After the second world war the Brazilian rubber production came into
crisis again. But in spite of the low price the rubber stayed the main
product of export of Acre. What had changed was the economic structure.
After most of the Seringalistas (owners of the rubber-extraction areas)
had gone bankrupt, the remaining rubber-tappers or "Seringueiros"
became owners of their land and entitled to farm (which was prohibited for
them before). They sold the rubber to traders called "Regatões"
or "Mareteiros". However the Regatões usually cheated the
seringueiros and like the former seringalistas maintained them in economic
dependence. 
The seringueiro regularly walks the several miles long paths where the
rubber trees (Braz.: Seringa) stand and applies sloping cuts to their
bark. The emanating latex slowly flows into a pot that is tied to the tree
and can be collected at the next walk. Initially the liquid latex was laid
on sticks that were constantly turned in the smoke. The warmth made the
latex solid and the smoke resistant against fungus. That way rubber bales
of about half a meter of diameter were being made. Nowadays this method is
hardly being used any more. Meanwhile there are other techniques for
processing the latex without smoke. Being a seringueiro is still today the
most common form of life among the inhabitants of the forest. The
seringueiros, mostly Indians or half-breeds (Braz.: Caboclos) not only
extract the latex (the raw material for rubber) but also other products of
the forest, mainly Brazil nuts. They hunt and cultivate to a small extent
for their own use and live in simple huts covered with palm leaves. Many
times there is no school and no medical assistance in the areas where they
live. The caring and sustainable use of the rain forest by the
seringueiros is an existing, ecologically sound form of coexistence of man
and rain forest. The ecological situation of the Amazon is inseparably
connected with the economical and social situation of the seringueiros...
back to AcreAmazonLink | next article
