Here is another view of Iracambi from the hill on the other side of the river. My house is the farthest to the left of the three houses on the left side with a blue door and shutters. We hiked up the hill to meet Robin, one of the Iracambi directors for him to take us an an almost three hour Land Rover tour of Iracambi and Graminha, the nearby community.
I took some pics before getting in the car including these next few. If you look closely at the highest point on the rock face you can see some scarring cause by recent rains and mudslides.
This is a closer up photo of the rock face with the white streaky scar where rains in January changed this rock face forever in a matter of minutes. There was a flash flood one night a few weeks back which changed the topography of the land, washed out bridges, flooded houses, etc.
Saying goodbye can be hard. Sally with the orange shirt and back to us was leaving and saying goodbye to fellow volunteers and researchers.
This is a waterfall hidden inside some forest, probably secondary. This is part of the Graminha river the source of which I will show in later pictures that runs it way through Graminha, past Iracambi and eventually in to Rosario da Limeira and Muriae.
This mill powered by the Graminha river is reminiscent of the way the people in this area used to get their electricity as well as mill produce, etc. before the government decided that it needed to "electrify" the area. Ironically enough the government is now trying to encourage residents to create this smaller scale/more sustainable sources of electricity in light of electricity shortages, having less impact on the environment, etc. I guess we could call this a step backwards in the right direction.
A lovely view from about as far as we went on our almost three hour tour with Robin. Only about 50 years ago this area was forested and few people lived here mainly living off slowly/selectively cutting trees and small scale farming. Now most land has been cleared for coffee plantations and since this is no longer a very lucrative endeavor many are letting their land go "wild" again or using it to graze cattle.
The crossroads at about the center of this picture caught my eye.
Here is Robin our fearless leader sharing the natural history, geography, politics, etc. of the area with us. It was great to get a quick trip around the "neighborhood" and learn more about the people who live here, ways we are working to protect and preserve the land, work with the community, etc. Nice to stop reading about it and get out and see it!
If you look closely again you will see what looks like a muddy wide river running steeply down the green hillside but now scroll to the next picture.
It starts to get clearer that you are not looking at a wild crashing river but rather another large swath of land that was scarred thanks to major raining and a giant mudslide.
This picture does the best of showing in detail the damage that the heavy rains this year which culminated in many landslides around the area and at least one flash flood had on the landscape. Robin, who has been living in this area for over 15 years was really shocked by the number of scars all around and extent to which they have greatly changed the look of the area not to mention destroyed forests, reshaped rivers, moved people, etc.
The large red patch in the right third of this photo is similar to a picture that I took in my
first blog entry about Iracambi but from a different perspective. This and the other scars from rain and mudslides that I have shown you seem to be a sign of times that are here and to come. These things are not just happening on their own. WE are responsible! The planet is not going to be able to tolerate the way we treat it for ever. Over foresting, overuse of natural resources, slash and burn, greed, etc. will be our demise if we are not careful.
Here is another view of Iracambi from the hill on the other side of the river. My house is the farthest to the left of the three houses on the left side with a blue door and shutters. We hiked up the hill to meet Robin, one of the Iracambi directors for him to take us an an almost three hour Land Rover tour of Iracambi and Graminha, the nearby community.
I took some pics before getting in the car including these next few. If you look closely at the highest point on the rock face you can see some scarring cause by recent rains and mudslides.
This is a closer up photo of the rock face with the white streaky scar where rains in January changed this rock face forever in a matter of minutes. There was a flash flood one night a few weeks back which changed the topography of the land, washed out bridges, flooded houses, etc.
Saying goodbye can be hard. Sally with the orange shirt and back to us was leaving and saying goodbye to fellow volunteers and researchers.
This is a waterfall hidden inside some forest, probably secondary. This is part of the Graminha river the source of which I will show in later pictures that runs it way through Graminha, past Iracambi and eventually in to Rosario da Limeira and Muriae.
This mill powered by the Graminha river is reminiscent of the way the people in this area used to get their electricity as well as mill produce, etc. before the government decided that it needed to "electrify" the area. Ironically enough the government is now trying to encourage residents to create this smaller scale/more sustainable sources of electricity in light of electricity shortages, having less impact on the environment, etc. I guess we could call this a step backwards in the right direction.
A lovely view from about as far as we went on our almost three hour tour with Robin. Only about 50 years ago this area was forested and few people lived here mainly living off slowly/selectively cutting trees and small scale farming. Now most land has been cleared for coffee plantations and since this is no longer a very lucrative endeavor many are letting their land go "wild" again or using it to graze cattle.
The crossroads at about the center of this picture caught my eye.
Here is Robin our fearless leader sharing the natural history, geography, politics, etc. of the area with us. It was great to get a quick trip around the "neighborhood" and learn more about the people who live here, ways we are working to protect and preserve the land, work with the community, etc. Nice to stop reading about it and get out and see it!
If you look closely again you will see what looks like a muddy wide river running steeply down the green hillside but now scroll to the next picture.
It starts to get clearer that you are not looking at a wild crashing river but rather another large swath of land that was scarred thanks to major raining and a giant mudslide.
This picture does the best of showing in detail the damage that the heavy rains this year which culminated in many landslides around the area and at least one flash flood had on the landscape. Robin, who has been living in this area for over 15 years was really shocked by the number of scars all around and extent to which they have greatly changed the look of the area not to mention destroyed forests, reshaped rivers, moved people, etc.
The large red patch in the right third of this photo is similar to a picture that I took in my first blog entry about Iracambi but from a different perspective. This and the other scars from rain and mudslides that I have shown you seem to be a sign of times that are here and to come. These things are not just happening on their own. WE are responsible! The planet is not going to be able to tolerate the way we treat it for ever. Over foresting, overuse of natural resources, slash and burn, greed, etc. will be our demise if we are not careful.
1 comment:
Your blogs are always especially fun and educational when you add photos. Looks like you had a pretty day for this drive.
The Oregonian had an article covering the business page today. The headline read "Eco-Friendly Timber Makes More Green". It tells about how milling changes in Oregon make it easier for builders to be sure their products match their ethics, and for growers to cash in on the trend. Apparently, many timber owners have stopped clear cutting and herbicide use and stopped cutting old growth timber. Good news! Hope we will do the right thing here so people can't take photos of mud slides etc. Well at least not new ones.
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