Spring 2009 Issue No. 2

In This Issue ...Feature article: Copal and handicraft projects progress in Peru ............................................................... 1Connection Profiles: Penn State Univ.................................................................................................................. 2Book Review: The Last Forest ................................................................................................................................ 2Feature article: Amazon connections to climate change ............................................................................ 3Report from the Field: Another kind of copal.................................................................................................... 5Volunteer form and Thank-yous..............................................................................................................................6

Copal and handicraft projects progress in Peru

By Campbell Plowden and Meghan Walsh

Copal is the common name for the tree and aromatic resin that local people in the Amazon have long collected for incense, illumination, and medicine and caulking wooden boats.

The Center is studying the ecology of copal trees and the insects that stimulate and use its resin; it is also developing strategies for people to sustainably harvest and sell the resin. Since 2006, the research has been based at a field station operated by the Peruvian Amazon Research Institute (IIAP) near the town of Jenaro Herrera on the Ucayali River. “The IIAP preserve has been perfect for our initial copal studies,” said Plowden. He added, “The facility has an arboretum with well-marked trees, two copal plantations, natural forest with diverse copal species, a top-quality herbarium and supportive professional staff. Each year we learn more about the weevils that form the resin lumps on the copal trees. It’s also been fascinating to realize how many different bees collect copal resin to make their nests. Last summer we found one orchid bee uses the resin lumps as a

mating site, and we have made the first observations of a wasp collecting resin.”

The Peru copal research team is led by Angel Raygada, an agronomy student at the National University of the Peruvian Amazon (UNAP) in Iquitos. He coordinates project activities

at Jenaro Herrera with two brothers from this town, Italo and Melaneo Melendez. They regularly photograph hundreds of resin lumps to record their growth, checks traps for adult weevils, documents resin harvest by bees, and manually harvest resin through controlled bark-wounding as an alternative to harvesting weevil-induced resin lumps.

Plowden’s six week 2008 trip to Peru began with a quick stop at Jenaro Herrera. He said, “This first visit was an important reality check. Our team is very savvy and resourceful, but they don’t have a deep background in statistics. I saw problems in the way they were collecting and recording

some information and realized their mistakes were mostly my responsibility. I had told them what I wanted them to do, but I hadn’t discussed with them why certain things needed to be done. I had given presentations about

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Campbell Plowden and Bora Indian with wet forest copal/Greg Harriott.

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Connections Profiles: Penn State

By Jessica Remitz As Director of Penn State University’s Engineering Leadership Development Program, professor Rick Schuhmann has traveled with students to Hungary, Morocco, Southeast Asia and now Peru. His students at Penn State and peers across the globe in Hungary, Jamaica and Africa help make their mark on the world by learning real-life management and leadership skills. Schuhmann has been with Penn State for ten years and became director of the program in 2005. He said would have never thought to extend the program to South America had it not been for Campbell Plowden, president of the Center for Amazon Community Ecology. After meeting Plowden, Schuhmann went to Peru to see if the Center and his students could collaborate in a productive way. His assessment was very positive and a group of his International Entrepreneurship and Organizational Leadership students have just returned from an eight day stay with Plowden working with Bora Indians in the Ampiyacu River area to do an initial assessment of copal resin resources and make prototypes of incense and scented candles with copal as value-added products the community might sell.

*** Going into his freshman year at Penn State, Greg Harriott wasn’t sure what he wanted to do, but he knew he didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk. After taking an introductory filmmaking class, Harriott knew that was the major for him. Harriott began working with Plowden last spring and spent six weeks with him in Peru last summer to shoot and later produce a video about the Center’s work. Operating as a one-man crew in the Amazon gave Harriott a lot of experience in documentary production and editing, skills he will need for future assignments after he

graduates this spring, and working in the Amazon was entirely different from working in State College. “After getting back from Peru, I felt a change in myself as a person and a film student,” Harriott said. “As a film major, the trip inspired me to use documentary filmmaking as a means to travel and experience

the world.” Read Greg’s essay about his experiences “I need this shot” at www.amazonecology.org under Reports from the Field.

Amazon Connections: Newsletter for the Center for Amazon Community Ecology

Editors: Campbell Plowden and Jessica Remitz

Writers: Campbell Plowden, Meghan Walsh, Jessica Remitz

To receive the newsletter by e-mail, send the message “subscribe to Amazon Connections” to amazonecology@comcast.net. Newslet-ter may also be downloaded from the www.amazonecology.org.

Dr. Rick Schuhmann/C. Plowden

CACE Video intern Greg Harriott/C. Plowden, CACE.

