Heat, fires and agribusiness squeeze traditional Amazon açaí harvesters
Eliseu Carvalho, a 57-year-old açaí harvester in Acará, Brazil, lost $10,000 and 2 hectares of açaí palms due to a 2024 wildfire, forcing him to consider abandoning açaí harvesting. The Amazon region has seen rising temperatures, declining rainfall, and severe droughts, contributing to intense wildfires and threatening traditional açaí harvesters.
In Acará, Brazil, thousands of small-scale açaí producers work in forest patches and along riverbanks. A 2024 wildfire burned over 18 million hectares in the Amazon, with 2 hectares of Eliseu Carvalho's açaí palms destroyed, causing $10,000 in losses. Carvalho may abandon açaí harvesting due to the loss and turn to fish farming. The Amazon's dry season has been warming since the 1980s, with temperatures rising by 0.3°C per decade. In 2023, the Amazon Basin received its lowest rainfall in over 40 years, leading to severe droughts and low river levels. Intensive açaí farming has grown by 70% since 2015, while community cooperatives reported losses of 35% or more during recent heat waves and fires.
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