As grandes obras para a reaberturada BR 319 e seus impactos nas localidades ribeirinhas do Rio Solimões: Bela Vista e Manaquiri, no Amazonas

Abstract

The immense border and the dense forest cover, encouraged by the military discourse of “a place without people, craving for history”, made the Amazon region a target to many massive projects of development and national integration in the beginning of XX Century, which led to a new and complex chapter in the history of this region.This is something that would deeply scar not just the landscape with the major deforesting to implant the roads at the Amazon, as known as “spines of progress”, but also the life of hundreds of thousands of people that migrated to the surrounds of those that would be the future highways. These populations had to adapt to traditions, which fomented the exchange of knowledge between the riverine populations, which allowed the occupation of this area that was considered as demographic emptiness. Although the Latex’s cycle had brought thousands of people, most of them from the Northeast region, to the Amazon region, in the end of the XIX Century, until the first decade of the XX Century. However, it was the role of the migrants and immigrants of the roadways, to start the transformation that would define the landscape and consolidate the occupation at this region, adapting to local reality that, sometimes located far away from the urban centers, it’s inhabit in riparian areas. Taking this in consideration, this project aimed analize the possible alterations on the lifes of the riparian populations sited at “Bela Vista Community” (Municipality of Manacapuru) and the headquarters of the Municipality of Manaquiri – AM, in view of the re-opening of the highway BR-319. Considering that the building of the bridge over the Solimões/Amazonas River will probably have as initial points those two locations. For this, its necessary identify the present scenery of the fluvial geomorphology (upper land and floodplain), and the consequent decline of the agricultural production, having as reference the building of the bridge over the Negro River. Characterize the perception of the inhabitants of those locations, their relation with the ecosystem and the development perspective of the locality. Propound an alternative of Environmental Education that consider geographic aspects of the region, their complexity and sustainability, with the spatial reconfiguration resulting from the re-opening of the highway BR-319. To achieve such objectives, the research was divided in two phases: In the first, were interviewed the elders inhabitants at both locations Bela Vista Community and the headquarters of the Municipality of Manaquiri In the second phase, were realized interviews with the families’ chiefs, with forty inhabitants interviewees in each locality. Starting from the examination realized and from the analyzes of the collected data, it was possible detect the perception of the interviewees, referring to the reopening of the highway BR-319 and the building of the bridge over the Solimões River. Therefore, it was noticed a trend of enthusiasm regard the possibility of the fulfillment of the construction, at same time, that generates some reservations in the interviewees about the impacts of those works over the Amazon Forest.