Home Expeditions and TravelsBrazil On the Birds and Boats of Brazil

On the Birds and Boats of Brazil

by Larry Niles
6 comments

Previous Post

sailboat

Our 26 ft Cape Dory Sailboat in Oxford, MD

Birds and Boats

I am a biologist that loves the birds and boats of northern Brazil. For good reason. On one hand the 250 miles of coast support enormous bird diversity inherent to most tropical environments. But the northern coast of Brazil in the states of Para and Maranhao stands out as one of the most important shorebird wintering areas in the western hemisphere as well.  It’s an amazingly vast area of mostly unpopulated beaches, intertidal sand and mud flats and mangrove forests. This ecological wonder also produces an abundance of fish and shellfish, on which the birds depend.  It also supports a network of traditional villages and they depend on boats.

Like most fishermen of Brazil, those of  Maranhao and Para build sturdy boats with the flourish of the South American.  They and their skilled shipwrights build the boats with fine tropical hardwoods that last forever in marine environments.  The variety of shapes come from the waters they ply,  everything from gale force ocean waves to placid tropical rivers, so they curve in nearly all directions.    And the casual observer will find few of the bland white hulls of the mid-Atlantic Fisher. No these boat literally glow with color.  No wonder they are well known throughout Brazil.

This gallery below is an homage to these beautiful and eminently useful boats.

 

Conservation of Resources for People and Birds

Fortunately for these fishers, this section of the northern coast of Brazil is partially protected by the federal government of Brazil through a novel conservation system known as Extrativista Reserves.  These reserves protect natural resources, birds, fish, and shellfish for their own sake and for the traditional villages that depend upon them.  I described this important and innovative conservation system in more detail here and here. This link takes you to  ICMBio, the Brazilian federal agency that manages them.

The fishers of this tropical coast depend on the fishery and the Extractivist Reserves protect both from their main threat, the international fishing fleets.  With their industrial level gear, they can ruin a local fishery in a few years. Their greedy exploitation can cause catastrophe among these rural and relatively powerless people within a few years.  It has happened all around the world most famously in the failed state of Somalia.

Rarely has conservation been so important to both wildlife and the people living with them

 

The Brazilian federal agency, ICMBio protect “Extractavista” or extractive reserves, natural areas with abundant natural resources dedicated to to native people in the Amazon or traditional communities of the coast of Para and Maranhao, the location of our study. Map by Dan Merchant

 

 

Pictures in the gallery below were taken by Larry Niles, Joe Smith, Christophe Buiden, Yann Rochepault Stephanie Feigin and Mark Peck in 2014, 2016 and 2017 during expeditions studying shorebirds and their habitat.

 

The fishers of Maranhao and Para rely almost entirely on gill nets and seines which require constant upkeep. This fisher fixes his net in the tiny island village of Apiu Salvatore in the state of Para.
Fisher mending net in Vila do Castelo, near the Reserva Extrativista M.nha de Caeté-Taperaçu. Extrativista Reserves are meant to protect both wildlife and the small communities within them that depend mostly on the protected fishery
The waterfront of Braganca in the state of Para glows with color from the modest houses and storesfront to the boats on the River Caete
Braganca waterfront
Nearly the entire economy of the towns along the Para /Maranhao coast depend on fish or shell fish and the various occupations that arise within fishing communities.
Fishing vendor
Fish from Reposa in the state of Maranahao
Waterfront along a mangrove waterway that joins the Caete River . These small villages lie scattered throughout the landscape along small mangrove creeks.
A shipwright repairs a large fishing boat along Braganca waterfront. The boat are mostly constructed with nearly indestructable Brazilian hardwoods.
Fishing boats of the tiny community of Apiu Salvador located on a small island within Resex Gurupi Piria
A small tidal waterway between mangrove wetlands in the Garupi Resex area . Our research team escapes the heat and noise of the cabin below.
A nearly completed boat in a ship yard in Viseu along the same Garupi
An ocean going fishing boat fully loaded for a several day voyage. The boat was docked in the small fishing near Carurupu, in the state of Maranhao.
A large lancha in Apicum Apu along the Baia de Turiacu in the state of Maranhao transporting travelers from Cururupu and other small coastal towns.
The water front of Apicum Acu in the State of Maranhoa
A very large lancha in the city of Alcantara, used to transport visitor from the Sao Luis, the capital of Maranahoa just across the the Baía de São Marcos.
A small Lancha near Raposa, Maranhao. The boat was used by our team to trap shorebirds.
Small fishing vessel in Rio Paciencia near Sao Jose de Ribamar. Most of the sprawling community storm sewer system drains into the waterway including much of the the untreated sewage from waterfront businesses and homes
Boats near Panaquatira, the typical boat in this area uses sails whenever possible but the boats are usually equipped with a small diesel engine .
Sailing vessel near Panaquatira in Maranhao
Small fishing boats nest on dry ground in Sao Jose de Ribamar, in the state of Maranhoa.

 

Related Articles

Leave a Comment

Translate »