Rubber tappers saving forests

Initiative protects the jungle, which is threatened by deforestation.

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As the sun rises over the Amazonian island of Marajó, Renato Cordeiro laces up his boots, grabs his knife, and heads out to tap his rubber trees.

Drop by drop, he collects the milky white sap, known as latex, that sustains him.

The recent revival of the rubber tapper trade in this impoverished northern Brazilian region has created jobs for families who once thrived during the Amazonian rubber boom, which collapsed in the late 20th century.

A local company, Seringo, has enabled Cordeiro and over 1,500 other rubber tappers to resume their craft. The company produces goods such as footwear while also protecting the forest, threatened by deforestation.

For Cordeiro, a wiry 57-year-old, the Amazon is his backyard. Behind his stilt house on the Anajás River, dozens of natural rubber trees blend with centuries-old trees and palms typical of this island, surrounded by rivers on one side and the sea on the other.