Traditional use and management practices of Carapa spp. (andiroba) in the Reserva Extrativista do Rio Jutaí, Amazonas, Brazil

Abstract

Residents of the Reserva Extrativista do Rio Jutaí, State of Amazonas, Brazil, have expressed expectations and aspire to change about managing andiroba (Carapa spp.). In this research, questions about the reasons for these changes and how they are going were formulated. Socioeconomic and management issues were studied in 31 households from ten communities of the extractive reserve. Semi-structured interviews, participant observation and evaluation of time and work effort were carried out. Local people attributed significant meaning for the species because of the use-value, highlighting the medicinal applications, for fishing matrinxã (Brycon spp.) and four other fishes. The management of andiroba is conducted mainly in the areas of primary forest and is complemented by most families in the form of crops. Part of the production is traded within the reserve. Multivariate analysis discriminated a group that invests more time and number of people in harvesting, thus achieving higher production but lower income. There is no trend towards specialization of activities, as families are pluriactive. The studied phenomenon fits the conceptual proposal of neoextrativism because practices are changing and include cultivating and processing.