By Meghan WalshFor people wanting a deep look at tropical

deforestation, The Last Forest: the Amazon in the Age of Globalization by Brian Kelly and Mark London is the right ticket. Revisiting their exploration of the Amazon in the 1980s, the authors returned to the region to investigate the forest’s status in Brazil and relation to the world community. The book begins with a short history of the Amazon and then focuses on the region’s economic conflicts. The narrative moves fluidly from one controversy to the next, citing problems and offering solutions. The Last Forest presents comprehensive evidence that may be too complex for some readers, but scientists and Amazon aficionados familiar with the forests’ crises will appreciate this book’s insights.

Kelly and London wrote Amazon in 1983 about that era’s dilemmas that included numerous logging and political struggles. Their new account focuses on the ways that globalization in the Amazon has favored economic growth for a few and increased poverty for many. While a burned forest means lost biodiversity to a conservationist, it means food to a small farmer. They, therefore, recommend global intervention and humanitarian aid to combat growing deforestation. The Last Forest discusses why deforestation does not pose a risk to the global supply of oxygen (some conservation advocates had once tried to argue that the Amazon represented the “lungs of the world”), but the it doesn’t pay much attention to the links between deforestation and climate change. Renewed conversations with some people they interviewed twenty years earlier reveal that some former views of the forest have changed. Brazilian President José Sarney was once a very open nationalist who paid little attention to environmentalism. When London and Kelly visited him again in 2003, Sarney expressed serious concerns with Amazon ecology and its role in the world.

The Last Forest is a sobering story that maintains a steady pace in presenting critical information and analysis about the current state of affairs in the Brazilian Amazon. For any student, professor, or academic interested in present-day Amazonia, this is a book well worth reading. Comparable works that analyze the dynamics of deforestation and forest conservation in other neighboring Amazon countries would be very welcome.

Book Review: The Last Forest

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By Meghan Walsh Discussion about climate change usually focuses on the role of fossil fuel consumption, but the loss of forests contributes about 20 percent to the additional carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere. Forests themselves are also vulnerable to global warming since higher temperatures make them more vulnerable to fire and favor different types of trees. Given its size and rapid rate of deforestation, the Amazon is strongly connected to both concerns. The Woods Hole Research Center of Falmouth (WHRC), Massachusetts and its sister organization, Amazon Institute for Environmental Research (IPAM) in Brazil are two of the top research centers investigating climate questions related to the Brazilian Amazon. The Center’s director John Holdren frames the problem succinctly, saying the world’s moist tropical forests are burning and drying out. Former WHRC senior scientist Daniel Nepstad (now program officer with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation) led the group’s investigation for many years of connections between

Amazon connections to climate change

climate change and the Amazon forest and search for solutions to the problems. While Amazonian trees store carbon stocks greater than a decade of global fossil fuel emissions, deforestation caused by ranching, logging and non-sustainable agriculture in this region alone could release enough carbon dioxide to disrupt the global climate balance. Beyond carbon emissions, the Amazon also influences world climate and ocean circulation systems through its enormous outflow of fresh water from the Amazon River and release of water from plants to the atmosphere through evapotranspiration. Conservation of this region is, therefore, vital to the world since 80 percent of the Amazon forest is still intact. The title of WHRC’s 2008 report plainly states the gravity of the situation: “Interactions among Amazon land use, forests and climate: Prospects for a near-term forest tipping point.” In this report Nepstad wrote, “If sea surface temperature anomalies (such as El Niño episodes) and associated Amazon droughts of the last decade continue into the future, approximately 55 percent of the forests of the Amazon will be cleared, logged, damaged by drought or burned over the next 20 years, emitting 15–26 Pg (billion metric tons) of carbon to the atmosphere.” There is a disturbing cycle that links fire, drought

and larger-scale climate change in the Amazon. Some activities such as logging open up the forest canopy and allow more sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor. This dries the plant debris on the ground and makes it more likely to burn if invaded by fires originally set nearby to clear forest for planting crops or maintain pasture. Overall larger carbon emissions to the atmosphere tend to increase heat waves and wildfires. All these factors then combine and reinforce a shift from humid forest to one that is dry and arid – areas that are more prone to further fire. Based on his team’s study of forest fires, Nepstad said, “We [. . .] know that the amounts of carbon that may be going to the atmosphere following Amazon droughts are probably big enough to accelerate global warming. Currently trends suggest that a big chunk of the Amazon forest will probably be displaced by fire-prone scrub vegetation; global warming will probably exacerbate this trend.” The basic conclusion is that deforestation affects the global climate and climate affects deforestation. Carbon released from burning trees alters the climate by increasing heat waves, droughts, and fires. These conditions combine with ongoing human deforestation to kill more trees that releases more carbon propelling the cycle forward.

