São Francisco do Iratapuru is a village in the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian municipality of

Laranjal do Jari Laranjal do Jari () (''Jari Orangery'') is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality located in the west of the state of Amapá in Brazil. It is the only municipality in the west boundaries of Amapá, except for a small part of Vitória do Jari. It ...

, in the state of

Amapá Amapá (; ) is one of the 26 federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil. It is in the North Region, Brazil, North Region of Brazil. It is Federative units of Brazil#List, the second-least populous state and the eighteenth-largest state by area ...

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

Jari River The Jari River, or Jary River (), 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 Guiana Highlands ...

, and is 12 kilometres from the

Rio Iratapuru Sustainable Development Reserve The Rio Iratapuru Sustainable Development Reserve () is a sustainable development reserve in the state of Amapá, Brazil. It contains a well-preserved area of terra firme forest with rich fauna. The local communities that surround the reserve use ...

. 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. In 1969, it became a site for the

Jari project The Jari project was an attempt to create a tropical tree farm in Brazil for producing Wood pulp, pulp for paper. Background The Jari project was a brainchild of US entrepreneur and billionaire Daniel K. Ludwig. In the 1950s he noticed that dema ...

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 * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...

industry. The project was a massive failure, and cancelled in 1982. In 1980, people living on the banks of the Iratapuru River 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 politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

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 gov ...

created the "Amapá Sustainable Development Program" (PDSA). In 1997, the

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 Antônio Waldez Góes da Silva (; born 29 October 1961) is a Brazilian politician affiliated with the Democratic Labour Party (PDT). Since 2023, he has served as Ministry of Integration and Regional Development under President Luiz Inácio Lula ...

was elected who was opposed to the PDSA, and withdrew all subsidies for the village. A 2003

arson Arson is the act 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, watercr ...

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 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