BELEM, Brazil (Reuters) – “The Amazon brings people health,” said Brazilian merchant Edison Rosa, holding out a handful of glistening, dark purple antioxidant-rich acai berries – touted worldwide as a superfood. “Without the forest, no one lives.”
Belem, a port city in northern Brazil and gateway to the Amazon, is home to the bustling Ver-o-Peso market where merchants come to sell fish, herbs, nuts, berries and other fruit harvested from the world’s largest rainforest.
In the same city, heads of state from eight nations that share the sprawling rainforest are meeting on Monday and Tuesday to discuss how to develop the Amazon region in a sustainable way.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he will push for a first-time common protection policy which would involve the countries that share the rainforest collectively agreeing on actions to conserve and reforest the region.
Still, divisions are expected at the summit over new permits for oil drilling at the mouth of the Amazon river, some 200 miles (320 km) away, and over the deforestation resulting from rapid agricultural expansion.
“This place is like a movie theater,” said Beth Cheirosinha, a herb merchant whose stand overflows with colorful bottles of oils and tonics.
“People come from all over the world to see the postcard of Belem that is Ver-o-Peso,” she added. “It is our roots.”
Even at night the market is buzzing. Men haul a fish as big as a child off a fishing boat. Piles of oranges, bananas, fresh herbs and acai berries fill heaving crates on the edge of the bay.
“This is everything for me in my life, everything good,” said Rosa. “I am very happy with my life.”
Deforestation surged under the previous government of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who slashed environmental protections. For the first seven months of Lula’s administration, satellite data suggests deforestation has fallen 43% from the same period of 2022.
(Reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by David Gregorio)
