possibility of reproducing these conditions in other areas, based on the genetic material found there.
"These are questions that could change the focus of a lot of legislation in force today, not to mention genetic, herbal and medicinal aspects and the average age of formation of this forest, which are related to human life in the region. The ecological importance of this forest site is difficult to measure. There is no market value to pay for what is there, and its ecological value is not easy to measure, simply because it is still little known from a scientific point of view and is a rare site in the whole of the Amazon," says the expert.
#ProtectTheGiantTrees
Precisely because they see the importance of these immense, centuries-old trees, third sector and private sector organizations such as the Amazon Institute for Man and the Environment (Imazon), the O Mundo Que Queremos (The World We Want) Institute and the National Pro-Conservation Units Network (Rede Pró-UC) have joined forces to demand the protection of this valuable heritage. In 2022, the campaign #ProtectTheGiantTrees
"At the time, the aim of the campaign was to draw attention to the existence of the red angelim, due to its importance and rarity, at the same time as the conservation unit where it is found, the Paru Flota, was considered one of the most threatened in Brazil," explains Angela Kuczach, executive director of Rede Pró-UC.
The biologist says that when the red angelim was discovered, it was also discovered that there were more than 500 illegal Rural Environmental Registrations (CARs) kept within the Flota. "We're talking about illegal deforestation, invasion, land grabbing, attempted mining, all sorts of illegal activities, which we know happen every day in the Amazon. Flota is very vulnerable to this. So, at the time, the Pará state government immediately canceled these CARs, but these threats are still ongoing," he recalls.
Full protection
Angela Kuczach explains that the #ProtectTheGiantTrees campaign is currently in another phase: demanding a new protection status for the Paru Forest. "What we hope is that, in addition to combating illegal activities, this region will have a new, more restrictive categorization and become more protected. We want to ensure that the area where the red angelim is located continues to exist forever and that the people of Pará know and are proud of this treasure in their backyard," he says.
Professor Geroni, from Ufra, agrees with the need to change the conservation unit's status and strict supervision. "If the aim is to preserve these areas, to keep them untouched, the state government must take the main action. The transformation of Flota do Paru, especially this specific site, into a fully protected area is the most appropriate measure. However, even if this happens in the short term, the state government, together with the federal government, must take action to curb the access of unauthorized people who have been frequenting the region for years, for example by operating illegal mining operations along the river that borders the Sanctuary," he says.
Crisomar Lobato, from Ideflor-Bio, says that the Institute is already mobilizing to change the unit's status. Currently, the Paru Flota is in the category of sustainable use, meaning that it can be exploited as long as it is done so responsibly, without depleting it or damaging ecological processes. The idea is for the Giant Tree Sanctuary region to become fully protected.
"The Paru Forest has approximately 3.6 million hectares. Of these more than three million, we're going to separate 562,000 hectares, where the giants are, and turn it into an integral protection conservation unit," says Lobato. In this form, the rules for human intervention are much stricter.
Tree of life, Amazon icon
Although smaller than the red angelims found in the western region of Pará, kapok tree (Ceiba pentandras) are also recognized as giants of the Amazon. They can reach 60 meters in height and three meters in diameter. Their main distinguishing feature is their apparent, flattened roots, called sapopembas. They are known as "trees of life" and are considered sacred by some indigenous peoples, who see them as a kind of interconnection between the earthly and spiritual worlds.
In Belém, the samaumeiras [kapok trees] have become icons of the city. The best known are those in the Utinga State Park and the Nazaré Sanctuary Square, but there are several other specimens. In the urban area, there are around 15 trees of this species, mostly on public roads and in squares, but they can also be found in the Bosque Rodrigues Alves (Rodrigues Alves Park), the Emílio Goeldi Museum and on the capital's islands, such as the Combu Island. According to the Municipal Department of the Environment (Semma), an inventory of trees is being carried out, which should provide a more accurate answer to how many kapok trees there are in the city.
According to José Ailton Melo Júnior, head of Semma's Public Green Areas Maintenance Division, the already mapped and known specimens receive maintenance at least once a year, with pruning or pest control. This can also happen on demand.
The agronomist explains that the species is a municipal heritage site, in accordance with Law No. 7.709/1994, which deals with the capital's Historical, Artistic, Environmental and Cultural Heritage. "Every time a samaum tree is removed, a new one of the same species must be planted, not necessarily in the same place, but in the city," he said.
The agronomist explains that the species is a municipal heritage site, in accordance with Law No. 7.709/1994, which deals with the capital's Historical, Artistic, Environmental and Cultural Heritage. "Every time a kapok tree is removed, a new one of the same species must be planted, not necessarily in the same place, but in the city," he said.
"This species is culturally important because it is one of the symbols of our city, and a 100% native symbol. Our ancestors already lived with it. There are trees in the region of the islands that are estimated to be 500 years old. Those in the urban area are up to 200 years old. So, the city was built and grew around these trees. They are part of our history," says the agronomist.
Seamstress Elizabeth Soares often goes for walks in Utinga Park and has a habit of observing the beauty of the kapok tree at the entrance to the park, which has become a postcard for the area, where visitors often take their photos. "We have to appreciate nature. As this is a centenary tree, we really have to preserve it. Many of these trees are destroyed, cut down, but we have to love them and take care of them. It's for us, for our future," he says.
