São Francisco do Iratapuru is a village in the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian municipality of Laranjal do Jari, in the state of

Amapá Amapá () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is in the northern region of Brazil. It is the second least populous state and the eighteenth largest by area. Located in the far northern part of the country, Amapá is bordered clockwise by Fr ...

. It is located at the confluence of the Iratapuru and the

Jari River The Jari River, or Jary River ( pt, Rio Jari), is a northern tributary of the Amazon River on the border between the states of Pará and Amapá in northeastern Brazil. It is in the most downstream regions of the Amazon Basin and borders the Gui ...

, and is 12 kilometres from the Rio Iratapuru Sustainable Development Reserve. The village was founded in 1980. The economy of the village is based on

Brazil nut The Brazil nut (''Bertholletia excelsa'') is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, and it is also the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seeds. It is one of the largest and longest-lived trees in the Amazon rainforest. ...

extraction.

History

São Francisco do Iratapuru is located in a part of the Amazon rainforest which was bought by

Daniel K. Ludwig Daniel Keith Ludwig (June 24, 1897 – August 27, 1992) was an American shipping businessman, who was also involved in many other industries. He pioneered the construction of super tankers in Japan, founded Exportadora de Sal, SA in Mexico and de ...

. In 1969, it became a site for the Jari project which intended to replace the rainforest with ''

Gmelina arborea ''Gmelina arborea'', (in English beechwood, gmelina, goomar teak, Kashmir tree, Malay beechwood, white teak, yamane ), locally known as gamhar, is a fast-growing deciduous tree in the family Lamiaceae. Distribution and habitat ''Gmelina arborea ...

'' for the

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material * ...

industry. The project was a massive failure, and cancelled in 1982. In 1980, people living on the banks of the

Iratapuru River The Iratapuru River ( pt, Rio Iratapuru) is a river of Amapá state in Brazil. It is a tributary of the Jari River, which is part of the Amazon River basin. The Iratapuru River flows from north to south through the Rio Iratapuru Sustainable Devel ...

founded the village of São Francisco do Iratapuru in the hope of establishing a school which was accomplished in 1994. The economy of the village is based on gathering and extracting

s. In 1992, COMARU, an agricultural cooperative, was set up to market their products. In 1995,

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

João Capiberibe João Alberto Rodrigues Capiberibe (born May 6, 1947 in Afuá) is a Brazilian politician. He is Senator, from November 29, 2011 to February 1, 2019. Capiberibe served as governor, from January 1, 1995 to April 1, 2002. He resigned to passing go ...

created the "Amapá Sustainable Development Program" (PDSA). In 1997, the Rio Iratapuru Sustainable Development Reserve was created which was aimed at both preserving nature as well as allowing for sustainable economic activities for the communities around the reserve. The village of São Francisco do Iratapuru is the main benefactor of the reserve. In 2002, Governor Waldez Góes was elected who was opposed to the PDSA, and withdrew all subsidies for the village. A 2003

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

of the biscuit factory further complicated matters, and by the end of 2003, COMARU was in serious financial problems. In 2004, the cosmetics company

Natura & Co Natura & Co is a Brazilian global personal care cosmetics group headquartered in São Paulo. The Natura & Co Group currently includes Natura Cosméticos, Aesop, The Body Shop and Avon Products. The Group is present in 73 countries across all cont ...

became interested, and signed a deal with COMARU to become one of their main suppliers for Brazil nut oil. In 2018, São Francisco do Iratapuru received a speed boat which can also be used for medical emergencies.

Transport

São Francisco do Iratapuru can only be reached via the

, however the Santo Antônio waterfall cannot be crossed. The only access route is taking the road from

Monte Dourado Monte Dourado is a town and district in the Brazilian municipality of Almeirim, in the state of Pará. Monte Dourando is a planned town established in 1967 to house the workers for the Jari project. The city is located on the Jari River. History ...

to Porto Sabão and then continue the journey by boat.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Francisco do Irarapuru Populated places in Amapá Populated places established in 1980