O angelim-vermelho – approximately 400 years old, 9,9 meters in circumference and 88,5 meters high – is considered the tallest tree in the world Amazon and it is in danger, environmentalists warn.
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The giant is equivalent to a 30-story building and is larger than several postcards around the world: the Tower of Pisa, which is 57 meters, the Great Sphinx of Giza, which is 20 meters, and our Christ the Redeemer, which is 38 meters.
The conservation unit where the giant trees are located is called 'Paru Flota' and is the 3rd sustainable use conservation unit in tropical forests in the world. To give you an idea, it is 3 times larger than Qatar, the country that hosted the 2022 World Cup.
According to environmentalists consulted by the BBC, to 'Paru Flota' is suffering from the action of land grabbers and miners. In the month of November, it was the 3rd most deforested conservation unit in the entire region. Amazonsystem. (with the BBC)
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Data based on satellite images from the Deforestation Alert System (SAD) of the imazon show that the forest has already lost 46,5 km² of vegetation cover since 2008. Data from the Satellite Monitoring of Deforestation in the Legal Amazon Project (PRODES) of the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), also based on satellite images, indicate a higher number in the same period: 74 km².
On social media, the hashtag #ProtectTheGiantTrees was created with the aim of drawing attention to the need for inspection and monitoring of the area.
According to Jakeline Pereira, counselor at 'Paru Flota' and researcher at Imazon, giant trees are threatened by land grabbing and illegal gold mining.
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“On the southern edge of the conservation unit, there is a change in land use, with land being leased for agriculture and illegal logging,” he said. the researcher told BBC News Brasil.
The government of Pará – through the Institute for Forestry and Biodiversity Development (IDEFLOR-Bio) – released a note saying that “it received a report of an invasion by land grabbers in the areas of the Conservation Unit (UC) of the Paru State Forest (Flota Paru), which are under forest concession, in the southeast portion of the (UC), specifically in Forest Management Units (UMF) 1 and 2, which total 190 thousand hectares and represent 5,3% of the FLOTA (3,613 million hectares)” .
“Since December 08th, a team from the Ideflor-Bio Public Forest Management Directorate and the State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainability (Semas) and the Civil Police, including the Scientific Police, have been in the area under forest concession investigating these complaints. . We also inform that, through the Conservation Units Management and Monitoring Directorate (DGMUC), Ideflor has advanced in the implementation of Conservation Units, establishing important management tools such as: the preparation of UC Management Plans, using participatory methodology of all sectors representing organized civil society; guarantee of direct participation as co-managers, in the Management Councils, discussing and bringing solutions to all problems involving Conservation Units”, concludes the note.
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At 88,5 meters, the angelim-vermelho giant became the fourth tallest living tree documented by the Guinness World Records, the record book. The largest in the world is a 116-meter sequoia located in Redwood National Park, in the State of California, in the United States.
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