What I've learned from living in the Amazon

Original article published in Portuguese in Vida Simples.

Living in the largest biome in Brazil, I discovered the richness of our diversity and understood the challenges that are involved in the preservation of the Amazon rainforest. 

The first thing that the Amazon taught me is that I knew nothing about it, despite reading and learning from school about this immense biome, the largest rainforest in the world.

After almost five years of living here - and three more visiting frequently before I moved - I learned that I still have a lot to learn. A fact that I already knew, but that I only understood later, is that the Amazon represents more than 55% of the Brazilian territory. Can you feel the gravity of this number? Brazil is more Amazon than it is non-Amazon. 

Many may not be aware, but the Amazon isn't just a single forest containing a wide range of species. The Amazon is also people, history, and culture. With its diverse customs, food, and landscape, the Amazon is an entire world that modern science and societies still overlook. Think about the amount of innovation and wisdom that could be discovered in the richness of its forests and its rivers. Ancestry and tradition are part of the Amazon, but this treasure is being neglected, burned, and destroyed.

In the Amazon, everything is immense. From ants to fish, to rivers, everything here is big. I live in Alter do Chão next to the Tapajós River, which is a river that is 20 kilometers wide, almost the size of two Rio-Niterói bridges. The concept of distance itself is different here. Visiting your neighbors could easily turn into a 5 hour trip. Also giant is the heart and hospitality of people in the region. I learned from indigenous people lessons about life, detachment, and the value of rest and leisure - adapting and getting by with what we have on hand. These are lifelong learnings that I will forever cherish. One of them is about the time of the forest, a concept that is difficult to put into words. I would describe it as respect for the natural flow of events. As someone who has grown accustomed to the fast-paced life of cities, this learning was very important for me - only what is valued is preserved.

Here, I understood that the wise but marginalized Amazonian people want to be recognized. Just like anyone else, they want to put in the hard work to study and prosper. Many see themselves as inferior, or not deserving, which is the result of centuries of exploitation and neglect by the rest of Brazil and the former colonizers. This desire for visibility has led to a mistaken view of development. In fact, mega-mining projects, highways, and hydroelectric dams have brought nothing but destruction and inequality to the Amazon. 

mureta.jpeg

The Amazon will only be preserved if its inhabitants are strengthened, culturally, socially, and economically.

Without good public policies that aim to protect indigenous peoples, and socio-economic alternatives that bring income, sustainable development (such as the açaí chain, which yields about seven times more than extensive livestock) cannot be achieved. There will continue to be people willing to deforest the Amazon and fill its rivers with mercury. Even environmentalists could become barriers to development, as some may want to keep the forest standing. This distorted view, the result of a calculated narrative, makes the Amazon one of the most dangerous places in the world for those who want to defend nature, a lesson I learned from practice, after being arrested for three days for fighting forest fires, in the case of Brig do Alter do Chão, in November 2019.

The Amazon is fundamental to life on the planet. Its environmental and climatic services are unique and, without it, life as we know it will not be possible.

For this reason, we need to know more about the Amazon and understand more what the people who live here want. I believe that we only care for what we love and only love what we know. And to know the Amazon is to smell it, hear its songs, drink its liquids. Together, we need to "amazonize" Brazil and value the beauty of the region, its people, its cultures, and its products.

marcelo piracaia (1).JPG

In this intense process of "amazonizing" that the forest provided me, I learned that the greatest lessons are about ourselves. Before coming here, I was a managing partner of a multinational in the financial market. Here, I learned that life is like a river: we enter it and one day we will leave it. But the river will run its course and what matters is what we do while we are swimming here. Many people drown in that river while others have comfortable life jackets. And I want to be one of those who reach out to help others.

Here, I learned that I don't need much to be happy. And that my time is my most precious asset.

vida simples5 (1).png

I realized that my job is my time and energy. And therefore, it needs to be dedicated to something that makes a difference in the world.

More recently, after being arrested and fleeing my home for a few months, I realized that I need to focus on where I can contribute. I recognized that my previous knowledge of the market can and should be used in favor of the Amazon. That is, what I experienced in the past can also help me now. So, I started working with impactful social entrepreneurship and started to help growing companies, which preserve the Amazon and generate income through the sale of non-timber forest products, ecotourism, among other sustainable economic activities.

I feel that many people want to help the Amazon, but they don't know how.

Much is said about conscious consumption and, even though it is fundamental to think about whether or not our actions contribute to the destruction of the forest, I learned that the greatest contribution we can make to the Amazon is ourselves; our time, our respect, and, above all, our love for life on Earth.

About the Author

LAMarcelo (2).jpg

Marcelo Cwerner is a Portfolio Manager at NESsT. He is passionate about innovative economic models, social justice and environmental sustainability. He believes that it is important to pursue new approaches to the way we live in society in response to climate emergency and by the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting local communities, social enterprises, solidarity and the circular economy.

Marcelo has been living in the Amazon with his family for the last 4 years, in Alter do Chão, in the state of Pará. Before that, he worked for 12 years in the financial market (at investment banks and financial advisory firms) in São Paulo. When he moved to the Amazon, Marcelo co-founded the Instituto Aquifero to conduct environmental protection initiatives, and created three tourism companies that received more than 2,000 visitors in 4 years of activity.