reports have found land use change will be the biggest driving factor in biodiversity loss in the tropics with co2 concentration barely following behind. for costa rica, it is found to be the same case with traditional cacao agroforestry systems being replaced for more lucrative and economically sustainable cash crops such as plantains or bananas. additionally, the abandonment of traditional shade tree practices within the remaining cacao systems are devastating to local forest communities.

traditional shade tree practices are including native tree species creating a forest canopy that can sustain life while producing economic income for the land owner. without biodiversity, ecosystems will collapse due to holes being formed within the niche systems of this system.

in this video, learn about biodiversity through the eyes of a tree in costa rica, where it witnesses the impact of humans on its environment — from canopy loss to animal migration.

perhaps one of the most reported stories in recent weeks leaves much to be desired. in the space of just 48 hours, 2,500 fires had been started in the amazon rainforest, not only placing at risk the trees that absorb 5% of annual emissions, but also the more than 10 million species of animals who claim the rainforest as their home. and, as usual, twitter is abuzz with haunting images of burning trees, most of which come from last decade, but hey, it’s the thought that counts! #prayforamazonas.

which begs the question, considering just how deadly these fires are, brazil must be scrambling to stamp them out, right? if this was what you thought, you’d be surprised.

because the only thing that catches faster than forest fires is a viral phenomenon known as the trump effect. it’s crossed the atlantic, reaching so far as england,/ and now, it could be spreading into south america. the latest victim is brazilian president jair bolsonaro, a long-time opponent of environmental advocacy in brazil, so much so that his people have dubbed him captain chainsaw, which isn’t a becoming title for someone in charge of 60% percent of the world’s largest carbon sink.

with this in mind, it should come as no surprise that when the amazon fires started, he told reporters, “the ministry of justice can send 40 men to combat the fight, but do you understand that? forty men. there are not enough resources. we are in chaos.” 

his failure to meet fire with fire (or in this case, water) was just one act in a docudrama of negligence.

bolsonaro reportedly spent the evening of aug. 23 watching standup from a prominent christian right-wing comic. and to add to the irony, he did this while his pre-recorded speech was broadcasting, the one apologizing for his inaction.

with a national emergency formally declared (48 hours of noxious destruction later), bolsonaro finally had grounds to call in the brazilian army to lend a hand (and pail) to the fire. but a bad taste still lingers in the mouths of many international spectators. 

as early as aug. 28, when these fires first made international news, bolsonaro was calling out environmental ngos in his country, professing that “there is a strong suspicion that people from the ngo’s lost the teat.” he suggested that environmental protection agencies were intentionally destroying swaths of the amazon to “bring about problems for brazil” after losing government funding. and if that sounds like a crackpot idea, it’s because it is.

when reporters asked bolsonaro for the basis of his so-called suspicions, he shot back, “for god’s sake, there’s no proof of that, nobody writes, ‘i will set fire to that.’” because of course, no one could possibly be careless enough to leave a paper trail of environmental neglect. except, that is, if you’re bolsonaro.

in the wake of this amazon disaster, open democracy uncovered incriminating powerpoint presentations used at a february meeting between bolsonaro’s government officials and leaders in the para state of brazil, home to the amazonia national park. one slide read, “development projects must be implemented on the amazon basin to integrate it into the rest of the national territory in order to fight off international pressure for the implementation of the so-called ‘triple a’ project.” triple a here refers to a group of multilateral conservation projects in the amazon rainforest, the andes mountains and the atlantic ocean, all of which bolsonaro has doggedly opposed.

what’s more? the powerpoint continues, “to do this, it is necessary to build the trombetas river hydroelectric plant, the Óbidos bridge over the amazon river, and the implementation of the br-163 highway to the border.” bolsonaro made it easy for us; there is no prevarication here, nor misdirection. the objective is loud and clear: stymie conservation efforts by damaging brazil’s natural resources. and, if you’ll kindly recall bolsonaro’s unfounded accusations of ngos working in his country, it seems he was guilty of the very behavior he decried.

in spite of all this inculpatory evidence, i think the mainstream media gives bolsonaro a lot of undeserved credit. how much of his decision to confront the amazonian conflagration is attributable to his altruistic and justified concern for brazil, and how much is just, uh…sem bolas?

