COMMUNTIES
COMMUNITIES THAT PROTECT THEIR LAKES FOR RECREATIONAL FISHING AND ECOTOURISM
GET TO KNOW THE PROJECT'S COMMUNITIES
Besides fishing, some communities have developed other activities, like handicrafts, sold to tourists that visit the region for watching birds and mainly the Uakari monkey.
The Casa do Caboclo lodge, located in the Boca do Mamirauá community, is the only operating lodge in the project’s communities, generating job opportunities for the dwellers along the year.
The communities are organized into associations and share the money received from taxes generated by the tourism throughout the year; they also share tasks and obligations, being checked during meetings that happen periodically. The communities that do not honor their responsibilities may be punished in the division of resources.
To keep the location preserved, each community cares for its lakes throughout the year, with daily inspections to prevent other people from accessing and killing the fish and animals from the region, stealing these families’ sustenance. All the communities have schools for their children and the electricity is provided by diesel generators, which normally run between 4 and 6 hours every night.
In the Jarauá community, located circa 45 km far from the other communities in the project, the main economic activity is still the Pirarucu management and, in November, the fishermen catch the fish with nets and sell their meat to traders. This practice is less and less viable, as the amounts gathered are too close to the cost of production and the large extension of the area hinders the monitoring of the lakes throughout the year.
Boca do mamirauá
Vila Alencar
The furthest community in the project, its only access is via a 2 km trail, one of the oldest in the region, harbors approximately 40 families that also depend on fishing and handicrafts.
Sítio São José
The smallest community in the project, with approximately 7 families, has in its lake the largest Arapaimas in the region and basically depend on fishing.
Jarauá
Located 45 km from Boca do Mamirauá, it is one of the largest communities in the project, with circa 40 families surviving from the Arapaima management, where, every year, approximately 40 tons of fish are caught. Its region has circa 150 lakes.