Desenvolvimento sustentável na foz do rio Amazonas: experiências com comunidades ribeirinhas do arquipélago do Bailique - AP

Abstract

There is a consensus among the different notions of the concept of sustainable development to encompass a set of dimensions, as: economic, ecological, environmental and social sustainability. However, strategic actions and sustainability practices still do not share a common understending. In the state of Amapá, located in the Brazilian Amazon, the Arquipelágo do Bailique was the location chosen by the state government as a model for sustainable development actions. This study aimed to diagnose and to identify sustainable actions related to the bee flora and management of açaí groves with the following objectives: to diagnose the Bailique region, focusing on aspects consistent with the production system, commercialization and typology of its producers; and, promote local development interventions based on diagnosed potentials and lackness. In addition, this work identified the plant species that supply pollen and/or nectar to Apis mellifera bees, as a subsidy to beekeepers for the elaboration of an apicultural calendar for the region and the management of native açaí groves, based on the results obtained from the rapid diagnosis and participatory carried out. The study used a rapid and participatory diagnosis methodologies – DRP, privileging qualitative data. There were carried out pre-diagnosis, preparation of the team, presentation of secondary data, characterization of ecosystems and types of producers, hypotheses, preparation of interviews and observations, field visits, systematization and analysis of information and the elaboration of the diagnosis the field. The bee flora was studied in an area of 403 hectares around the installed apiaries and direct observations, photographic records and collection of apibotanical material were made. In the management of native açaí trees, seven communities were selected and the technology used was that of minimal impact management for fruit production in native açaí trees in the Amazon estuary, generated by Embrapa Amapá institute. The results obtained through the quick and participative diagnosis showed that the residents of the Bailique acquired income, especially, from fishing, extraction of açaí and farming activity. The different activities were directly linked to the harvest period and/or abundance and scarcity of food. Of the plant species surveyed in the study as suppliers of pollen and/or nectar, 80% diagnosed had been previously reported by local people as species that bees visited. In the case of the management of native acai groves, 430 hectares were implanted, however, there was not enough time during the course of the research to study the impact of this management on the productivity and increase of income of extractivists. The estimate is 10 tons/hectare within the range of 400 palm clumps/hectare with 5 lineages each. It was concluded that the protagonism of the local population in the processes of choice and decision-making of sustainable local development activities provided greater empowerment of these, and, consequently, greater effectiveness in these sustainable actions. However, political, social and environmental actions are fundamental to process of inclusion of the residents of the Bailique, so that, in general, the sustainability and income of the community of this archipelago can be described as sustainable.