shortly after his whole “40 firefighters” statement, france’s golden boy, president emmanuel macron, publicly threatened bolsonaro with an obstruction of the eu-mercosur free trade agreement, a groundbreaking trade deal between the two blocs that eliminates tariffs on agricultural goods from the mercosur bloc. macron, and virtually any other un member state, would have known that this was an incontrovertible pressure point, not just for brazil but also for argentina, paraguay, and uruguay, the other members of mercosur. 

the timing of this threat and bolsonaro’s reinstated commitment to the amazon fires just seems too quick, too reactionary, too…apprehensive. and, as usual, bolsonaro made his intentions clear when, in his aug. 23, evening speech he said, “forest fires exist in the whole world and this cannot serve as a pretext for possible international sanctions.” i don’t know, what could he possibly be nervous about? 

thankfully for him, a few leaders have stepped in to offer a reassuring squeeze. ok, more like one. in a recent tweet, president trump said, “our future trade prospects are very exciting and our relationship is strong, perhaps stronger than ever before.” sounds like trump really empathizes with bolsonaro’s plight. or maybe their priorities just align really well. after all, both are right-wing capitalists, climate change deniers, and have structured their entire campaigns around building stronger, more self-sufficient economies (fine print: through an unadulterated bashing of foreign competition). 

but the similarities don’t end there. bolsonaro’s rhetoric also displays uniquely trumpian tones, occasionally producing bewildering gems like “brazil is like a virgin that every pervert from the outside lusts for.” in all seriousness, that comment does deserve a second look because it offers us an incisive, behind-the-scenes peek at the primary motive behind his vehement anti-environmentalism: political control. 

bolsonaro has given the logging, mining, and farming industries in brazil clearance to annex land owned by native communities on the sole basis that they manage what he considers unreasonably vast amounts of wealth. similarly, he cannot distinguish between foreign aid and sovereignty infringement. look, for example, at how his administration views norway’s and germany’s generous donations to the amazon fund.

“we’re not naïve,” said brazilian chief of staff onyx lorenzoni, “there’s a view out in the world, sponsored by nongovernmental organizations, that relativizes brazil’s sovereignty over the amazon. here’s a little message: ‘don’t play around with us.’” 

the point is, bolsonaro is digging himself a precipitous hole, especially when he lets his own ego stand in the way of him and a $20 million donation from the g7. 

meu deus. the good people of twitter may need to change their tune. #prayforbolsonaro.

what silvero is referring to is the root of one of argentina’s recent causes of local fervor: a government push to monetize the national parks.

argentina is a nation that stretches across more than 2,200 miles from north to south, encompassing stunning national parks of varying land features. while the country hosts these astounding natural sites, the nation itself is facing a difficult economic period.

in late 2018, the argentine government announced a plan called “oportunidades naturales” (natural opportunities), what they deemed as “the call for sustainable tourism investments in natural areas throughout the country,” according to a translation of a government website.

the initiative “seeks to attract private investments for the development of tourist services in natural protected areas of the country.”

enter iguazú national park, a breathtaking wonder, home to waterfalls, plants and wildlife in the atlantic forest. the park is nestled along the iguazú river, which separates parts of argentina and brazil, though the falls stretch across both borders.

through this initiative, plans for constructing a tourist villa inside the famous iguazú national park were drawn out to increase profits from the national park. iguazú is just one of 20 parks impacted by this program.

the villa’s theme is “glamping” or “glamorous camping.” the attraction could be sited on land that has limited use, per the park’s management plan, according to a recent column in el independiente iguazú.

meanwhile, local residents of puerto iguazú, an argentine town near the park, have drawn their own line. and that line physically couldn’t be crossed when tourists tried to enter the national park in early february.

during the week of feb. 3, dozens of locals blockaded the entrance to the national park in protest of what the initiative could bring to iguazú national park.

dr. natalia vespa works with the institute of subtropical biology and moved from buenos aires to puerto iguazú 10 years ago. in february, vespa and jussara di benedetto, an outspoken resident of puerto iguazú, sat down with planet forward to talk about their experience within the park and the town.

