“A CASTANHEIRA, AQUI, É A MÃE CASTANHEIRA”: O EXTRATIVISMO DA BERTHOLLETIA EXCELSA NA RESEX CAJARI-AMAPÁ

Abstract

The extraction of Brazil nuts is an activity that has great socioeconomic importance in several Amazonian communities. This natural resource, besides being a source of food for the extractivist populations, offers the possibility of income all year round, with the commercialization, both in natura and beneficiated, of the nut. In the Cajari River Extractive Reserve (Resex Cajari), located in the southern portion of Amapá, the conservation of the territory is directly linked to this species, since it was due to the massive native chestnut groves, concentrated in the region, that the local population organized themselves to conquer the extractive identity, and the right to remain and exploit the natural wealth of the territory. This dissertation aims to develop an ethnography on how the Brazil nut extractivism in the Resex Cajari (Amapá) is constituted and effective. From a field approach, through interviews and participant observation, we sought to present the daily dynamics present in the space of the Brazil nut grove and the productive processes that comprise the collection and processing of this almond. To this end, we highlight the cultural manifestations, the interrelationships in the Brazil nut areas, the traditional knowledge, practices, and knowledge associated with the work of men and women who develop the extraction of Brazil nuts in the region.