Rare species live in area targeted by oil company in Amazon

Adrisa De Góes – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS (AM) – The mouth of the Amazon, which gained spotlight last week after the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) prohibits oil exploration in the region, is home to a gigantic system of corals, sponges, fish and crustaceans. This is what Brazilian scientists proved, in 2016, during an oceanographic study carried out at the site.

At the time, the discovery was reported in the journal Science Advances, which showed that Amazon corals resemble other reefs distributed along the Brazilian coast, with the unlikely difference that they develop in muddy waters, with little lighting and at a depth of up to 120 meters (m). Under common conditions, coral formations take root in shallow waters with greater incidence of sunlight.

The main author responsible for the study is Rodrigo Leão Moura, professor at the Institute of Biology of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). He conducted the research that identified an approximate extension of almost 1 thousand kilometers (km) and an area of 9,500 square kilometers (km²) of reefs, stretching from northern Maranhão to the border with French Guiana.

The immensity of the Amazon reef is composed of stretches of calcareous algae, black or red corals, and fields of giant natural sponges that can exceed two meters in length, as well as sandbars covered by green algae and calcareous structures that can reach a height of 20 meters. Researchers estimate that only 5 percent of this large system has been scientifically investigated so far.

Read also: Oil exploration in the Amazon divides opinion among politicians and experts

Other species

According to the technical report that substantiated Ibama’s decision, in the area targeted by Petrobras, there are animals threatened with exploitation, such as the pink shrimp, the pito, the red lobster and the crab. The report also identifies 23 species of marine mammals, including whales, porpoises, and dolphins, and two species of manatees.

Of the species that live in the estuary region, some are threatened with extinction in Brazil, such as the gray dolphin, red dolphin, sperm whale, manatee, Amazon manatee, and giant otter. The report cites the existence of at least 114 species.

“The region harbors endemic, endangered species, and, most likely, species still unknown or not recorded locally, in view of the vast reef ecosystem recently discovered under the plume of the Foz do Rio Amazonas”, says, in his dispatch the president of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho.

Read also: Greenpeace celebrates the decision that vetoes oil exploration at the mouth of the Amazon

Threat to quilombolas and river dwellers

In late 2022, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office of Pará (MPF-PA) and Amapá issued a joint recommendation, directed to Ibama and Petrobras, which already indicated the suspension of maritime drilling at the mouth of the Amazon. The agency pointed out the extent of the impacts on the riverine and quilombola communities living in Pará.

Quilombola communities of Abacatal and Aurá, in Ananindeua (PA), would be the first to be affected by the waste from the activity. The riverside community of Pirocaba, in Abaetetuba (PA), would suffer the impact on fishing activities.

The MPF also explains in the document that the Karipuna, Palikur-Arukwayene, Galibi Marworno and Galibi Kali’na peoples will be affected by the oil company’s investment. There is also enormous potential for environmental damage along the Atlantic Amazon coast that could reach as far as the territorial sea of French Guiana.

Read more: Danger to Amazonian fauna was decisive for the negative decision of the oil company in the Amazon mouth

Expert

To CENARIUM MAGAZINE, the geographer and environmentalist Carlos Durigan points out that the fish that occur in the estuary – a partially closed body of water that is formed when the fresh water from rivers and streams flows into the ocean and mixes with the salt water from the sea – supply a good part of the Amazon population. He also points out that fishing in the region supplies other areas of Brazil and even neighboring countries.

“The importance of this is extreme, from the point of view of its ecosystemic role and the wealth of biodiversity and socio-diversity that live there and depend on this healthy environment. The mouth of the Amazon still includes large extensions of mangroves, the largest extension of mangroves in the world, and one of the most important wetlands on the planet”, says the specialist.

Durigan also warns that any intervention in the region could compromise the quality of the ecosystems and lead to major disruptions. “Besides the issues related to aquatic biodiversity, we could include the species that occur in the mangroves. Therefore, their importance for the region, in the mangroves that have large nurseries, essential for the maintenance of species”, he adds.