“for national parks in argentina, the objective is to preserve the natural resources. that’s it,” vespa said in spanish. “aside from this objective, there should not be exploitation of these resources within these parks.”

in a translation of an official statement to planet forward from the national parks administration in argentina, they state that, “oportunidades naturales project does not consist of the installation and development of tourist villages, but is based on small-scale, sustainable, distant implementations.”

the statement declares that the program “is aimed at positioning argentina as a world destination for nature tourism, integrating this development as a tool for growth and promotion of regional economies and generating foreign exchange,” per a translation into english.

town already offers tourism opportunities

vespa said locals already are facing problems within the town of puerto iguazú and she fears that these strains on the relationship between the town and the park will only escalate if construction of the tourist villa within the national park is pursued.

“the town already has bad issues with the lights, water, and internet,” vespa said in spanish. she noted that many neighborhoods in the town went without water for two weeks last month.

puerto iguazú is greatly frequented by tourists, as it is a short 11-mile drive to the northwest of the national park and is host to many restaurants, hotels, casinos, bars, shops, and, of course, residents. much of what the proposed tourist villa would offer could stymie not only business but the needed attention to keep puerto iguazú afloat as a town. vespa fears that if the villa is pursued, puerto iguazú would further augment these issues and lack of attention.

currently, there are hotels within the national park on the argentine side and on the brazilian side.

in an article by misiones online published on feb. 19, vespa is quoted to saying that the national park already has a large public with infrastructure and benefits for tourism.

“we consider the implementation of a project that has its main objective to generate opportunities of touristic development, without solving the current problems that need to be addressed to mitigate the impact of tourism in the natural area, unnecessary,” according to a translation of the interview.

the protests in early february reflect the current sentiment of some locals. according to radio cataratas, organizers from la asamblea vecinal sent a note that expressed their desires for the cancelation of the “natural opportunities” project in the iguazú national park as a whole, noting plans for future protests.

for di benedetto, she sees the aforementioned protests as being exemplary of how things go in south america.

“we know that in argentina and all of latin america, there’s this condition of reproducing things,” di benedetto said, citing past revolutions and movements in the southern hemisphere. “clearly, we want this (the protests against the villa) to mark a precedent.”

going forward

beyond infrastructure problems and competition for tourists, there’s another issue on the minds of protesters.

a worker at the national park, who wished to remain anonymous, said he understood what drove so many puerto iguazú locals to protest the possible construction of the tourist villa in the park.

“many people think about the environmental impacts of the villa,” he said in spanish.

planet forward was told by the administration of national parks, “in the case of the iguazú national park, on a total of 67,000 hectares of total surface area, within the public use area, the actual utilization of the park visitation is reduced to 300 hectares (0.5%).

“in this sense, the oportunidades naturales project is studying interventions that, at most, foresee the use of only 12 hectares, previously intended for public use.”

but “the town (puerto iguazú) is small, too,” the anonymous park worker said. “because of this, people think that the tourists will only go to the tourist villa.”

while en route to town after a day spent in the national park with taxi driver silvero, planet forward interviewed him about his thoughts on reactions to the plans.

“we are going to have a lot of consequences that will hurt us if we don’t fight against this (the villa), and take care of nature,” silvero said passionately.

when asked if he fears an impact on his livelihood should the plans of a tourist villa be pursued, silvero said he is not. he simply wants nature to continue to be protected.

with the financial state that argentina is currently in and the promises for sustainability by the administration, ways to increase profits off of iguazú could offer benefits.

vespa, who has a doctorate in biological sciences, said, “the people of iguazú do want investments in tourism, but they should stay in puerto iguazú.”

first, let’s take a look at nutella’s ingredients. there are only seven ingredients in the hazelnut spread, all of which are relatively well-known, which makes consumers feel confident they are making a completely natural and healthy choice by avoiding myriad artificial enhancers and sweeteners that often are found in snack foods today.

of course, the first ingredient of nutella is sugar. listed second is palm oil, followed by hazelnuts, cocoa, milk, lecithin (soy) and vanillin.

the most controversial ingredient in that list is the palm oil. since ingredients are listed on labels in order of quantity, as nutella’s second ingredient, palm oil is a large component of the hazelnut spread’s recipe.

