Roraima: Brazil's northernmost frontier by John Hemming - SAS-Space

taking 30 hours or more for the run) and steady truck traffic, the highway has
finally ended Roraima's sense of isolation. The territory's population almost
doubled during the first decade after the road was opened.
Environmental concerns
During the decade starting in the mid-1970s, an impressive area of reserves
was designated in Roraima. In addition to the vast Indian reserves (which
are also wildlife sanctuaries), the environmental agency IB AM A administers
the Mucajai and Rio Anaua biological reserves, the Jatapu resources
reserve north of the Waimiri-Atroari Indian territory, and the huge National
Park of Rio Branco along the western bank of the lower river. The forestry
department of IBAMA used to have an area called the Parima forest reserve
in the northern part of the area interdicted for the Yanomami. IBAMA's
ecological section, formerly called SEMA, has a 100,000-hectare ecological
research reserve on Maraca island in the middle Uraricoera river, as well as
a savanna research station near Caracarai. Maraca was the scene of intensive
study in the Maraca Rainforest Project of 1987-89. Brazilian scientists,
mostly from the Amazon research institute INPA in Manaus, and their
British colleagues found that this island of forests, wetlands and savanna was
remarkably rich in wildlife. Several hundred new species of insects, microorganisms,
plants and animals were discovered; and Maraca proved to be
one of the richest places in the neotropics in the numbers of its peccary and
the diversity of birds, bats, spiders and other insects.
With large areas of uninhabited and unexplored forests, Roraima is important
in the conservation of the Amazon rainforest environment. On paper at
least, almost half the state is protected as Indian or nature reserves. But the
legal status of much of this immense area is uncertain and there are strong
economic and political forces that want to open them to exploitation. It is
also almost impossible to police these reserves against invaders.
Roraima's future
In 1988 the Territory of Roraima achieved statehood. It was felt that, with its
population well over 100,000 and its economy in good shape, Roraima was
ready to take its place among the states of Brazil. But it is not certain that
Roraima's economy can keep pace with the steady and inevitable rise in
population and the increased expectations of its people.
For a time in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Territory's economy was
saved by timber exports. These were boom years for the Venezuelan construction
industry, which discovered that the best wood for scaffolding and
concrete form work was a smooth, white softwood called caferana. This tree
grows in abundance near the Bem-querer rapids and Caracarai. Modern
sawmills were developed to meet this demand, and the timber moved north