Amazon: Drought destroys tourism in riverside communities – 11/01/2023 – Environment

Communities on the Rio Negro that, until recently, offered rooms overlooking an immensity of Amazonian waters now look, empty of visitors, at the ground cracked by the historic drought that has hit the Amazon. With reservations canceled at inns and community restaurants in the region, almost R$200,000 were not collected in October.

A Sheet Last weekend, he was in two riverside communities in Amazonas where so-called community-based tourism is one of the sources of income.

As has been the case since the beginning of the drought, there were no tourists in Saracá and Santa Helena do Ingles. The consequence for the local economy is logical: potential accumulation of debt.

In the Saracá community, located within the RDS (Sustainable Development Reserve) Rio Negro, in the municipality of Iranduba (AM), Pedrina Brito de Mendonça, 40, took advantage of the total absence of visitors to renovate part of the accommodation offered.

From now until January, one of the main tourism seasons in the region would occur. In October, however, the Rio Negro reached its lowest level in history.

According to Pedrina, it wouldn’t make sense for people to try to go there now. Despite the structure with a restaurant, private rooms and even air conditioning at the inn in Saracá, there is no way to be comfortable in the current situation.

In addition to the difficulty of access, there are also security issues. After all, with the branch of the Negro River practically dry in front of the community — with only a lake remaining, with no access to the river itself —, any emergency displacement becomes a challenge.

“Imagine someone getting sick here,” says Valcléia Solidade, superintendent of sustainable development at the NGO FAS (Fundação Amazônia Sustentável), which supports projects in the region.

A few hours later, the fear materialized. It was already dark when Sebastião Brito de Mendonça, 49, resident of Saracá, fell ill and had to be rushed to Manaus — in a straight line, about 60 km away. In the current dry season, this journey can take more than an hour and a half, depending on the type of vessel.

There is still a complication: from Saracá, to get to the boat on the navigable stretch of the Rio Negro, you have to walk a section, cross the small lake mentioned above and also walk another considerable piece of land that used to be a river. This effort to reach the river, in fact, takes more than half an hour.

Apart from the scare with Sebastião, the community has been struggling with the arrival of medicine to control the diabetes of one of the residents.

And, in addition to the concern about medical emergencies, there is the discomfort with possible itching caused by freshwater sponges locally known as cauxi (Metania reticulata).

There, itching for anyone who touches the cauxi is nothing new — so much so that people staying in the area have been warned about it. But, according to community members, the drought brought cauxi dust to several places in Saracá, increasing the chance of an uncomfortable situation.

Hundreds of cancellations

The drought led to the cancellation of at least 310 reservations between accommodation and restaurants in five communities on the lower Rio Negro, according to a survey carried out by Aliança Amazônia Clima, led by FAS. These withdrawals add up to a loss of more than R$190,000 in October alone.

The alliance seeks to obtain donations to help populations, especially isolated ones, affected by the historic drought in the Amazon. The project has already mapped around 400 communities, villages and/or peripheral neighborhoods that were affected by the drought.

But the money that the drought prevented from arriving goes beyond the issue of accommodation. In Saracá, for example, there are crafts and fishing activities — which, even outside the most profitable period, could still generate some money, in addition to food, of course.

Since September, fishing has declined. “During this drought, everything stopped”, says Sebastião, who is president of the RDS Rio Negro Residents’ Association and, after feeling ill, managed to get treatment and returned to the community. “It stops everything and then it gets difficult. The period when there are no fish, [normalmente] The girls are at crafts, welcoming customers.”

Pedrina is one of those responsible for handicrafts in the community, part of the group of artisans called Formiguinhas do Saracá. The money raised from sales is divided among the group. The raw material for making it, such as açaí and morototó seeds, is purchased in the community itself, also circulating income. No sales, no circulation of local money.

The movement of tourists from surrounding communities also tended to bring business opportunities — like one day when influencers staying in the Tumbira community (a little further away, almost 9 km, as the crow flies, from Saracá) bought R$3,000 in craftsmanship. Normally, Formiguinhas’ monthly earnings reached R$5,000, according to Pedrina.

During the drought, however, the relatively simple boat connection between communities ended. The walking distance, which takes more than half an hour, has a lot of sun and few shadows between neighboring Saracá and Santa Helena do Ingles, less than 2 km apart in a straight line.

Both communities, by the way, received, through FAS, resources from the Amazon Fund and chose how to allocate the funds for the development of the local economy.

The stream that gave access to Santa Helena became a small stream of water in the middle of the dry terrain, which, in certain points, becomes brittle when stepped on.

Despite the interruption of activities caused by the drought, the two communities do not represent the most critical situations in the region. Both have clean water derived from wells and electricity — which, however, brings bills that can accumulate without money circulating.

Other isolated communities lack these elements. In some, including nearby ones, there are problems with the water supply and dead fish accumulate in the remaining puddles.

Demétrio Vidal Mendonça, 70, the oldest in Santa Helena do Ingles, and father of Pedrina and Sebastião, has seen some severe droughts there, but feels this was the worst.

What remains is to wait, say community residents, who have received basic food baskets.

“Not everything is a loss. It’s a tragedy, but it helps us reflect”, says Sebastião. “I was even joking with Pedrina: during this period, we will organize what we can organize, and what we can’t, when the water returns, we will start working.”

The journalist traveled at the invitation of FAS (Fundação Amazônia Sustentável).