palm oil is extracted from the palm fruit, which grows on the african oil palm tree. it’s popular as a food ingredient due to its natural properties and versatility: it has a neutral odor and taste, is semi-solid at room temperature, and gives products a creamy, smooth texture.

this is especially important for confectionary products like nutella, because using palm oil avoids the use of the hydrogenation process, which creates unhealthy trans fats in products. palm oil is also the most efficient oil, producing about 3.7 tons per hectare (or roughly 2.5 acres), whereas oil from soybeans, sunflowers, or rapeseeds produce much less. that 3.7 tons is equal to about 7,400 pounds – the equivalent weight of about two and a half toyota prius 4-door hatchbacks.

all of this means that palm oil is frequently a hidden, yet substantial component in modern consumers’ lives. according to rainforest action network, palm oil is found in about half of packaged products in our grocery stores. it can be found in foods ranging from ice cream to instant noodles and from donuts to potato chips.

of course palm oil is not just used in food. it’s also found in multiple cosmetic products, such as lipstick and soaps.

as a result of its popularity, worldwide demand for palm oil is skyrocketing. this demand is convincing farmers in tropical climates – most notably indonesia and malaysia, where about 85% of the world’s palm oil is cultivated – to cut down rainforests and create palm oil plantations instead.

not only does the destruction of rainforests release carbon dioxide emissions, but native peoples are being displaced for such plantations, and once functioning, these plantations are known to violate their workers’ human rights. to top it off, the biodiversity of these forests are being compromised, and orangutans and other species are becoming increasingly endangered from such vast deforestation.  

ferrero corporation produces nutella along with a variety of other products such as kinder treats, tic tacs, and ferrero rocher chocolates. the company has been widely criticized for using palm oil in products, which continues to fuel the demand for palm oil plantations. in 2015, france’s minister of the environment made a bold statement, declaring that consumers should stop eating nutella if they want to help save the rainforest.

the ferrero group responded by claiming it sources about 170,000 metric tons of palm oil annually, representing a mere 0.3 percent of the world’s 60 million metric tons of palm oil production (casey). due to such widespread criticism, ferrero group has been taking actions in many different ways to assure its customers the corporation is acting sustainably and responsibly.

as a first step, in 2005, ferrero group joined roundtable on sustainable palm oil (rspo). rspo is a non-profit organization uniting seven stakeholders from the palm oil industry to ensure certified palm oil is environmentally and socially sustainable. in 2013, ferrero group stated that all nutella products contain 100% segregated rspo certified palm oil, and are traceable back to the plantation and production line (“only sustainable traceable certified palm oil for ferrero”). ferrero group also launched its 10-point palm oil charter in 2013, yet another commitment to consumers that the palm oil used in nutella does not contribute to deforestation, species extinction, greenhouse gas emissions, or human rights violations.

in order to implement the charter and to remain transparent about the process, ferrero group partnered with ngos, one being the forest trust, which will monitor and publicly report the company’s performance every six months.

in 2015, ferrero group became a member of the palm oil innovation group (poig), which builds upon rspo’s original commitments and standards. ferrero group is not only contributing to these polycentric efforts but the corporation is also becoming more transparent.

nutella’s website contains significant information regarding palm oil: what it is, how palm oil is harvested, environmental allegations against the company, and frequently asked questions about the crucial ingredient.

the website also contains key numbers. ferrero group claims to have 99.5% traceability to the plantations and countries from which their palm oil comes. this number is more realistic than the 2013 claim of supposedly knowing where 100% of ferrero group’s palm oil is from. additionally, the palm oil producing countries are listed: peninsula malaysia produces 75.87% of total volumes, papua new guinea produces 18.17%, insular malaysia produces 3.67%, brazil produces 1.2%, indonesia produces 0.91%, guatemala produces 0.1%, and the solomon islands produce 0.08%. finally, ferrero group also launched the “fer-way project” in 2014, which supports the development of a corporate circular economy model.

ferrero group is clearly working to make the company appear to be sustainable and environmentally and socially conscious at the very least. in fact, greenpeace actually came to the company’s defense after the french minister of the environment called for consumers to boycott nutella products.