To address this problem, The WHRC has introduced a five-step program to maintain carbon in forest trees. Practices that could reduce carbon emissions from the land include halting deforestation, expanding the area of forests, increasing carbon stocks in existing forests, making tree harvests more efficient, using more wood in long-lasting products, and substituting wood fuels for fossil fuels. Brazil was making progress in the first goal by reducing deforestation in its Amazon region from about 25,000 km2 per year in 2005 to just over 10,000 km2 in 2007, but a surge in the price of food commodities (particularly soy beans) and rampant illegal logging has led to increased forest clearing in Brazil’s southwestern

“We know that the amounts of carbon that may be going to the atmosphere follow-ing the Amazon droughts are probably big enough to accelerate global warming.”- Daniel Nepstad

Agricultural fire in Brazil/C. Plowden, Greenpeace.

Spring 2009 - 4

From Page 1: Copal and handicraft projects progress in Peru

our copal work to many groups in the U.S. and Peru, but I hadn’t shared one with them. When they saw photos of copal insects and realized how little things they did in the field made a big difference to the quality of our work, they got invested in the project in a whole new way. We brainstormed every aspect of the study together. This led to better training, adopting new tools, making a cooperative schedule, and setting up a system to double check measurements and labels.”

“We need to keep exploring the copal weevil life cycle at Jenaro since that’s fundamental to our work,” Plowden said, “but I knew we were ready to start applying what we’ve learned so far to address our next big question: can communities sustainably harvest and profitably sell value-added products made with copal?”

It seemed difficult to address this challenge around Jenaro where thousands of small farmers and ranchers own pieces of fields, water buffalo pasture and forest lands.

Plowden wanted to find smaller traditional communities willing to work with the Center to develop plans to manage and possibly sell copal resin and/or other non-timber products. CACE board member and ethnobiologist Dr. Michael Gilmore provided timely introductions to two non-governmental organizations that work closely with indigenous and mestizo groups in the Iquitos region.

Plowden, Raygada, and CACE video intern Greg Harriott hitched a ride on an Instituto del Bien Comun (IBC) boat going down the Amazon river to the town of Pebas. It then swung up the Ampiyacu River to Puca Urquillo – the gateway to a territory shared by 14 Bora, Huitoto and Ocaina indigenous villages. IBC’s careful work with FECONA, the association that represents these communities, was starting to pay off. The Loreto state government was granting each village the right to expand into a companion territory, and the communities were going to play a key role in managing a much larger regional conservation area.

The groups’ key challenge was phasing out uncontrolled logging and creating other appropriate income

generating activities. Both IBC and FECONA welcomed the Center’s interest to explore copal and other non-timber product potential in the area.

Plowden said, “Our arrival on the day of a meeting to establish an association to promote the sale of handicrafts from the region was well timed since we got to see an array of seed-based jewelry, chambira palm fiber bags and hammocks made by artisans from ten villages.” He continued, “It was great to see this organizational effort, but they had a long way to go to make their products more distinctive.”

The meeting ended on an enthusiastic note by electing the group’s first slate of officers who were charged with trying to figure out how to achieve the association’s goals. Plowden concluded, “We spent three great days in the upland forest community of Brillo Nuevo learning about their collection and use of two kinds of copal (see Report from the Field: Another kind of copal in this issue).

The other educational jack-pot in Brillo Nuevo was meeting handicraft maker Ayda Ruiz who showed the CACE team the rich palette of naturally dyed chambira fiber she created with fruits, leaves, bark, and roots from her backyard garden and forest. Harriott commented, “What really impressed me about this village was how resourceful the people were. While walking through the forest, our guides told us the names of trees we passed, how they used them, and even what kinds of animals urinated next to the trail.” On their second foray to check out new sites, Plowden and his colleagues joined Dr. Jim Penn, president of the Rainforest Conservation Fund, and five of his students from Grand Valley University in Michigan as they headed up the Tahuayo River. One major RCF project in the region has been increasing the population of aguaje palms. This tree had been disappearing since people commonly harvested its fruits by cutting it down. A vigorous campaign to plant palm seedlings and educate people about safe ways to harvest the fruit is starting to succeed. Like many other places, though, the Tahuayo communities are trying to stop illegal logging and find sustainable ways to increase local income. A handicraft association in Chino

Continued on Page 5

Euleama orchid bees courting on copal resin lump/C. Plowden, CACE.

Manually harvesting copal resin/C. Plowden, CACE.

