Story

Video: Life in an Extractive Reserve in the Amazon Forest (Portuguese)

November 12, 2020 | Deutsche Welle
By
Nadia Pontes, Bruno Kelly
With past labor conditions analogous to slavery, former rubber tappers have organized and become important suppliers to the cosmetics industry. An example of how to profit directly from a preserved Amazon. Image by DW Brasil.

With past labor conditions analogous to slavery, former rubber tappers have organized and become important suppliers to the cosmetics industry. Image by DW Brasil.

The routine in the Extractive Reserve (Resex) in the Médio Juruá region meant that for a long time its poorest residents had to survive with the bare minimum, even living without a refrigerator inside their homes. It’s not like that anymore. Having overcome those fundamental living problems, their struggle today is on protecting the forest to ensure the livelihood of its traditional populations.