however, there is no easy answer in this situation. there are certainly improvements that could be made when it comes to the sustainability of the palm oil industry, which ferrero group seems to be leading. roundtable groups may be hosted, but they are not the perfect solution.

groups like rspo involve many different stakeholders and since all regulations must be passed via consensus, the actual standards for certification are set low in order to keep all stakeholders on board. but large corporations like ferrero hold the power to change the status quo of palm oil.

so, where does the consumer go from here? there’s no perfect solution or easy answer. but consumers hold a significant amount of power in today’s day in age. completely avoiding palm oil is not only practically impossible but could also be considered unsustainable as so many people depend on the industry for an income.

perhaps a better response is to be aware of how many products palm oil is found in and attempt to minimize the use of such products, if possible. when purchasing products that contain palm oil, ensure the products is made by a company that is certified sustainable as a member of rspo or another similar roundtable.

vote with your dollar to show corporations that sustainability is a not a choice, but mandatory. this does not mean you need to swear off nutella, but perhaps minimize how often you do indulge in the sweet snack, only saving it for special occasions. maybe mom always knew best.

first, where were the grand cities, like those found in the riviera maya of central america, the incan empire of the andes, or the aztec temples of central mexico?   

second, the effervescence of life in the amazon rainforest is an illusory potemkin village. despite the verdant vegetation and cacophony of life, the soils of the amazon are generally nutrient-poor, rust-colored clay. amazonian soils are generally old and weathered, tired and weary. time has stripped them of their ability to retain the nutrients resulting from organic matter decomposition. plants that survive here must be adapted to efficiently assimilate any available nutrients before they are leached out of the soils by torrential rains. the land could simply not support densely populated, stratified societies (mann, 2012).

finally, indigenous populations are low. some 900,000 indigenous live in brazil today and in the early 1980s, the number was likely lower than 200,000. historians chalked up carvajal’s descriptions to the exaggeration to which many explorers were prone (mann, 2012).

recent research, however, has cast this assumption into doubt. in fact, far from being a green desert largely devoid of human settlements, archaeological, anthropological, ecological, and pedological research suggests that the amazon rainforest may be a cultural artifact engineered by indigenous cultures.

building the rainforest

while archaeologists have uncovered the vestiges of geoglyphs, likely created by amazonian indigenous cultures, most of the construction in the amazon was probably wooden. it was an obvious choice of building material, given its abundance and the rarity of stone in the region. unfortunately, wood decays if not maintained, explaining the lack of ruins in the amazon basin. these indigenous civilizations, however, did bequeath a more perennial stele, one perhaps more inspiring than any ruin: the forest itself (mann, 2012).  

indigenous populations have altered large swaths of the amazon rainforest, particularly near rivers where their settlements were concentrated. they planted a diverse array of fruit and nut trees near their communities, in part to ensure a stable and ample supply of food. unlike most annual commercial crops that strip the soil of nutrients, these tree species are adapted to the nutrient-poor soils of the amazon and cycle nutrients efficiently. they also support wildlife populations, many of which depend upon these trees’ fruits and flowers. this was a way for indigenous peoples to enact their sacred responsibilities to maintain balance between the physical and spiritual forces that permeated their world. even conservative estimates suggest the plant community composition of up to 12% of the amazon rainforest has been altered by indigenous management (mann, 2012).

just as they helped build the forest, so too did indigenous peoples build its soil. to overcome these nutrient limitations, indigenous peoples amended the soil with charcoal, bone, potsherds, and manure. these soot-black, rich soils, known as terra preta have helped recycle nutrients for centuries. to this day, terra preta soil is coveted for its fertility. it is so valuable that local farmers will sell it as potting soil rather than cultivating it. while terra preta is generally concentrated in riparian areas, it covers between 0.1% and 10% of the lowland rainforest in brazil, again demonstrating the extent and degree to which indigenous peoples in the amazon have modified the ecosystems in which they live (lehmann, 2010).

a symbiotic relationship

these are but two examples illustrating how indigenous people around the world have learned to live with the land rather than merely on it. their traditional ecological knowledge is a cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief that has adapted to unique sets of environmental constraints and has been handed down from generation to generation using cultural practices and social structures. this knowledge body is expansive and considers the rights and responsibilities they have in relating to one another and nature (berkes, 1999).

