September 5th is Amazon Day, a commemorative date that annually reinforces the importance of preserving this biome. The occasion is also an opportunity to celebrate the diversity and wealth that the Amazon region adds.
With a territorial extension almost eight times larger than France, the Brazilian Amazon occupies almost 60% of the national territory and is home to an immensity of people, plants and animals. In this article, we list a series of information, in text and images already produced by Liberal Amazon, that will help you to know, or better understand this region that is so diverse, full of paradoxes and so important for the present and the global future.
The region of the largest tropical forest in the world also suffers from the advance of fires and deforestation. A report released this year by MapBiomas presented the worrying estimate that, every second, 18 trees are felled in the Amazon.
Knowing the importance and diversity of the Amazon is the first step in demanding public policies from the authorities and, in this year, which is such a relevant year for Brazilians, with majority elections in October, every opportunity to learn about the region is an invitation that cannot be ignored.
Among the urban centers of the Brazilian Amazon, Belém, capital of Pará and the first capital of the region, is a city that preserves memories in architecture, politics and economy.
Monte Alegre, western Pará, is a rich example of how the Amazon shelters ancient records of human occupation in the Americas and has ecological tourism spaces beyond the forests.
Science and nature for the benefit of health and income generation
The Amazon has the greatest biodiversity on the planet and, in its forests, researchers seek solutions that, many times, are already historically used by native peoples.
In nature, it is also possible to find alternatives for generating employment and income. In Santarém, also in western Pará, a team of researchers from the Federal University of Western Pará (Ufopa) is producing a vegan lipstick (without any substance of animal origin) made out from jambo fruit (Rose-apple) [Syzygium jambos] and from seeds and other nature raw materials. The aim is to offer an ecologically correct and low cost product to consumers.
Startups, technology-based companies that seek solutions for products and services, have gained more and more space in the region, and especially in the territory of Pará. One of them, Biomimetics Biotechnology, develops an edible skin. Imperceptible to the human eye and made from fruit peels, it extends the live of food stores in the shelves.
Amazon Day is instituted by law
In Brazil, the Day of the Amazon was created in 2008, through federal law 11.621/2007. Since then, every year, September 5th reinforces the importance of the Amazon biome, which is fundamental for the environmental and climatic balance of the entire planet.
To see the beauty of the people and landscapes that live here, visit the Virtual Exhibition on the Liberal Amazon website. In the work of Luiz Braga, the choice of photographs in black and white portray expressions, moments and experiences of the Amazonian people. In João Ramid's gallery, photojournalism, advertising, architecture and art are brought together to reveal the variety of the Amazon.
In the project's video gallery, you can also check out more about the colors, smells and flavors of the Amazon. Access and be sure to follow these and other content developed to show the region through the eyes of those who know, study, research and experience the Amazon.