- Luis Barrucho – @luisbarrucho
- From BBC News Brazil in London
credit, Imazon, Ideflor-Bio, and Havita Rigamonti
Anglim Vermelho is as tall as a 30-storey building
The tallest tree in the Amazon – Anglém Vermelho is about 400 years old, has a circumference of 9.9 meters and a height of 88.5 meters, equivalent to a 30-storey building – “in danger” due to illegal actions of land grabbers and miners, conservationists warn the environment.
The tree, discovered in September during an expedition supported by the NGO Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente da Amazônia (Imazon), is part of a group of giant trees located in the State Forest (Flota) of Paro, on the border of the states of Amapá and of Pará .
It is larger, for example, than some major postcards in the world, such as the Great Sphinx in Giza (20 meters), in Egypt, Christ the Redeemer (38 meters), in Rio de Janeiro and the Leaning Tower (57 meters) in Italy . It hardly beats Big Ben (96 meters) in London, England and the Statue of Liberty (93 meters) in New York, USA.
The Paru Flota is the third largest conservation unit of sustainable use in tropical forests in the world. The area of the biome is 36,000 square kilometres, about three times the size of Qatar, which hosted the 2022 World Cup.
In other words, sustainable exploitation of a part of the natural resources there is permitted as long as it is combined with nature conservation.
credit, Imazon, Ideflor-Bio, and Havita Rigamonti
Giant red Anglem is threatened by illegal work by land grabbers and prospectors, environmentalists warn
However, environmentalists claim that this is not what happens. According to them, the Paru Flota, which belongs to the largest block of protected areas in the world, suffers from the actions of land grabbers and miners – in November it was the third most preserved unit of forest in the entire Amazon.
Data based on satellite imagery from Amazon’s Deforestation Alert System (SAD) shows that the forest has already lost 46.5 square kilometers of vegetation since 2008. The National Institute for Space Research (INPE), also based on satellite imagery, reports an even greater number. In the same period: 74 square kilometers.
Both point to a peak in deforestation in 2019, the first year of the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who is accused of benefiting deforestationers and criticizing his environmental policy towards the Amazon. Since 2019, Para-Helder Barballo (MDB) has governed, and was re-elected in the October elections. He remained neutral in that year’s presidential election and announced his support for former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party) in the last election.
Last Thursday (12/15), Amazon and nine other NGOs launched the Network online campaign Using the hashtag #ProtejaAsGigantesTrees, with the aim of drawing the community’s attention to the need for the Parra government to inspect and monitor the area.
According to Jacqueline Pereira, an Amazon researcher and consultant to Flota do Baru, the giant trees are threatened by land grabs and, above all, illegal gold mining.
“At the southern end of the conservation unit, there is a land-use change, with land being leased for farming, livestock and illegal logging,” she told BBC News Brasil.
credit, Jacqueline Pereira
A clearing of forests for exploration
credit, Jacqueline Pereira
Aerial view of the mine.
credit, Jacqueline Pereira
Photo of deforestation and waste from mining (which uses mercury) in the middle of a forest
“But the illegal gold mines are closest to the trees. And although the deforestation they cause is not very great, because they open up a small area in the forest and use artisanal methods, the effect ends, because the mercury is used and promotes the movement of people within the conservation unit. A survey estimated the number of workers Mines in the region in 2009 increased to 2,000,” he adds.
In order to get to the place where the giant trees are, on the last expedition in September, Pereira says, “researchers went through gold mines.”
credit, Imazon, Ideflor-Bio, and Havita Rigamonti
Experts estimate that the tree is about 400 years old
“The place is a hard-to-reach area, with rivers with waterfalls. You have to walk for a long time in the forest, so access is very bad,” he says.
According to the specialist, these giant trees are not uncommon in the area – the red anglium is a “type of wood”, which usually grows “between 25 and 30 metres,” she explains.
At 88.5 metres, the giant Anglém Vermelho has become the fourth tallest living tree ever documented. Guinness World Records, Book of Records. The largest sequoia in the world is 116 meters long. It is located in Redwood National Park, in the state of California, in the United States.
credit, Jacqueline Pereira
Ravine mining. This is when the prospectors break the ground with the force of the water. The sludge is drained into a sieve with mercury and the gold sticks to the mercury. Waste is dumped in the forest
credit, Jacqueline Pereira
Illegal mining destroys plants and pollutes the forest with mercury
According to Pereira, “In addition to the largest tree in the Amazon, Flota do Baru has many endemic species, those found only in a particular area. It is an important area for preserving local biodiversity, containing climate change and has huge potential for ecotourism and plant extraction, Which can generate income while the forest survives.”
credit, Jacqueline Pereira
Vein mining
He concludes, “Therefore, we cannot lose our assets to these criminals, we need supervision and effective implementation of the management plan to prevent destruction.”
From January to November, 10,286 square kilometers of forests are cut down in the Amazon, the equivalent of more than 3,000 football fields per day. It’s the worst cumulative result in the last 15 years, according to data from Amazon’s Deforestation Alert System (SAD). Only Parra was responsible for deforestation of 279 square kilometers in November, nearly half of what was recorded in the entire Amazon.
credit, Imazon, Ideflor-Bio, and Havita Rigamonti
Machines and camp Garimpeiros
credit, Imazon, Ideflor-Bio, and Havita Rigamonti
Machinery used in illegal mining in Barrow state forest area
the other side
In a statement sent to BBC News Brasil, the Pará government, through the Institute for Forest Development and Biodiversity (IDEFLOR-Bio) reported that it had “received a complaint of land grabbers invading the areas of the Conservation Unit (UC) of the State Forest do Paru (Flota Paru), which are under the Forest Concession, in the southeastern part of the (UC), specifically in Forest Management Units (FMU) 1 and 2, which add up to 190 thousand hectares and represent 5.3% of the FLOTA (3.613 million hectares)”.
“Since December 8, a team of the General Forest Management Council of Ideflor-Bio, the State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainability (Semas) and the Civil Police, including the Scientific Police, have been in the area under the Forest Concession, to investigate these complaints We also inform you that, Through the Directorate of Management and Control of Conservation Units (DGMUC), Ideflor has advanced the implementation of conservation units, establishing important management tools such as: preparing management plans (UCs), using a participatory methodology from all sectors representing organized civil society; ensuring direct participation as co-managers on boards management, discussing and providing solutions to all problems involving conservation units,” the note concludes.