the sustainability and ingenuity of this traditional ecological knowledge supported diverse, populous, and complex societies that thrived throughout the amazon basin before europeans arrived. much like the rhizobium bacteria, which provides plants with nitrogen essential for growth in return for sugars from the plants’ photosynthesis, the indigenous peoples of the amazon lived in symbiosis with their environment, taking what they needed and returning the favor to sustain the complex ecosystem on which they relied.

major threats to communities, ecosystem

this was no garden of eden, no paradise lost, but it was a home. in a matter of decades, however, it was laid to waste. in a few tumultuous years of pestilence and misery, european diseases laid waste to indigenous populations throughout amazonia. a wave of death spread out ahead of the european colonists. smallpox and measles were the harbinger of conquest.

by the time the early european explorers probed the interior of the continent, the once multitudinous indigenous communities had been overwhelmed by a pathogenic war of attrition. then, the spanish and portuguese cannons roared, laying the survivors to waste. ninety percent of the indigenous population of the americas was wiped out in a matter of a few decades. conservative estimates hold that 5 million indigenous lived in the amazon in 1500. by 1900, the number had fallen to 1 million (park, 2002).

newcomers to the region still have not developed such nuanced adaptations to place. they impose their will upon the landscape and take what they can rather than heeding its guidance and accepting what it offers. with the construction of the trans-amazonian highway in 1972, farmers poured into the hitherto unfarmed amazonian lowlands.

the highway served as the initial incision, which then splintered out across the landscape as communities sprung up around the highway, easily observed from satellite imagery as the rich carpet of green forest is tattered by patches of brown farms and ranches. these scars tell the stories of the colonists’ dreams — dreams of hope, dreams of greed. the colonists slashed and burned the vegetation that stood in their way, transforming the forest into fields. in so doing, they sowed the seeds of their own destruction alongside their crops.

because amazonian soils are largely infertile, intensive commercial crop cultivation can only be sustained for a few years before production declines. it can be exceedingly difficult for forest to regrow on land that has been cleared and abandoned after farming. seedbanks in cultivated soils are generally non-viable, so forest plants must colonize what the colonists have abandoned (holl, 2007).

seeds that arrive in open fields need to successfully germinate, which is no small task, given the pressures of seed-eating animals and livestock-compacted soils. once plants germinate, the seedlings still need to overcome nutrient limitations, oppressive heat, and dry soils. in many situations, only ruderal vegetation, such as ferns and grasses, can grow rapidly given these hurdles. once these plants gain a stranglehold, they can outcompete any other pioneer species. thus, the engine of agricultural development in the amazon consumes the forest in a vicious, downward spiral (holl, 2007).

road to recovery?

while deforestation rates dropped precipitously after the government enacted regulations in 2004, they have crept upward since 2014. this trend is likely to continue as wealthy landowners pressure the embattled brazilian government to reduce environmental regulations in light of an economic downturn and political upheaval (cowie, 2017).

but this is not a ghost story. it is not a story of surrender. it is a story of resilience, hope, and faith. indigenous peoples have survived and many continue to practice their traditional lifeways. they have not forgotten and they are willing to teach us, if only we are willing to learn. just as the indigenous built the amazon, so too can we rebuild it. but we cannot simply learn what they know of the rainforest. we must learn a new way of living ‒ a new way of relating to one another and to the earth. it is not looking into the past for answers, but rather aspiring toward a common future.

bibliography

• berkes, fikret. sacred ecology. routledge, 1999.
• cowie, sam. “activists decry temer’s amazon deforestation bill.” al jazeera. 22 july 2017.
• holl, karen d. “old field vegetation succession in the neotropics.” old fields: dynamics and restoration of abandoned farmland. by viki a. cramer and richard j. hobbs. island, 2007.
• lehmann, johannes. amazonian dark earths: origin, properties, management. kluwer academic publ., 2010.
• mann, charles c. 1491: new revelations of the americas before columbus. knopf, 2012.
• park, chris c. tropical rainforests. taylor & francis, 2002.

but first — as my stomach reminded me, grumbling in hunger — breakfast. after an employee directed me to the restaurant, filled with a buffet of local foods, i perused the offerings and, oddly, skipped over my go-to favorite (carbs), because something else caught my eye: fruit.

neatly arranged on silver platters in the middle of the buffet were fruits ranging from bright red watermelon to blood orange papayas to yellow honeydew, and all met my gaze as i crept around the fruit table like a jaguar circling its prey.

i paused. “since when have i ever been this intrigued by fruit?” i thought.

keeping an open mind, i stacked my plate with as much fruit as it could hold and walked over to a table, careful not to drop anything from my overflowing plate on the floor.