Spring 2009 - 5

has been making good progress selling a unique style of chambira baskets adorned with local seeds to tourists who stop by en route to an ecotourist lodge. Few tourists, however, make it to the smaller communities of San Pedro and Diamante up the Quebrada Blanca (“white stream”). Diamante residents are mostly hunters and fishermen who only had a small elementary school. They were anxious to increase their educational opportunities and find new ways to improve their livelihood from the forest. There was a decent amount of copal in the forest, so the community might serve as a new study area for the Center. Plowden hopes to offer possible solutions to as many groups as possible. He stated, however, “No single non-timber product like copal is going to be the answer for all communities. It will hopefully become a new viable option in some locations. It’s a real challenge trying to find a way to strengthen isolated communities, but we will get involved where we have the chance and resources to

make a good contribution.” On the last leg of his trip, Plowden returned to Jenaro Herrera. One important piece of business was fulfilling the Center’s pledge to use 20 percent of donations received for Amazon handicrafts to support basic needs in the community they came from. After consulting with local artisans and educators, the Center bought $250 worth of paper, clocks, calculators, and supplies for first aid, cleaning, soccer, and volleyball for the local public school. Artisans like Dora Tangoa were very proud that the necklaces they’d made for the Center could help the whole town’s children.

Dr. Rick Schuhmann and his graduate student Dave Vargas also joined Plowden for a few days at Jenaro. As Director of Penn State University’s Engineering Leadership Development Program (see Connections Profile: Penn State Univ. in this issue), Schuhmann wanted to get a first-hand look at Plowden’s research to see if it

Chino village artisan and chambira woven baskets/C. Plowden, CACE.

ANOTHER KIND OF COPALBy Campbell Plowden

“WE TRAVELED three hours up the Yaguasyacu river to reach the Bora Indian village of Brillo Nuevo because they supposedly had a fair amount of copal resin in their forest. One of their elders, Elias, quickly confirmed this view. He said, “In the high forest, we find resin lumps on the trunks that are white and smell really nice when they’re fresh. We’ve got another kind of copal in the forest closer to the river that often gets flooded in the rainy season. It has round black lumps on the branches high up in the tree. It doesn’t smell, but we like to collect this kind more because you don’t have to mix it with used motor oil when you heat it up to caulk a wooden boat.

Sloshing through the wet forest, we reached one large tree. Elias shed his flip-flops, wrapped his arms around the trunk and scampered up to the first large branch on the right. The village leader Antonio followed suit on the left side. They carefully inched their way out on their respective branches, picked off a large lump and tossed them down to us. The lumps were reddish yellow on the inside, and one had a larva with an enlarged head and formidable mandibles. After he came down, Antonio cut into the trunk with his machete to show me the sticky yellow latex that oozed out of the wound. I took digital photos of the tree leaves and insect and sent them to specialists in the U.S. asking for their help to identify the members of this new copal relationship.

The tree was Symphonia globilifera – a member of the family Clusiaceae (unlike the other copals that are Burseraceae). The larva was some kind of long-horned beetle - very different from the weevils that form the resin lumps in the more common form of copal. I was very excited to learn about and begin to document this new example of “convergent evolution” – situations where distantly related species have developed similar adaptations to similar environmental challenges.

Back in the village, Mosso, the third Bora in our troupe, was happy to have three kilos of both kinds of resin to patch long cracks in his canoe.

Report From the Field ... CACE copal resin and handicraft projects progress in Peru

From Page 4: Copal and handicraft projects progress in Peru offered good educational opportunities for his students. As soon as Schuhmann got a good whiff of fresh copal and

a sense of the Amazon forest culture, he was quickly convinced the partnership had potential. One group of Penn State students have begun analyzing the chemistry of copal resin samples while another has recently returned from a week-long trip to the Ampiyacu river communities. The next issue of Amazon Connections will report on these activities.

Long-horned beetle larva/C. Plowden, CACE.

Center for Amazon Community Ecology1637 B North Atherton St. #90State College, PA 16803

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Thank You!

To our recent interns and volunteers: Writing: Jessica Remitz, Meghan Walsh, Alexandra Robinson

On-line store design: Teresa Carosa, Christina Conley, Mike Staub, Lauren HerwehePhotography: Susan Rice, Jenna Coughlan

Marketing support: Jason Keller, Kelly Burns, Johanna Maldonado, Janice LinVideo production: Greg Harriott, Mac McAlpine, Matthew Hunter

CACE Directors: Katherine Alden, Michael Gilmore, Laura Piraino, Campbell Plowden, Richard Schuhmann CACE Advisors: Stephen Althouse, James Finley, Virginia Hubbs, Peter Kostishack, Denny Moore,

Patricia Shanley, Christopher Uhl, Denice Wardrop

To our supporters for Evening in the Amazon:Sheri and Dayton Coles, Bolthouse Farms, Wegman’s, Giant Foods, Weis Markets, Webster’s Bookstore

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