“the pineapple,” i thought as i sat down. “i’ll try this first.”

my knife cut like butter through the slice of pineapple and i took a bite.  

i stopped chewing for a second. my eyes widened as the perfect, almost candylike sweetness of the pineapple struck my taste buds. it was the best damn pineapple i’d ever had. immediately i knew i could never go back to its american cousin; it doesn’t hold a candle to brazilian pineapple.

as i savored these fruits, i pondered: why is the fruit in brazil so good, and where does it come from? i knew i would have to do some research to learn more.

conveniently, i learned, my trip to brazil took me right to the source: the amazon rainforest. the rainforest, which is as big as the continental united states, harbors more than 10% of the world’s species and is home to 350 ethnic groups.

the rainforest also serves as a feeding ground for both humans and animals through its fruit production. boasting vast agricultural diversity, the amazon rainforest is the source of least 3,000 fruits, while only about 200 of those are consumed in the western world. it is home to fruits ranging from figs and lemons to bananas and guavas, the amazon provides the state of amazonas — and much of the world — with fruits created by mother nature herself.

josé luís camargo, a brazilian plant ecologist, researcher, and teacher who accompanied us on the trip to the amazon, said the fruits from the rainforest are among the most unique in the world. certain fruits like açaí — a highly nutritious purple berry — are special to the rainforest and are popular in not just brazil, but other parts of the world, including america.

“more of the local fruits are rich — very rich,” camargo said. “what happens for most of the people who live outside the amazon — most of the fruits you don’t find other places. only here.”

vegetables, however, are not as popular. camargo said there are some common vegetables used in meals, but joked that not a lot of brazilians eat “leaves” like americans do.

“vegetables are not a thing — it depends on the vegetables. some of them are very common, like tomate (tomato) … part of the regular food here doesn’t go with salad.”

being the third largest exporter of fruit, behind china and india, respectively, brazil also showcases the diversity of its fruits. from açaí, camu camu (a vitamin c-packed so-called “superfood”) to maracuyá (passionfruit) and aguaje (which has a high concentration of vitamin a, as well as vitamins e and c), brazil produces exotic fruits that make even the biggest foodies marvel at the uniqueness of the sweet delectables — and the nutritional impact they can provide both locals and consumers in other countries.

over the past several years, the fruit industry in brazil has risen 25%, dominating the country’s export economy, and provided 5.6 million jobs. about 35% of the world’s oranges come from brazil and more than half of the world’s orange juice is made there, too. in 2013, 14,598 tons of oranges were exported by brazil, serving countries like the united states, germany, uruguay, france and more.

beyond the economic and nutritional impact, camargo said the fruit is a big part of what makes the amazon special.

it’s what gives camargo a sense of home — no matter where he travels in brazil. for others in the city of manaus, it’s how they make a living — selling fruits in small shacks outside, under the blaze of the brazilian sun. for me? the fruit created a sense of comunidade.

“community” in portuguese, comunidade is what i felt as i turned every corner in brazil. i felt it from its people, its music, and, yes, its fruit.

in fact, it was the fruit that brought all of us together during our time at camp 41 — the home base for a series of scientific studies done deep in the amazon.

with no technology embedded in our hands — and little knowledge about each other — our gatherings at the seemingly out of place, red-checkered tablecloth-clad picnic tables in the middle of the rainforest, nibbling on the sweetest of fruits that came from the rainforest made me simply happy. it’s the comunidade that moves the planet forward.

while others marveled at the abundance of insect and animal life in the rainforest, i marveled at the fruit. the fruit was pure — it came from the heart of the amazon to the table. no factories involved. no planes. just forest to table.

after becoming the ene, more and more of her sister tributaries, voyaging from the vast, craggy backbone of south america, join and transform her time and again. she is reborn and renamed with the meeting of their waters, becoming tambo after meeting the perene, ucayali after the urubamba, and finally the amazon after the marañón.

she has matured by the time she reaches the brazilian border and is no longer prone to the capricious nature of her youth. she is less deterred by the twists and turns of life, choosing a more level-headed course through the verdant lowland forests.  more of her sisters, like the putumayo and the japurá, join her in her journey, but by now she is their elder and she will not change for their sake. she remains the amazon, like the fierce hellenic women warriors of ancient greece who are her namesake.

the barasana people live on her banks here, near the border with colombia. by traversing her waters, they are able to commune with their forefathers, who did the same for centuries before them. they believe their distant ancestors traveled from the east in canoes borne by giant anacondas. the snakes transformed into rivers. their tails became headwater streams in the distant mountains and their open mouths emptied into the ocean far to the east. the first people settled near these life-giving rivers.

near manaus, her sediment-laden waters, colored like coffee with cream, finally meet those of the rio negro, stained inky black with tannins from decaying organic matter. this long into her journey, the amazon is slow to accept her sister’s embrace. they differ too much in pace and temperament. the amazon is still in a hurry to reach her destination and marches eastward faster than her sister. she is deep and cold. the rio negro, however, moves slowly, relieved to conclude her shorter journey from the colombian highlands. she still roils with the hot passion of youth. they run next to one another without mixing for almost 4 miles before the amazon relents, taking on her sister’s burden and carrying onward.

the river gives gifts to all she passes on her long journey east. fishermen pull their lives from her waters, plumbing the river’s murky depths. they toss in another line and hope against hope that she will offer up another gift so they may live another day. will she deliver a deep-bodied tambaqui? or perhaps they will be fortunate and manage to hook a giant arapaima, which can grow up to six feet long? more likely, though, the frenzied piranha will devour the bait before anything else.

sheet metal roofs of stilted houses built on her banks glint in the afternoon sun. it is the beginning of the dry season, so they stand high above the water for now, but her channel will swell with the winter rains, raising the water levels right to their doorsteps. the rising tides will also deposit sediment across some 69,498 square miles of várzea forest — the seasonal floodplain. the river’s caress will revitalize their tired, old soils with an influx of valuable nutrients that will sustain a diverse array of plants and wildlife. children play on her beaches, laughing as they haul buckets of water to fill moats dug around sandcastles. boats ferry passengers and cargo up and down the river. she becomes a highway, home, workplace, and playground, like veins radiating throughout the brazilian lowlands.

the river is the lifeblood that sustains brazil, and in large part, the entire world. she gives us the gift of life, and how do we thank her? in trying to wrench precious metals and fossil fuels from the earth, we poison her waters. we take more fish than she offers, threatening several more species with extinction. we shackle her with dams, disrupting finely tuned hydrologic and nutrient cycles, and thwarting fish movement. we burn forests for farmland, choking her waters with eroded soil. the deforestation is also undermining her very existence, as half of her water is produced from evapotranspiration within the amazon basin itself.

despite our affronts, the river takes our faults with grace. she is a sin-eater for the world, like the freshwater dolphin, who walked onto land and impregnated young women, thus assuming the transgressions of colonial missionaries. her waters absolve us of our sins, but for how much longer? the river counsels us in the gentle lapping of waves and the whispers of warm breezes. she teaches us patience, to think of the long-term and consider it broadly, to give more than we take, to run fast when we can but never pass up a chance to rest, to accept that things will always change, to leave things better than we found them. can we hear these lessons? will we listen?

by now, she is old and weary. she flows slow and full and deep. tired of her load of silt, how she longs to disencumber herself where she meets the brackish waters of the sea. finally, after traveling 4,258 miles, she reaches the atlantic. every second, 273,361 cubic yards of water flow from her mouth. here, she takes her respite, laying down her silt over 501,932 square miles of the ocean floor. after her rest, she will be lifted into the heavens and travel across the river of stars. she will fall in the distant mountains and start her long journey once more: a mighty river reborn in a raindrop.